Taylor Swift covers the new issue of FASHION Magazine (Canada). It’s a decent shoot, but that’s mostly because I love some good coat p0rn. There’s a chill in the air and I want that light grey-ish coat!! Anyway, Swifty is promoting her new album, 1989, and she’s still giving pretty decent interviews. Some highlights from the FASHION article:
On poetic justice: “I feel like writing a song is sort of the last piece of the puzzle of solving whatever mystery I’m trying to solve emotionally. Things that kind of torture and haunt me a little bit are usually put to rest when I figure out a way to say it in a song. There’s a strange, eerie form of justice that happens when someone treats you terribly, you write a song about it, and that song ends up playing all over the world. You know at some point they’ve heard it in the grocery store, and they can’t escape.”
On being emotionally vulnerable: “As a songwriter you have to open yourself up over and over again to pain and rejection – and doing that at the stage my career is in, the stakes are pretty high. So if you get your heart broken, you get your heart broken on the cover of magazines that are all over the world. But I think that it’s important to continue to live your life, and not be guarded or standoffish or keep people at a distance.”
On her changing values: “When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I was just fascinated by romance. I think now the most important thing to me is the opinions of the sisterhood of friends that I have now … I think that my girlfriends have been what has shaped me more in the past year and a half than any other factor.”
On girlfriends versus sycophants: “Celebrities surround themselves with people who don’t know what they want and only have you to validate their lives—that’s not interesting to me. You should not be threatened by women who are pretty and charismatic and good at what they do…my girlfriends have shaped me more in the past year and a half than any other factor. I’ve never had more friends who I trust and can rely on, but there’s always a bit of your self-perception that’s frozen in junior high, when you trained yourself to not feel cool. You’ll never really feel like you’re part of the ‘in’ crowd, but growing up means that matters to you less and less every day.”
Why she sings blind-item songs: “You have to give emotion in order to evoke emotion in people. What I see cutting through are singers who give details and insights about their lives, because people feel appreciative that you’ve trusted them with that information. Being revealing can present itself in different ways—I’ve chosen to do it emotionally because that feels more natural to me.”
Do you believe her? I think she gives some seemingly reasonable and well-explained justifications for why she sings her blind-item songs and why she slammed so many of her exes musically. But here’s the part that I don’t really understand: “there’s always a bit of your self-perception that’s frozen in junior high, when you trained yourself to not feel cool.” There’s a lot wrong with that statement, and she’s throwing it out there like it’s a universal experience. No, Taylor, many of us are not stuck in the junior high mindset of coolness rankings. And I really don’t get “when you trained yourself to not feel cool.” As in… she’s always been cool but in junior high she trained herself to not feel cool and now she’s returning to her coolness? Good lord. This whole conversation about coolness is so middle school.
Also: “You should not be threatened by women who are pretty and charismatic and good at what they do.” Good advice, Swifty. Now let’s see you follow it. Lyrically and in real life.
Photos courtesy of Gabor Jurina/FASHION.
I’ve liked her lately. Still acts childish but you know, all my friends that are the same age as me act on so many different age levels. Some act 14 and some act 35. I love her new song, and I really don’t see her as a snob…she’s bearable to me 🙂
Yeah, I think she’s really self-corrected (the way most of us do after being insufferable in our early 20s) and I definitely relate to the middle-school mindset she talks about. If anyone thinks they’re not still intimidated by middle-school memories, I dare you to go back to a junior high. I’m 32 and you couldn’t pay me to hang out with 14 year old girls for even 5 minutes. Monsters! I also think she does follow her own advice, she’s friends with Karlie Kloss for crying out loud! This write-up is wonky.
Take your own advice sis.
Of course we “shouldn’t” but coming from a gorgeous early 20s “ideal” it’s ridiculous yet lovably naive that she honestly thinks it’s revolutionary to feel that way. Let’s see how she feels at 38, or Gwynnies age, when she’s had heartbreak and she’s not the fresh faced it girl. She will have a much harder time living that philosophy.
And I say that all the while really liking her. I love her catchy pop music and I think she’s impressive as a young woman mogul.
Still, “should”ing us rings a bit disingenuous to me.
I’m more threatened by women who break up with me and then write nasty songs about me.
Yeah, Tay-Tay, you shouldn’t be threatened by women who are pretty and charismatic!
well that’s exactly what she says. That she’s not afraid to be friends with those who are not her shadows, that her girlfriends are successful in their own right. Catch the logic?
