On Election Day, Taylor Swift finally made a lukewarm political statement after months of complete silence on anything politics-oriented. Her statement was an Instagram encouraging people to vote. Sure. Taylor never did endorse any political candidate explicitly or implicitly, which led to some speculation that she might be a closeted Baby Fists supporter. I personally think it had more to do with Katy Perry’s involvement in Hillary Clinton’s campaign – Katy and Swifty are ancient enemies, and Taylor wanted to avoid aligning herself in any way publicly with something or someone Katy liked. So yes, I suspected Taylor’s political leanings were based on interpersonal pettiness more than anything else, like feminism, the fate of the free world, environmentalism, financial self-interest or intersectionality.
The problem then and the problem now is that Taylor’s self-declared feminism and girl-centric squad goals (or whatever) always seemed deep as a puddle. The squad was a clique, and it was a marketing tool to help Taylor develop a new image for herself after too many years of being called out for being a boy-crazy stalker writing blind-item songs about guys she only dated for a few days. Taylor Swift has never been about feminism. Which is why all hell broke loose when she tweeted this on Saturday:
So much love, pride, and respect for those who marched. I'm proud to be a woman today, and every day. #WomensMarch
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) January 21, 2017
I guess the criticism is that Taylor – in her unique position – could have and should have done more than send out one tweet after most of the marches were already winding down. She could have sent tweets ahead of time. She could have actually attended one of the marches, like the one in LA or New York or Nashville or even DC (which is where Katy Perry attended). But here’s what I want to know: why did people expect Taylor to speak out in any way? She was utterly silent when Emperor P-ssygrabber assumed control. In any case, The Daily Beast wrote an absolutely scathing piece called “Taylor Swift’s Spineless Feminism.” And of course Twitter went HAM on her. Because of course!
"I can't believe this is all for me!" – Taylor Swift staring down at the Women's March from her penthouse.
— Peter Taggart (@petertaggart) January 22, 2017
@taylorswift13 but where were you during the entire election?
— Jordan Ross (@jordanrosstv) January 22, 2017
taylor swift only cares about money, she knows that a great part of her sales come from that racist white people who voted for trump
— malek (@viewsfromalek) January 21, 2017
Funny how no one from "Taylor Swift's feminist squad" isn't at women's march to support women
— Noya (@noyavic) January 21, 2017
@taylorswift13 if you don't go to the women's march or post anything about it you would best not use feminism to support yourself ever again
— alyssa (@gyIIenswifts) January 21, 2017
Katy perry, Ariana grande, Taylor swift & miley Cyrus practicing what they preach at the #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/qtj1IQC4Ha
— amber (@JustinOutsold) January 21, 2017
@taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/cMc554nm9M
— jeremy cabo 💚 (@jeremycabo) January 21, 2017
Taylor Swift’s Spineless Feminism – The Daily Beast https://t.co/yszuvg5mZw pic.twitter.com/FhXiDRv3UV
— Bob ن (@BobHicks_) January 23, 2017
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
There comes a time when silence is violence.
Renounce Trump explicitly and then we’ll talk.
Taylor. Swift. Is. Not. A. Feminist.
She can call herself a feminist all she wants, but I don’t accept self-serving words in the place of true and intersectional activism.
I like that: silence IS violence. So true. You can feel lukewarm about what flavor of donuts you like but silence kills when the icing is sprinkled with liars and bullies.
I don’t agree.
So many wonderful careers were killed cos the artists tried to make a change. And people did not even see that. Much bigger careers than hers.
To name a few: Bowie, George Michael, Bjork, Damon Albarn. They all gave their voices but it backfired. Bowie recovered, but the rest not so much.
I guess they felt their message was more important than their fame.
detritus
would you risk you career for one statement which you feel is right? for some it was not one album, it was the rest of their lives.
and it never stopped there. they were under personal attacks. I remember Micheal got the worst responses cos he was gay. how was that relevant to his anti bush-blair song? anti war song?
and where is eddie vedder now? Pearl Jam were one of the biggest bands in the world. the moment he started talking about real issues, no one cared.
jude law was anti war, but his love life seemed more important.
and what happened to Prince and Micheal? Sony. we learned that artists, musicians especially have no control over their careers. this is so messed up…
People are easily distracted by petty, silly things, which is why we have the kardashians.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you are saying that Celebrity endorsement is not effective, because the people who pay attention to them have short memories and are distracted by trivialities?
While I agree that a large portion are distracted (Kylie’s new lip kit and lipo!), some do listen. Sometimes that argument is the first taste of something bigger. It’s like advertising, the more views you have the more likely it will stick. The more times the message is sent out, in different formats, from different sources, the greater the power.
I don’t think the personal attacks make a political message less important. They make it more painful, but show there’s more work to be done and that the message is reaching people. For Micheal, it shows how groups of thought cling together. As a woman criticizing things you get the same push back of linked ideas, because they tend to be based in white male superiority.
Think of Shameless, and how Emmy Rossum stood up in a way that could have ruined her career. She’s now changed the discussion, a small bit at least.
I adore when someone uses their platform for good, when they take a risk for something they value.
I don’t agree. This is America. She is entitled to her own opinion and maybe she does not agree with the protesters.
@detritus
Celebrity endorsement is effective, but it is no one duty to endorse someone, so I can understand a famous person who stays neutral.
Sometimes an artist will not do it simply cos management is against it. If you have courage, great. Let’s work on this together. But if you stay silent, I get it.
I do not get Swift’s fame, but I know she is a huge star. But the same people who helped her get on top can bring her down, and that includes fans.
as Jane Fonda said, do not let him divide us.
Pearl Jam is still one of the biggest bands out there. They are still producing music. What “did their career in” (or however you phased it) is the shift in music. The grunge era died before 2000 even hit. David still had a huge career. So, I’m not sure what you are talking about.
I am not at all a fan of Swifty, but just because she didn’t go to the march or wasn’t more vocally supportive of the match doesn’t mean that she’s not a feminist. Feminism (at least what I understand to be the definition of feminism) simply means that you believe women are fully equal to men and should have equal opportunities and choices. She had the right to decide not to go to one of the marches and still be a feminist. I think the criticism is unfair.
