We are now days away from November 10, the date that Taylor Swift will drop her long-awaited sixth studio album, “Reputation.” I grew up with Swift; I remember, as cliché as it sounds, twirling around my best friend’s bedroom to “Our Song,” counting down the days until I could fall in love, feel heartbreak and experience the world like Swift did through her songs. But as I aged, my relationship with Swift became more complex, and less like a fantasy. With time, I became more and more aware of feminism, and I started to notice that she wasn’t always the epitome of female empowerment that I once thought she was. Swift is often the face of white feminism (or even white supremacy, in some cases); she doesn’t always speak out when I want her to, use her influence for the causes I thought she believed in, or represented women’s rights in the manner that I had always expected of her. In sum, she isn’t a perfect person, and she is definitely not a perfect feminist (if you even agree to call her one).
For a long time, this frustrated me to no end; I couldn’t align my connection to the music with the artist behind the lyrics, and I felt like a fraud. I felt embarrassed to support Swift, as if that too made me less of a feminist, even though I recognized her wrongdoings and didn’t try to ignore them.
Then, one day, I was chatting with one of my closest friends, someone who introduced me to feminism originally, someone who I look up to as one my greatest role models. She brought up Taylor Swift, and instead of attacking her disappointing brand of feminism, she pointed out how she feels like the excessive amount of hate is, to a degree, unnecessary. No person, celebrity or not, is excluded from making mistakes. Swift has made some pretty grueling errors, some of which she apologized for, some of which she hasn’t. But she is also constantly in the limelight; every single one of her actions is displayed for the world to dissect. I can’t count the number of times I have made a problematic error; I’m not perfect, so why should I constantly degrade someone for being like me? Perhaps it’s because she is a role model, she should be held to a higher standard than the average person, and I agree. Therefore, I want her to do better in the future; I urge her to be more inclusive, knowledgeable and influential. She has already made brave steps forward, such as through her case against a Denver radio jockey. And I know this doesn’t excuse her other problems, or save her from the statements she needs to make (whether it be denouncing white supremacy or actually embracing intersectionality), but it’s a movement in the right direction, and that can’t be forgotten.
Roxane Gay, in “Bad Feminist: Essays,” wrote that “I would rather be a bad feminist than not a feminist at all.” After I heard this quote for the first time, I truly embraced it, because I think at one time or another, we are all bad feminists, and that is how we learn, develop and help grow ourselves and the movement. Taylor Swift may be a bad feminist more times than I can count, but there are also times when her feminism was bold, beautiful and important. At the end of the day, we have to recognize the value of being a feminist at all.
I don’t think that I will ever stop scrutinizing Taylor Swift’s, or any other celebrity’s, brand of feminism; pressure from the public is what helps role models learn and grow, just like anyone else. But I’m also not going to feel guilty when I wear my “1989” tour t-shirt, because I adore every one of her songs, and I believe in her ability to become both a better person and a better feminist, just as I strive to be every day.
Photo Courtesy of @taylorswift on Instagram