Did you already forget that the PR strategy for this Record Of Everlasting Girl Empowerment that contains a song called Styles is a media catfight with Katy Perry? You missed the sarcasm entirely.
So she who was and is desperate to be popular hangs out with whomever is the It Girl of the moment. How fitting.
Totally agree w/ we are all made of stars. People are so easily fooled by her no matter if she openly acts the opposite of what she says. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are not fooled by her though…
Taylor is the most vengeful celebrity I’e ever been exposed to. Men should be staying away from her by now; I don’t hear them kissing and telling, on this very mean woman. She’s logical, but has a huge blind spot – which is in her mirror.
Oh, yeah, go beauty…
How is she threatened by women who are pretty and charismatic? I mean, she’s friends with supermodels like Karlie Kloss and actresses like Emma Stone. I think most of her friends are pretty and successful. Since I don’t know them personally, can’t tell how charismatic they are, but I doubt Taylor is the most charismatic of her friends.
The point is that she’s simultaneously claiming to have finally rid herself of looking at other women in a competitive superficial way (earlier interview) and yetd the PR gimmick for the upcoming album is a catfight with Frosting Boobs. Which is it, i s she over the melodrama and the nastiness with other women, or is she just talking out of both sides of her mouth?
Also, there are plenty of chicks who have their crew but are still competitive and insecure towards othet women. How does she feel right now about Katy Perry?
I understood this as being unlike Mariah Carey. She doesn’t surround herself only with sycophants. I think Taylor tries to cultivate relationships with people who are more on her level. The fight with Katy Perry I understand. If it’s true, that’s professional sabotage. You don’t have to be friends with everyone.
I was just about to feel threatened by her, but now its gone. Thanks Taylor! You so smart.
I feel like she’s talking about herself, lile she thinks everyone is threatened by her. However, I don’t believe her that she’s no longer obsessed with finding love. I feel like she is, but has to downplay it because her new album is about friendship and independence. She still talks way too much about boys to have moved on.
I like her generally, but I think she’s notionally still in her teens for some reason.
Lordy, I didn’t have to “train” myself not to feel cool in junior high. I felt so self-conscious and awkward then. I blushed purple if somebody looked at me.
EVERYTHING embarrassed me in high school. I had no kind of chill. You couldn’t pay me to relive high school again.
It was horrible, wasn’t it? Lol and I wasn’t teased or anything,I just tortured myself.
You are SO COOL now. I’m gonna get a Goodnames tat, and carry your books while walking 10 steps behind you.
Lol. Oh dear, I’m not sure what that says about you, my friend.
The girl needs therapy. She is talented for sure but oh so manipulative. I think just like Gaga’s personality did her in the same thing can happen to Taylor. She is cultivating an audience based on gimmick and will eventually turn off the mainstream.
why would you say that? She is cultivating an audience based on her music. She is great to her fans. Why you gotta hate?
She’s cultivated an audience based upon her horrifyingly and jaw droppingly successful public image which has nothing to do with who she really is or her real actions….it’s even at odds with the way she treats people on her own records.
@Ka
You are truly brilliant and have the guts to tell it like it is. Brava!
I can’t say I’ve ever sat down and listened to one of Taylor’s songs. Everything I know of her is from gossip sites. But I’ve always felt that there is something about this girl that doesn’t seem right. I think this façade is an act. She has Amazing Amy written all over her. Sweet as pie on the surface, but underneath is a devil. She has taken over a person that is a tween’s version of “the cool girl.” The persona she cultivated to sell records. But beneath all that fair skin and lip gloss is a little socio-path. Mark my words. All of this is manipulation. I don’t believe her. Her little spat with Katy Perry said it all.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think that to a large extent, she is taking her own advice. She’s palling around with models like Karlie Kloss and actresses like Emma Stone; her friends aren’t exactly ugly and unappealing.
Agreed.
Co-sign. I just made this remark and didn’t realize you had said the very same thing.
I don’t know…her collection of girlfriends seems more like she’s trying to hard to prove how girl-power she is. She obsesses too much over the philosophy of “cool” to seem genuine. She seems very status-conscious. But maybe they’ll get through to her over time and she will finally become self-possessed.
Good god, she is the Queen of Passive Aggressive, isn’t she? Poor little rich girl. Just STFU, go fra. far away and take your godawful music with you,
She is textbook passive aggressive and that is one trait more than any that I truly find intolerable. I truly think that is the main reason that I simply detest this creepy girl. You would think that as a mother of two young girls that I would love Taylor Swift because she has G rated shows,but The girl makes my skin crawl.