She shouldn’t use feminism as a shield for criticism.
@antigone I completely agree. Not a fan of Swift either, but just because she didn’t make her political allegiance public doesn’t mean she is not a feminist. I hate that women have to berate other women for acting in a way they don’t see fit. Feminism equals choice… in all areas.
agree with Steph her support for other women is wishy washy as to be meaningless. When she does ‘support’ feminism it’s always with the secondary gain of supporting her career and, as Steph says, deflecting criticism. No one is berating her here, posters are just pointing out her hypocrisy. By the same token just as not making her political allegiances public doesn’t mean she’s not a feminist, claiming that she is doesn’t make her a feminist either. Actions speak louder than words, all of her actions suggest she’s nothing more than a self serving, self aggrandizing pop star.
I don’t follow her music or self promotion at all, but think we should celebrate the women who marched, not belittle those who didn’t. Yeah, her comment was self serving and juvenile, but she most likely is afraid to lose fans. Besides, she isn’t anyone who would add anything of importance to the discussion.
Maybe she didn’t want to march. We all
Still have a choice on what we do In action to something we want to do.
Exactly. I saw Reese Witherspoon papped shopping on the day of the march. She tweeted some support but was she there with her daughter? No. Shopping! On. The. Day. Of. The. March. I think collectively we need to relax. Was every actress/singer/celebrity that has ever promoted feminism there? No, they were not. To single out one particular celebrity – feminist/wannabe feminist/non-feminist – is stretching it. Let’s all be happy for those who WERE there like Natalie Portman who is pregnant and promoting a film (and I’m sure could have enjoyed the afternoon napping at home instead) and others who made the effort. Who cares why she wasn’t there. Let her walk around with whatever notion of feminism she wants – complaining what TIME she tweeted?
I didn’t go to any march. Does that mean I’m a pariah, too?
Really, obviously most women didn’t march. It does not mean that they don’t support the marches or at least some of the issues raised. Please, let’s keep things in perspective.
Swift was obviously impressed enough by the way things went to make a supportive tweet. She may simply not like to be overtly political for many different reasons and that is her right. Everything in the US is so polarized, I can understand her reluctance. She’s also damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t. If she went to a march, I’m sure there are people who would have accused her of seeking publicity. She can’t even contribute to charity without that accusation.
As long as she isn’t walking around with a sign saying “Ban Muslims!” or “Take away insurance from all the non-rich losers!” – she’s ok. I worked on information pushing and cheerleading for war protesters for a decade, and you really have to accept that people have to follow their own leading in every public action. Nobody should feel compelled to do something that isn’t a strong urging coming from their own heart, and people at different points in their desire or ability to be public about such things are not the enemy.
Besides, we honestly don’t know what will make the biggest difference. Someone who never shows up for a public protest may be more effective just saying something in casual conversation with a stranger while waiting in line at the grocery store. That small planted seed might blossom in abundance in an endless chain. This is why it’s so important to let people decide where their own energy lies and avoid guilt tripping.
We just all do what we can when we can. And that can change over time. It certainly has for me and I don’t regret that. As I keep reminding a friend who continues to push everybody she knows to be as hyperactive as she is in such matters — I’m a non-renewable resource! I barely have the energy these days to keep the cats fed enough to avoid getting eaten ….
Taylor Swift is a feminist in the same manner that Megyn Kelly is a feminist: to the extent that it serves their careers. Their feminism is focused on careerism and capitalism: on money, power and success. What it does NOT focus on is ethics, fairness or solidarity with the sisterhood. They’re like the traditional “boss lady”: proud to make it to the top but willfully blind to the struggle of their sisters. They are more about feminism-as-competition and not so much about feminism-as-bonding-with-women.
I worked saturday and not many people showed up to work. I just work on Saturdays and this is a new job and I don’t have seniority yet. I took last Saturday off to watch my son’s game. I couldn’t ask for two shifts off in a row and am the sole parent of a middle school aged child. Am I a feminist? I actually asked for top dollar at my job and won in 5 year court battle against an abusive man. Am I a feminist?
Why does the liberal left constantly have to label and judge anyone who doesn’t agree with their stance? They claim to preach tolerance and acceptance yet they are the first ones to lash out at anyone who feels differently then they do. This generation is totally screwed. You think you’re progressive but you’re just a bunch of hypocritical sore losers!!!
She certainly tweeted that literally pretty late in the day? I feel like she saw the HUGE number of well-respected celebrities who were actually out there and thought that supporting the march was a good PR move. I’m pretty sure her image comes before anything else. She’s all about control, and I think she just likes to use feminism when it suits her.
Her PR game has been way off this year. Too many bad decisions. I think it has hurt her
Yep and for once her fans got it right. She’s no feminist and I hope she never uses that to promote herself. It was insulting before and it will be even worse now. I’m glad some of her deluded fans are seeing that she has zero depth about praciticing what she preaches. She only tweeted that because of all the celebs that were there and getting praise for attending
Agreed! I have said it before TSwift stands for nothing….except $$$ and fame of course. I’m not going to make any excuses for her when there are so manyyyyyy young middle aged and older celebrity women standing up and speaking out for a cause. I wish people would stop making excuses for her and while I applaud her for donating her money she seems to to that even for publicity…I dont recall her ever speaking out or standing up for anything. In comparison with activism in some form by Katy Perry, Miley, Beyonce, Ariana, Shailene Woodley, Demi Lovato, Kristen Stewart, Jeniffer Lawrence and the list goes on and on, Taylor Swift is THE #nothingburger in my opinion///end rant
Had she never uttered the word “feminism”publicly, then I’d probably think she’s entitled to keep her opinions to herself. Not the case. I don’t get it. She’s smarter than this.
We already know she’s a self-serving, selfish, lying little toad – why the dismay when she behaves exactly to type and puts her ‘career’/record sales before anything else?
Oh, come on! Do we really expect Taylor Swift to be an activist now?
and are we really in the habit of denying certain people the ability to call themselves feminist? it sounds a little too much like “I don’t like her, so she can’t call herself one of us.”
