Spoiler alert: It’s the latter.
I’ve been a fan of Taylor Swift since I was little. I had her first 4 albums on CD and would belt my little heart out in the car when my Mom would turn on her songs. I’ve listened to her music through all the stages of life I’ve experienced thus far and find her music more and more relatable as I grow. Furthermore, I find that she as a person is especially inspirational. She remains a passionate advocate for important issues like the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, the Equality Act, the Pro-Choice Movement, and the BLM Movement. Taylor is one of many influential women in the public eye and in Hollywood, so why are she and other women in similar roles still as scrutinized as she is?
Taylor Swift attended the Golden Globes this month following her nomination for “Cinematic and Box Office Achievement” for her concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. During the host Jo Koy’s monologue, he referenced Taylor, saying “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.” This line was neither funny nor appropriate and was followed by the cringing faces of celebrities in the audience.
Now, the internet is blowing up about how she “overreacted”… You’re telling me THIS is overreacting?
Anyone would feel awkward after a line like this was directed at them, but Taylor Swift handled it with grace and decided instead of showing anger, to brush it off with a nonchalant sip of champagne. But apparently, this was too much of a “reaction” for the internet to handle, with some X users writing “The Golden Globes is a big Taylor-Swift hate-fest tonight, I love it.” and “I used to tolerate Taylor Swift.. but after the golden globes, now I f****g hate her.”
Fortunately despite all of this, it seems most people online are coming to Taylor’s defense following intense backlash.
With all of this in mind, I would like to bring up something I’ve considered throughout all of this drama. When Taylor Swift raises an eyebrow at an offensive joke, people say she’s overreacting…but when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, people defended him. I feel like people forget about things like this and always jump to blame the woman. Tons of people after the Will Smith incident were jumping to make his wife look like the actual culprit when he was the one who chose to stand up and take violent action. Even jumping back to 2009 when Kanye West jumped on stage to interrupt Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for “Best Female Music Video,” a large part of the media still chose to defend and ignore Kanye’s actions.
Taylor Swift and so many other female celebrities have used their platforms to empower other women. Most recently, Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie have been deprived of proper acknowledgment from the Academy for their parts in Barbie. Despite the backlash, more and more people of all genders are beginning to realize that the backlash female celebrities face is appalling.
I should stress that it is NOT all men who do this. We (hopefully) all know men who can look at the struggles that women face and say “I don’t understand it, but I can accept that your experience is different than mine and I can do my best to work towards equality.” Some women unfortunately have been spreading this kind of hate toward Taylor and other celebrities, which is super uncool.
I want to encourage other people who may spread more hate than good in situations like this to acknowledge that they may not understand, but at least attempt to put themselves in their shoes for two seconds. You might just learn something important about the persisting issue of sexism that still persists in workplaces; from minimum wage to Hollywood stardom.
It’s okay if you don’t like her music…but you can’t deny that she’s unstoppable.