In the past week, reports circulated about Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Joe Alwyn breaking up. Sources claim after six years of dating, the two split amicably. These rumors sparked a plethora of inappropriate comments. Fans and haters alike speculate on who her next man will be. Twitter users jest that Pete Davison will pursue her. During an interview, Howard Stern jokingly asked Nick Cannon if he would consider having another child with Swift. As gossip draws more media attention, we the public are given a choice. We can continue to push stale narratives about Taylor Swift and her relationships or respect her privacy.
Why you gotta be so mean?
The media refuses to separate Taylors’ art from her personal life. As always, tabloids predict she will “write a song” about her breakup. Even a Starbucks Cafe made light of Swift’s romantic history. A sign outside one branch depicted each of her former flames as drink options, with the caption “Which Taylor Swift ex are you?”.
On social media, Swift’s relationships are dissected. TikTokers craft theories about how the songs Swift performs on tour relate to her breakup. Twitter jokes about Swift’s next album is “the best ever” because of her split. Participating in this behavior commodifies Swift’s life in a disrespectful way.
I think I’ve seen this film before
Taylor Swift isn’t new to facing this kind of scrutiny. She’s encountered misogyny throughout her career as a singer. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1, Swift discussed her experience as a young starlet. “When I was 23 and people were just kind of reducing me to, like, kind of making slideshows of my dating life and putting people in there that I’d sat next to at a party once,”. During that time, interviewers refused to focus on anything but Swift’s dating history. The media probed her social life to put the name of a man behind each love song. Behavior towards Swift over the past week parallels the coarseness she faced a decade ago. Analyzing how Swift’s breakup will affect her music seems harmless, but it’s misogynistic. By doing so, we reduce her music to a simple dictation of her experience. Thus, indirectly discrediting her artistry. She’s an incredible writer, and her music is more than her love life.
No one likes a mad woman
There is a historic disrespect for women who write emotional work. In the 18th century, sentimentalist novels were written by and for women. Their work was dismissed by the literary world and deemed too emotional to be taken seriously. Modern-day sentimentalist singers like Olivia Rodrigo, Phoebe Bridgers, and Taylor Swift are still being hit with these insults. Attributing ballads to simply “the acts of a woman scorned” undermines the talent of these musicians. Their prose and lyricism are a result of skill, not a failed romance.
Wondering if I’d get there quicker If I was a man
Male artists like Drake, Ed Sheeran, and Bruno Mars often write about their experiences in love. Yet, they are exempt from speculation about their love affairs and who their songs are about. Furthermore, they receive none of the same slut shaming female musicians like Swift do. Comments like “She’ll write a song about you” are regularly applied, making female musicians out to be emotionless, fame-driven hussies.
You’re on your own, Kid
Taylor Swift is simply a woman navigating love in her thirties all while balancing superstardom. Let’s change the narrative this time: be respectful of her privacy and leave the slut shaming in the 2010s. A woman putting her feelings on display in her work is not an invitation into her private life. Female artists deserve the same dignity as their male counterparts. Whether or not the rumors are true, let us apply a little more compassion to our favorite female celebs.