I think she can identify however she wants. I do not believe her actions support this concept of herself, though. I can say I’m not a racist all day, but if my actions speak otherwise…
I get what you’re saying- the best path is to pick these women up and teach them, not push them out because their ideology doesn’t exactly match mine. Who am I, or any person, to take away her right to call herself what she chooses?
She is privileged, ignorant, and probably a jerk. This is all the energy I have for her.
All the way^^^^
People aren’t calling her out because she’s not an activist. She’s being called out because she’s a hypocrite – she’s tried to use feminism as a PR tool when it suits her (see her response to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s joke about her, throwing Kanye West under the bus, the “squad”), but won’t say boo if it affects her bottom line. She only tweeted something after it was clear that the march was a success.
Don’t forget when Demi Lovato publicly called her out for not verbally supporting Kesha.
Completely agree with OhDear.
You are spot on.
She tweeted something a f t er she realized that the march was a success.
She was quite a coward not to express her opinion, support or lack thereof before.
Or maybe she was just busy …
Bingo. She sat on her chaise lounge and waited to see how the marches would go and how they would be received. When all was clear, she jumped in a day late and a dollar short to take advantage of the publicity. Highly similar to her use of “Boys and boys and girls and girls” in a song waaaay after all the hard won victories occurred for gay rights. Typical her.
I have mixed feelings. I’m honestly kind of surprised that she didn’t do SOMETHING more. It would have been a good message to her fans, and it would have benefited her as well. I mean, tweets are less suspicious than complete radio silence, but still.
Even if she didn’t want to go down to the march – she could have got some sort of catering going – some coffee or something for the people who were out there.
I keep seeing people say that a big chunk of her fan base is ‘red’, but IS that the case? She isn’t deep into country music anymore – I figure she lost a lot of the hardcore country listening repubs when her image continued to change. She’s said in the past that she tries to stay informed, but doesn’t talk politics because she doesn’t want to use her celebrity to push people one way or another – and during a normal election cycle I don’t think that’s a huge issue. During normal elections there are a lot of celebrities who get a lot of their news from social media like the regular folk – and unless they’re genuinely politically aware, I’m hesitant to praise them for talking politics.
But this wasn’t a normal election. I’m not saying she had to go out and perform at rallies, or go door to door promoting Hillary – but the Woman’s March is different. I feel like despite any political affiliation you can go to that march and just be there in solidarity. You can show up, even briefly, and just lend an ear to people who are scared.
I’m not going to write her off as being anti-woman. But I’m definitely not considering her an activist of any kind, either. She’s sort of just existing, and existing isn’t really enough right now – especially when she has the kind of money that could be pocket change to her, but mean a lot of many organizations that could use the donation.
A neighboring community had about a 15 person march the other day. Literally 15 people went out and walked in support. It’s a community that only has less than 70 year-round residents – Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia. It’s a 2.5 hour drive to our only ‘major’ city, so they got out in the rain, bundled up in winter gear, and marched in their area. I don’t understand how anyone living in a large city (and who didn’t have other obligations that they couldn’t get out of) could just not go.
I agree with your thoughts @Erinn, and thank you for story about the small town near you. It warms my heart! 🙂
Regarding her fanbase, as in the ones who’ve been with her since day one and are part of her social media attack squad they’re red. They (and their parents) are still attached to Taylor’s “I’m just a pure innocent All-American girl!” phase and would fall into the “I vote Republican because of my social values crowd.” Now what’s interesting here is that the parents and kids mesh on certain things (abortion and taking away social programs cuz people need to rely on “hard work”), but disagree on others (gay marriage). Taylor as a result just avoids anything super political that could antagonize either group.
Taylor’s new pop fans on the other hand despise Trump, but they weren’t enthusiastic enough about Hillary. I would say they’re politically neutral in the sense that they’re not gung-ho about activism. They’re definitely more into charismatic leaders and issues though, so they tend to elevate those celebrities who participate with those types of people or at least stand for something in their work. The problem for Taylor here is that she wasn’t able to cement her new fans into believing her “I love feminism!” persona long enough before snakegate came along. Now they’ll still listen to her because she makes good hits (their words not mine), but anything outside of the music realm will be regarded with side-eye and a “is she doing this for real, or is this just for her image?”
Tl;dr: Taylor’s old fans do play a part in her non-committal to political things, but her new persona has a lot to do with why she doesn’t get actively involved as well.
where were beyonce? and all her mob? and what about rihanna ?…
Rihanna was in a pink tutu I think protesting.
joni-
Beyonce wrote a big supportive post on Facebook for the March while Rihanna flew in from Paris to join the NYC March.
I’m not sure I get the problem. Why does she have to be an activist? Because she is popular? Sure, it’s not how you or I would choose to behave if we had her power, but geez, who are we to decide what this person does or aligns herself with?
Because of her new feminist image (read the article), she uses it when it suits her, but when she has to back up with actually doing something, fails miserably, except for a post on twitter (late in the day most likely when she saw how popular marches were).
Taylor isn’t a feminist, she’s a Taylor-ist. If it doesn’t very directly affect her or help her craft a certain relevant but neutral and non-threatening image, she’s completely silent. Even when her supposed friends are dealing with misogyny or racism, she’s silent.
Taylorism- noun. tay·lor·ism
the belief that Taylor Swift should be more equal than others.
I kind of agree with the criticism here. Taylor is a fair-weather feminist, and she only tweeted her “support” (if you can even call it that, because her tweet was about as neutral as you can get) after the protests were a resounding success. There are plenty of pop stars who are apolitical (e.g., Britney Spears) and I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with are pop stars like Taylor who exploit political movements for their own personal gain.
+1
Well said!
Feminism only means one thing to Taylor – good PR when she needs it. She is not and never will be a feminist, neither will she ever be taken seriously as one even if she was.
She’s as fake as her t!ts.
Taylor gets a lot of sales from areas who have a lot of people who hate “feminists” (because they think it’s not fighters for equality) and she above all about her image and fame. She stayed neutral to not offend anyone and lose sales.
She can be apolitical but she uses feminism to push her narrative of being the ‘poor bullied white girl’ victim complex. If she wants to be neutral she should stay away from feminism. There are many many other celebs who are apolitical and are successful – Britney is one example.
