Taylor Swift has had an interesting relationship with feminism, a topic that is explored in Buzzfeed’s recently published article regarding Swift. In this in-depth article, writer Ellie Woodward breaks down how Swift has strategically positioned herself as a victim in Hollywood in an effort to protect the “good-girl” image she possessed at the beginning of her career.
From capitalizing on the infamous Kanye moment at the VMAs to exploiting her relationships with famous men in order to sell hit singles, Swift embraced her supposed victimhood and ran with it (very successfully, as Woodward points out). Swift used her innocent image to create excitement and build press for her albums, as her fans waited expectantly to see which man had screwed her over this time. However, Swift’s constant woe-is-me attitude caught up with her, which is why, before the release of her fifth album, ‘1989′, she rebranded herself.
Swift embraced feminism, having previously rejected the label. She surrounded herself with her now infamous “squad” and preached girl power whenever possible. However, as Woodward details in her article, Swift is more of a feminist in theory rather than practice. She seems to embrace feminism only when convenient and rarely speaks out on feminist issues. Swift recently came under fire for a halfhearted tweet in support of The Women’s March on Washington. People criticized Swift for not attending the march and for not speaking out against the hateful and sexist rhetoric that occurred during the 2016 election.
A recent Cosmopolitan article called for an end to this type of lukewarm “celebrity” feminism. As Eliza Thompson, the article’s author, points out, it is 2017 and Donald Trump is our president. We no longer have time for tepid, action-less feminism. As Trump and the Republican-controlled congress promise to restrict contraception and abortion access even more than they already have, the very rights to our bodies are being threatened. Feminism can no longer simply be about “girl power.” Instead, as feminists, we must actively work to ensure political, economic and social equality for all women, all over the world. We must work to educate those uninformed on feminism and dispel its unjust reputation as being “man-hating.”
For those uninformed on the topic, I recommend watching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s now-famous TED Talk. Collectively, we need to increase our consumption of female-created content. We need to read books written by women. We need to watch movies written, directed by and starring women. We need to approach women’s issues from an intersectional perspective and work to include women of all races and sexual orientations.
2017 is the year to enact change and, if the recent success of the Women’s March is any indication, millions of women around the globe feel the exact same way. So, sorry Taylor Swift. If you do not step up your game, you and your so-called “feminism” are getting left in 2016.