Right, but her whole feminists mode was supported by music sales. Plus she’s rotated out a lot of her more vocal feminist friends.
She never said anything about a politician ever. Or a political party. I can’t recall a single statement on reproductive rights. She said she believed in equality, but honestly she has never been truely political activist. I still think she’s fairly politically neutral.
Taylor’s style is apolitical and she appears to not want to lose or alienate her fan base whether they are red state or blue state fans.
The girl is neutral beige, and perhaps will always be all-things-neutral.
That is not a bad thing, if that is what one is.
Although, at some point in life, people find their backbone, their cause, their passion and stand up against injustice.
‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women.’
Right, Tay Tay?
Self serving whiner.
Oooh, touché.
Hoist by her own petard again, I see.
Oooh, I hope you tweeted this at her! I had forgotten she said that.
Touché!!!! Chapeau!
Eat those words Taylor!
That struck me hard. Good point.
Ah, yes.
But…she did. She tweeted her support. Her words are there. Could she have done more? Maybe.But there were a lot of famous females not at a march.I don’t discount them as feminists.
Taylor deserves the criticism. Her brand of feminism is too shallow. Plus she’s the biggest mean girl.
I think it’s curious Taylor Swift receives the same tidal wave of hate for not doing something than most other celebrities do for actually doing something awful.
I’ve never been a fan of Swifty, but I do think the hate-on people have for her can be over the top. Yeah, her Swiftist school of feminism is annoying, but she didnt write a long Patricia Arquetty essay on the importance of feminism. She merely said she respects those who marched.
+1
I bet if she went people would be criticizing her for just doing it for publicity.
This exactly. 😀
I have to disagree here. Taylor Swift started off as a county star – a huge part of her fanbase still comes from that world. Alienating a huge part of her fanbase would be an awful business move – it’s a lot different to be a pop star and support the Democratic ticket than for an artist with a huge southern/country fanbase to do it. Yeah, it would be great if she did support Hillary and the women’s march (let’s be honest, she probably does) but she risks a lot more backlash from her fans than a lot of the pop stars do.
Agree. She can probably do more good by taking their money and making donations to various charities (e.g. hurricane victims) than by marching somewhere. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.
Yes…but then she has also made her Kennedy obsession part of her image, even dating whatshisface that just got arrested in a bar fight. She’s always had her foot in whatever constitutes the most inoffensively twee Americana, regardless of geographical or political origin.
There were A LOT of celebs who marched the other day that I honestly didn’t expect to. And there were A LOT of celebs who didn’t march and sent out support via social media. The difference with Taylor is that THIS has become her brand….all about supporting women. And yet when women are coming together, Taylor Swift is chilling behind her smart phone sending out tweets. She only does anything when it benefits her specifically. That’s not supporting women and she should be called out on it. I don’t want to hear the excuses for her. There were countless other celebs who marched and are well known. And there were others like Lady Gaga who couldn’t march but have always been active in this cause.
But while we are at it, where was Selena “let’s use our voices for things that are important,” Gomez?
She’s the same as Taylor. Protecting herself and Taylor’s brand is what’s important. Selena is only Latina when convenient for her as well. She doesn’t speak on anything except to tell minorities to stop picking on poor Taylor. She was wise to stay silent on Saturday. They both have zero depth and are the epitome of fake
Really??? She just cannot win. I see nothing wrong with what she did. She is either trying too hard if she comes out strong or she didn’t do enough if she says too little or nothing. Where is it said that celebrities have to say or do anything? Others did, GREAT, but I will take what Taylor did rather than Madonna who, yes, SHOULD be having meetings with Secret Service, and I am NOT a supporter of our new President (hurts to say President Trump), cannot stand the man.
The problem is she wheels out feminism when it suits her. Specifically trying to use it to deflect any justified criticism. But when it comes down to an actual public display to support other women’s rights she can’t even shell out support in real time.
If chica was totally apolitical it would be fine, it’s that she tries to use a cause to self serve and then can only muster luke warm interest at best when it actually mattered.
THIS. We almost always hear Taylor talk about feminism as a response to her critics, we never hear about her feminism when it has to do with specific issues that affect women in general, not just her. I would like to say that this criticism that is being aimed at her right now is undeserved but it’s a genuine question.
Right, you can’t pull the “we need to all stand together as women” “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women” talk only when it suits YOU! That is what bugs me about her, and I’m a pretty big Taylor apologist.
Singlewoman: President Tweeter comes out more easily for me. That’s more respectful than my previous preference for the guy: President Stupid. Take your pick.
So now we’re harrassing people who don’t express opinions exactly like we want them to?
Don’t get me wrong, I am NO fan of Taylor swift. I dislike her for a myriad of reasons. But she is a woman and an adult and she has a right to make a decision about what she wants to participate in. I didn’t march because I get panic attacks in crowds, but I donated to PP this weekend (and again yesterday when babyfists essentially defunded them)- and I got an unbelievable amount of hate and snark from friends. We have to be better than this.
She doesn’t owe sharing her political opinions to anybody. But it does seem like the princess wants to piggyback on other people’s activism.
I was more shocked with Gwen Stefani. Did she do or say anything about the March?
Well she’s with Blake so she might be a lost cause as well now.
Nah. October 2016 at the White House. These are adorable photos with the Obamas. And she brought Blake. If anything, maybe she will be a good influence on him.
https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*UC7sxHBYj-hQlNKt2FZO3g.jpeg
http://www.celebdirtylaundry.com/wp-content/uploads/gwen-stefani-blake-shelton-state-dinner.png
https://s2.dmcdn.net/dmWaa/x720-Gu0.jpg
I don’t think Gwen has ever been real political as far as tweets. When Pharrell stood by Ellen’s disinviting the singer/preacher on one of Pharrell’s songs because of her homophobic remarks, Gwen retweeted his visit to Ellen. She tweeted about the campaign she’s involved in for education for children stricken by poverty, but not, per say, political tweets.
Gwen, in 2012, did a fundraiser at her home for President Obama’s re-election, and Michelle Obama attended. Gwen did it as a family-day fundraiser, where children could be invited also, not just adults. Four hundred people attended. Gwen did joke she had just had a play date with First Lady Michelle Obama.
Gwen was a guest and performed for President Obama’s last State Dinner at the White House last October 2016 and Blake accompanied her and he got on stage and performed their duet. And she brought her kids to meet the Obamas before the dinner.
I’m going to advocate against bashing someone for only sending out a Tweet. It feeds into the rants I’m seeing circulating among conservative women (all of which seem to have been written by the same person) in which they claim they are being bashed for not marching. I don’t believe they are but going after Taylor would support their position. And I don’t want them to have any ammunition to support their platform of self-hate.
Lightpurple good point
I think it’s more about the fact the she tweeted very late in the evening when most marches were finishing and were declared successful with a big celebrity turnout. Plenty of celebrities sent tweets in the days before the march like Beyoncé or St. Vincent.
And plenty did nothing at all. Far more important to me is what Trump did to women Friday and yesterday.
The significance may not have hit her until she saw what was happening around the country and the world. She obviously has a strong preference for avoiding the appearance of partisanship, and the marches were quite obviously anti-Trump. So it’s a big change (and a big risk) for her to even tweet what she did.
I’m out of a lot of loops because of physical problems and work distractions (every computer big and small in the house now hates me and my isp is down more than up, I’m having net withdrawal symptoms and going over my cell phone data allotment). So I knew about the March in Washington and some sister marches but had no idea there were hundreds of them in the US and other countries until Saturday. The aerial photographs with that delightful pinkish/purplish hue from the pink pussyhats were what really struck me. That sudden awareness of the hugeness (YUUUGENESS) of this historical event might have happened to her also. I’d give her the benefit of the doubt concerning motivation. Certainly screaming at her no matter what she does or doesn’t do isn’t going to help her, or anybody watching the screaming, evolve in her thinking or in her comfort level with public statements on political issues. That’s more likely to keep people silent. Carrots are much more effective than sticks.
The numbers were fantastic for such protests. My mind was boggled, and I did support work for local, state, regional, and national war protests for a number of years. For every person there, you can bet there were many many people not there who supported the issues whether or not they said anything about it in public before or after. So I would never complain about anyone making a post-event tweet rather than promoting the event beforehand. A certain combination of life events and perceived urgency and physical/psychological abilities has to happen before most people take that step of going to such a protest. Most women did not attend the marches, and that doesn’t mean anything about their support for the issues addressed.
Good point. While she’s not my favorite and her handling of this is not IDEAL, let’s be real it could be FAR WORSE (aka outward Trump support, which could influence her tween fan base).
Thank goodness you are here lightpurple. I was starting to feel I was the only one feeling that way. It has been hard to read the mean tweets directed at Taylor simply because she didn’t support the cause the way they wanted/expected her to. Any support should be welcomed, not criticised.
If holding people to ransom for things they have said or done in the past is a thing now, I have a lot of explaining to do!!
“Republicans buy sneakers too.”
Michael Jordan
But of course Michael “I only care about myself” Jordan who always comes late to the cause would say that. Some things are bigger than money and at some point in your life (especially when you have more than enough damn money), you need to take a stand for what’s right, not for what’s going to add more money to your already overflowing coffers. Hell, Michael only made a donation to the building of National African American Museum only after it was pointed out that he was one of the few wealthy African Americans who hadn’t yet donated to the fundraising cause.
And Michael Jordan is known to be a deeply unpleasant, rude and selfish human being.
@Jessie Oh, no. He was one probably my top childhood hero. I knew he was fairly unpolitical, which troubled me, but I didn’t know he was rude/selfish. I really hope that’s not true. I had a life size MJ poster in my room that I could use to measure my height. I went to the Bulls parades after they won championships. Oy, vey.
Feminism happens on her own terms.
She excludeds other women and I kind of got a feeling she wasn’t much of a feminist after she made a song for Fifty Shades Darker.
Boy, did that tweet get to me – like, REALLY, girl, REALLY?? Had she not called herself a feminist to promote 1989, had she just stayed mum about all of it, had she been a 19 y o minor celebrity afraid to speak up and have to face loads of ig hate comments (btw did you notice Taylor didn’t post anything about the march to her 96.5 mln ig??!), I would’ve let this slide, but that tweet? Embarrassing. Her lack of any sort of genuine support for the cause was so apparent.
She’s a mediocre popstar, why should she be political or an activist?
Did people really expect Taylor to be a political voice? She never was.
From day one it was clear that her feminism is purely brand related so I’m not surprised that she tweeted support only when she realized that the marches had been a huge success.
Following her PR book I would expect a public donation to PP in a few days, but then that would alienate the same fans she doesn’t want to upset by being political.
I believe it’s called “Dixie-Chick-itis.” Remember what happened to them after the lead singer made a fairly banal comment about W. at a concert? Swift knows her audience is and isn’t about to go down that road.
I feel like this wouldn’t have been such a big deal if 1. She hadn’t been pushing her new “feminist perspective” these last couple of years and 2. We have seen countless times how far she’s willing to go when she truly cares about something.
Taylor, girl, if you’re going use a Madeline Albright quote to defend yourself, maybe don’t give lukewarm support to those actually standing up for the rights of women.
Taylor is a convenient feminist.
Pretty much, yup.
It does seem odd that she only now starts tweeting support. I like Swift, but she’s sat on the fence for a loooong time. If she wants to change her tune after all this time, she needs to offer a bit more of an explanation for all of us who’ve been wondering where her voice has been.
Third wave feminists are bullies, as seen in these comments. Why does feminisms from developed countries never stand up towards women from Afghanistan or Iraq? Last time I checked I had the same legal rights as men, if not more in some cases in the US.
I don’t blame Taylor for not wanting to get involved in such an idiotic movement.
Idiotic movement? #alternativefacts
LOL
I think this might be “Christy” who wrote that bizarre facebook rebuttal to the march. I totally stand up for women in other countries and we may have the same “rights”, but we are certainly not equal.
How is protesting for equality idiotic? Jfc
@Alexis, not sure what you checked because technically, the Constitution of the United States of America and its amendments only give you the right to vote. But never fear! Senators filed a bill just yesterday to revive the ERA.
Until that passes, I strongly suggest that you read Linda Hirshman’s book: Sisters in Law, the Story of how Sandra Day O’Connor Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World. I suggest everyone read it. It has not been all that long since women were unable to get trials before a jury of peers, have credit in their own names, pass on spousal benefits from their veterans and social security benefits and many, many other things. Did you know that it wasn’t until the 1990s that there was a ladies room for US Senators? So female staffers had to travel long distances just to go to the bathroom?
20% conviction rates for accused rapists. Pay inequality. Only about 1/4 of senators are female.
I wish you good luck.
And we could talk about women in war-torn countries right after you figured out how you internalized all that misogyny.
@Alexis, why do you make the assumption that feminists in developing nations do not stand up for the rights of women elsewhere? I can tell you personally that I’ve donated money, received training and written articles to stand up to human trafficking, a global phenomenon. I’ve supported female entrepreneurs and mothers through organizations like Kiva and Food for the Poor. These are just a few examples. Are you from Afghanistan or Iraq? I’m wondering why you’re specifically concerned about those two countries. Anyway, I responded to you because I’ve seen this claim floating around a lot that US feminists don’t fight for women abroad to have freedoms. Fighting for rights domestically and globally aren’t mutually exclusive. You can do both, and many feminists do. They have rallied behind the SaveOurGirls campaign after Boko Haram kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. They have fought for Saudi Arabian women to get the right to drive, etc.
On paper, you may have the same rights as men, but we know that pay inequality remains a problem and that single mothers in particular are most likely to live in poverty here. We know that women lose tens of thousands of dollars in the workplace after having children. Women are woefully underrepresented in Congress or in STEM professions or trade jobs. We know that women are disproportionately affected by rape and sexual abuse and that our healthcare needs are not addressed. The U.S maternal mortality rate is well below other countries. Untold numbers of women have died from heart attacks, simply because we don’t present symptoms of heart attacks in the same way men do, which is what doctors, for years, were trained to notice. There’s so much more to say.
She’s only a make believe feminist when it’s convenient for her and her marketing campaign. Why anyone is surprised she wasn’t more involved in the election or the Woman’ March is beyond me. Just look at the crap she’s pulled over the years when it comes to other women. As someone else said she’s a Taylorist.
To quote Taylor Swift after Tina Fey made a joke about her: “Theres a special place in hell for women who dont support other women.”
Exactly.
A ton of female stars (actors/singers/directors/other types of artists) weren’t there. Let’s start bashing all of them one by one Why is she singled out? Lots of strong women in the industry weren’t there. I get it. She’s all about girl power and uses it when it helps her. Still, she’s one of many that weren’t there. Even Lady Gaga wasn’t there.
But I agree that I also believe the tweet was self-serving. It wasn’t made until much later, after it was over, when she realized the big deal it became and the historical significance. This wasn’t some little march. Three million marched (estimate).
I was in bed sick Friday and Saturday. So I watched almost every speaker at D.C. It was awe-inspiring. Then I would click to the coverage of the other marches as it was realized how most were underestimated and how huge this march was growing all over America, and other countries participating. It was exciting to witness it unfold all day, even from bed with a fever and nausea. LOL
Honestly, I don’t think its a problem if she doesn’t want to spend time talking about politics. Maybe shes worried it will hurt her brand, maybe she just doesn’t know enough about them, maybe she’s decided that is something personal and the world doesn’t need to know. Point is, she has her reasons whatever they may be.
As for the march. Maybe she was sick, maybe she was busy working on a project. Maybe she was advised by her team not to attend…again who knows.
I know Taylor Swift is not perfect. She definitely has done some problematic crap. But I think its super sad the way some people vilify her. Or the way people make it out to be that she cant be a feminist. Do people do more to raise awareness then her? Sure, but that doesn’t mean that she suddenly no longer believes in equal rights. You don’t get to pick and choose what people belong. You can be a woman who is a CEO with kids who is a feminist. You can be a married stay at home mom who loves to bake cookies and be a feminist. You can be a stripper and be a feminist. And you can be Taylor F****** Swift and be a feminist.
And seriously to the commenter who said she wasn’t much of a feminist for a doing a song for 50 Shades Darker? I have no desire to see the film, but I’m not gonna fault people who do like it. Her writing a song – yes a SONG – does not mean she is against women having equal rights.
All of this!!
Also 50 shades is shitty but consensual. She signs contracts and blah blah blah. Different strokes for different folks.
People are criticizing Taylor swift the phenomenon not Taylor swift the person. We none of us know her. And she is a bloody hypocrite and when you are a public figure, you are practically selling yourself and naturally you would get called out for the hypocrisy.
+1
I don’t know about this. I think she wanted to be under the radar after her horrible late 2016 PR fiasco. Also, I think if she did go, she’d still be criticised. Regardless, she may not be a genuine person but I don’t really expect much from her. So my feelings are meh. She tweeted support. No need to overthink that she’s riding on it.
What are her education qualifications, if any?
The talentless child of white mediocricy and white privilege is a feminist the same way Megyn ‘Santa and Jesus are white’ Kelly is. Period.
i’m tired of taylor, and i’m someone who likes her music, never hated her, and i’ve always defended her. i did feel that much of the criticism she used to get was misogynist, and it was unfair.
now though? i’m truly annoyed. the message she gets across is that feminism is just shallow girl power, which is infuriating. she has the means to do far more than that, and yet she doesn’t.
(admittedly i’ve always wondered whether the reason for her reluctancy to speak up is because she’s a trump supporter. isn’t her best mate karlie entangled with trump’s lot?)
I am really starting to dislike this woman.
She’s just very self involved. I didn’t expect any political statements from her because she’s mainly concerned with her own career and how to make herself look good, not with women’s rights or people in less privileged positions than herself. It might become a problem for her though if people are waking up and demanding more involvement from their artists other than what looks good on paper. Not a bad lesson to learn for her if she ever learns it. But I’m not a fan so I don’t expect anything from her.
If she was actually a feminist and missed the march for personal reasons it would have been better to take on some of the criticism and say, you know what, you’re right, I have a young female fanbase and I should have been there. But she’s not so she won’t.
So now we have expectations of Taylor Swift that do not involve music?
WHY?
She monetized feminism to make a huge cash grab with her female fans then she clams up when women are under attack. She was so pressed over a joke about her that Tina Fey/Amy Poehler made that she said, months later, there was a special place in hell for women like them.
i hardly find her music important enough to claim “monetizing feminism,”. It isn’t as if she socially or culturally compares to Joan Baez.
“We are never ever getting back together.” Guffaw.
Sorry I think this is overwrought and over thought.
I hear she works hard but besides effort…….She’s a mediocre songwriter and singer and the only think I want from her is better music.
Is it okay if the rest of us expect more from someone who talks about feminism ad nauseum, or is it only your opinion that matters? https://www.bustle.com/p/25-genius-shark-tank-products-you-can-get-on-amazon-24790
Taylor, who recently performed with Joan Baez, could learn a lot from her sister suffragette, least of which would be having a backbone. I mean, look at her posture!
I’m sure she was just busy.
See you are the next BLM march Tay Tay.
I love that Ariana Grande was there for the march, my little feminist queen!
I will forever think of Ariana as a donut licker. Sorry.
I’m a pretty big Taylor apologist. But like someone said, she is a Taylorist or a Me-inist. She is all about women being mistreated when it suits Taylor. I give her many props for donating under the radar and going above and beyond for her fans.
I don’t care that she is all about Taylor when it suits her publicly even though she chooses to donate in private, however do not pull out the “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women” line when two female comedians make a fairly benign joke about you wanting to date Michael J. Fox’s son. She seems to pull out “women need to stick together” “girls run the world” stuff when she feels like she’s being attacked. That’s what leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t even mind that she tweeted and didn’t attend a march, I just wish she would be a little less hypocritical.
I just hope people aren’t fickle and just see this movement as the trendy thing to do. Example: the YA i saw buying reusable bags and talking about going green in 2007 are the same people i saw throwing away their bottles and using plastic at the grocery store 3 years later…
Yeah, she shouldn’t have tweeted that, it does seem opportunistic but I didn’t expected much from her and her commodity feminism. Honestly I was more surprised in Beyonce not marching because if someone has exploited the feminist tag for her convenience is her.
The difference is that Beyoncé actually took a stand and openly expressed it. She wasn’t lukewarm about it.
To be fair to Beyonce, the last time she participated in a march (it was for Eric Garner, I think) people were crowding around her asking for photos/autographs; she and Jay Z left early because they felt as if their presence was pulling away from the march’s purpose. So it could be why she decided to stay away.
Beyonce was out there campaigning for HRC, performing at Obama’s inaugurations, tweeting about the march in advance. What more would you like her to do in order to legitimize her feminism?
It’s disgusting that she’s piggybacking on our hard work.
I am sorry but I was a marcher and I didn’t do it for credit or gratitude or even thanks. I did it because I want my 6 year old niece and future daughters (if I have them) to not have to worry and to benefit from my hard work or to piggy back from it.
The reason one should be doing this is because they want to make change, to make the world better not glory. I want to make sure my rights are protected and my nieces never knows a world different from the one she’s known under Obama.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Damned if you do? Hardly. Sometimes you have to get your ass out there, if it’s important to you. You have a lifetime to make money, but few moments like Saturday.
I’m surprised she bothered to tweet at all to be honest. Isn’t obvious by now that Taylor Swift never publicly does anything that she can’t make money from, can’t take credit for, and/or can’t be the center of attention at?
Idk. This is such a weird position to put her in. Is she responsible for her fans? For who likes her? Isn’t that shades of victim-blaming (“her skirt was too short, she asked for it!”)? Do men in the industry ever have to pick sides? It feels like yet another unfair standard to set women who already face systemic sexism. That said, she did bring it on herself for invoking feminism when it suited her interests and strategically staying quiet when it did not.
I don’t understand the “victim blaming” part. we’re blaming her for being a victim of…what?
Some of her squad were loudly and proudly at marches. I don’t know about all of them but Martha Hunt and Lena Dunham were definitely there. I think Taylor doesn’t want to alienate any of her fan base. Disappointing.
She tweeted that shortly after her dad’s post slamming Elizabeth Warren started to viral with her ~fans. Not only did the man grossly target Senator Warren, he did so in a public post. Making it even worse was the one comment on the post being from a good friend of his saying “maybe Elizabeth Warren should go back to being an Indian.”
What? Taylor’s father slammed Elizabeth Warren’s speech at the Women’s March or just her involvement? Do you have the tweet? What a jerk.
Jayna, sorry, I tried to post the link earlier, maybe this time it will work: https://www.facebook.com/scott.k.swift.5/posts/10158158179855500?pnref=story
makes perfect sense that she showed any (late) support because moneybags daddy made a booboo that was going to upset the smarter people in her fan base and those that understand exactly why her banker daddy would dislike a woman unafraid of calling out corruption and greed.
what?!?! why would moneybags banker have a hate-on for warren?!?!? said no one.
if her dad isn’t in reality part of the problem why is he so butt hurt about warren?
she’s a product of her upbringing. swift’s hypocrisy was learned at home.
like davos, where billionaires and the powerful come together, after climbing over and using as many people as possible, to ponder what to do about the disappearance of the middle class.
it has only taken a couple of decades for these idiots to realize without a strong middle class there is no money to take, no consumers for their products. no way to keep the $$$$ flowing in.
hopefully they discussed how to barricade themselves into their luxury compounds because when people have absolutely nothing left to lose they will be coming for those at the top, the creators of misery, those that chose satisfying their insatiable greed at the expense of being decent human beings with ethics and morals. at the expense of others. the disenfranchised won’t be coming to talk, either.
destroy the planet, rape the very system that propelled their rise, destroy human rights. make it so difficult for the unwashed masses to simply survive.
they should have been discussing how to protect themselves from each other. they are their own worst enemy.
smh.
as for swift herself, she’s a moron trapped forever at the age she was when she first achieved her success. a hollow success that would never have happened if she had to make it on her own volition, without help. a success that never would have happened despite the help of her parents had they been anything but wealthy white schemers.
she’s never been anything but a high achieving teen with mediocre talent and since she refuses to grow emotionally, educationally, or professionally she will forever remain the mediocre teen her parents whored out.
enjoy your hollow life taylor.
Dang sis, go in! Well said!
How did her parents whore her out? She wanted to be a singer and they had the means to make that dream come true and she had the bare minimal talent.
She got success because people wanted to hear her.Period. No one is going to buy a song they don’t want to hear.
There are a billion singers who have the talent and don’t have means to make it, but that’s life, and vice versa.
Taylor obviously had people who wanted to hear her and liked what they heard.
I’m not going to fault someone because their parents worked hard and had enough money to help there kid achieve there dreams.
Taylor had enough drive to work to get there, by using her talents as a singer and a song writer.They gave her a stepping stone.
Let’s not discredit her.
Plus whatever her dad says has nothing to do with her views.
I don’t even like Taylor but god that is unfair.
koolaid, maybe my comment is a little harsh, maybe it would sound better to have written her parents robbed her of the opportunity to grow and deepen as a person because they decided it would be better for them all to push her out into the system before she had developed any remarkable talents outside of being a high achiever instead of saying they whored her out.
regardless, her parents ensured her arrested development by “helping” her make her “dreams” come true.
i blame them for that but i blame her for not pursuing it on her own as an adult.
i have a great disdain for parents that want to create a superstar child. it doesn’t end well often and the person that suffers the most is their own child.
but, hey, so much money must be worth it.
I am no Swift fan but I think this attack on her is wrong. I think there are a lot of valid things to attack Taylor on but this one isn’t. I also think this kind of crap hurts us going forward. Like America said in her beautiful speech at the march the opposition knows how to stay united they want us divided that is its goal so picking apart Taylor because she isn’t the “right kind of feminist” or “feminist enough” is only hurting our agenda moving forward. And yes I know she really just cares about herself but who cares just ignore her.
Honestly, the goal of the other side is to divide by petty stuff and they have been good at it for a long time, we need to stay focused that FEMINIST ISSUES AREN’T JUST ABORTIONS: its all of the following:
Criminal Justice Reform
Environmental Protections (did you know the GOP is working on a bill to sell off our NATIONAL PARKS to miners?)
Equal Pay
the Economy
Health Care
Child Care
Equality for all
the list goes on and on
We can’t sit here and pick apart who is the better feminist or guess what they will push their agenda and we will get nothing and the march will be meaningless. Hate Taylor Swifts music, find her squad problematic, and yes she is got serious blind spots on intersectionality but stop letting people pick us apart because it is how we will lose, and not just the women’s movement but the country.
Amen.
Hmm…seems Taylor and Hiddleston were more suited than they realized. Both are out of touch celebrities.
I think if your profile is high enough (i.e. Angelina Jolie…etc) you have a not only a remarkable opportunity to change the world, but perhaps even an obligation. Taylor’s platform is one of the broadest in the world, she could have real impact. But alas, she has proven herself to be either too immature, lazy or privileged to care about those around her unless it impacts her bottom line. It is a waste of a golden opportunity to reach even greater heights as an artist and a human. And Beyonce’s activism has endeared her to her community of fans, not ruined her career; so that whole theory of bottoming out a career to is nonsense. It really is in the delivery.
Cheap shot at Tom. He has worked for UNICEF for years.
Ditto to the cheap shot taken by the Daily Beast. Tom’s Globes acceptance speech may have been problematic, but his commitment to the work done by UNICEF is more than just “cause of the week” activism designed to burnish his reputation. It clearly goes far beyond Swifty’s Twitter lip service to the Women’s March.
There is a reason why we have the right to cast our votes in private in this country. She is not a Supreme Court nominee; she is a freaking POP SINGER. IMO it is ridiculous to call such a person out for keeping her political views to herself.
When asked why they were marching, many participants in the women’s march could not even articulate an answer beyond “many reasons.” Apparently a democratic election is too much for the left to handle. If Hillary had won and the right had pulled the same violent crap the left pulled on 1/20 and 1/21, I’m pretty sure the left would be appalled by the right’s violence, pettiness, childishness, and bizarre refusal to accept a peaceful transfer of power.
The limo in D.C. that was set on fire? Belonged to a Muslim immigrant who estimated it would cost his company $70,000 to replace. Good job, left. Good job.
There was no violence at the WOMENS MARCH. Are we giving up free speech for Trump?
@Nymeria. 3.3 million people took part in the Women’s March, and there were very few arrests. Thousands of people protested Trump’s inauguration as well, and there were few arrests relative to the actual numbers of protesters. It’s very unfair to characterize tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands (in the case of the Women’s March) based on the actions of literally a few. Also, I’m not sure where you saw that the marchers didn’t know why they were there. It’s safe to say many were there because they felt they needed to take action after a man who bragged about sexually assaulting women was elected president. And, yes, these marchers have a right to protest Trump, even if he was elected by a democratic process. Freedom of speech is one of the principles our country was based on. That said, I certainly would’ve supported anyone who protested a win by Hillary. I don’t have to agree with protesters to support their right to protest. That’s what being an American is all about. It’s sad that so many people are invested in the red/blue dichotomy that they’ve forgotten basic American principles.
Most likely she is still grieving over the DNC screwing over Bernie Sanders. Give her a break.
I wonder how many people criticising Swift also criticised Cumberbatch when he spoke out on politics?
many of us are feminists that believe in better educational opportunities for women, equal pay, better maternity benefits, support abortion rights.However we are republicans or liberatarians and thjs women’s march as well as almost all women’s organizations aha e become a proxy for the democratix party., otherwise why weren’t these marches held during other admins-yes, even president l ama who paid women less than men fkr the same positions. Let’s fight for true women’s positions and no, they don’t have common ground with other groups and often are conflicting.
I consider my self a feminist do to the good many woman’s have may me fill, as Taylor dose, but I will not loose masculinity nor will I jeopardise my right and my freedom to become a perfect Human, Instead I choose to keep “Fighting Dragons with you” Taylor so Sweet.