Someone famous (I think it was George Clooney, sorry for the mention again, hahah) once said that you are arrested developmentally at the age at which you became famous. Didn’t she become famous when she was in junior high?
I think she was 16 or 17 when she started, or at least that’s when I first heard of her.
Again, she’s all do as I say, not as I do. Forget that she picks girl fights and acts coy about it. she’s saying all the right things but still doesn’t seem to get it. Not that its possible to be the ideal feminist all the time, but she’s done some blatantly hypocritical things even recently.
No. What she is saying is that she is pretty, charismatic and good at what she does and that people are threatened by her. In other words, “don’t hate me because I’m beautiful”. At least that was my take away.
The context is actually quite clear. She says that the celebrities tend to surround themselves with people who have no personality or interests other than validating that celebrity. She thinks it’s wrong. She likes the fact that her friends are gorgeous talented and interesting, doesn’t feel threatened by them, but rather learns from them and grows through their friendship.
I like what she says, she is a delightful young girl, whose songs I’ve never heard, but still like her.
“there’s always a bit of your self-perception that’s frozen in junior high, when you trained yourself to not feel cool.” There’s a lot wrong with that statement, and she’s throwing it out there like it’s a universal experience. No, Taylor, many of us are not stuck in the junior high mindset of coolness rankings. And I really don’t get “when you trained yourself to not feel cool.”
I think those comments make sense. Remember, she’s still in her early twenties and hollywood is a lot like middle school/high school so the rankings are still, somewhat, valid. You can’t be in the business she’s in at the age she is and not feel self-doubt, self-conscious, and less than – much like some of us did in junior high, Taylor even said she suffered from that big time – and not be transported back to the time those feelings hit you the most – grade school.
One of the ways that some of us, like Taylor, got through the hell on earth that was middle school/high school was by trying to (or fronting like) you had hardened yourself to the concept of being cool or act like it didn’t matter. That defense mechanism, especially when celebs. claim that they don’t care what people say, kicks in when part of your job as an entertainment DOES mean paying attention to how your audience responds to you.
I think what she’s saying, when you take the time to put her words in context, makes sense.
Certainly some people are more popular than others in junior high, but judging by other celebrities’ and models’ comments, everyone seems to think that they were uncool at that age. I think childhood and high school scars can last a whole life, even if they shouldn’t, and it is such an age of angst that people who aren’t the lowest on the totem pole still feel judged and insecure. Personally, I was mocked and ostracized at the beginning of 7th grade, and then by the end of 8th grade, and was in a clique of super popular girls. The feeling of being ostracized lasts much longer I think. Taylor really does seem to be suffering from arrested development though. Of all my friends, the ones who really suffered in junior high and high school still seem pretty bitter about it, despite later success in careers and love.
I think that Taylor’s real motivation is MONEY, and keeping young girl’s identified with her, so she can make it. She manipulates her “truths” to this targeted audience; that possibly she needs to leave behind, to grow up.
Yep….you are right on the $$$$$$!
It matters not if you’re no longer fresh faced and / or have lost a partner to a younger woman.
Being spiritual and aware as an adult human female means never being bitter or hateful towards other women. Love always comes along. Change is always iminent. Trusting in your own worth means never having to compete with others.
I would love to agree with you (and the lovely Taylor), but you know.. the saddest sight is a friendship of a beautiful “queen” with a plain girl. The plain one is not threatened, they are equal friends, but she doesn’t get noticed, always plays the second fiddle, is the background that allows her gorgeous friend to shine. It’s sad and wrong. If the less beautiful girl felt threatened by the beautiful one and chosen herself a more equal looking friend, she would have spared herself a lot of unnecessary hurt, feelings of inadequacy and low self esteem.
“when someone treats you terribly, you write a song about it, and that song ends up playing all over the world. ”
isnt that treating someone terribly? telling the whole world they are horrible without a chance to fight back?
so shall we believe that all of her bfs, funny enough most of them to be thought to be in the closet, have treated her bad? girl, when ALL of your boyfriends treat you terribly you are the problem. Think about your choices. if you literally have ten boyfriends in a row treat you bad, well…either you expect weird things or you always pick the rotten apples.
im very sure none of them actually treated her bad in the sense that he was a bad boyfriend, more like “he didnt do everything that our PR Teams negotiated”. why was she doing that anyway and who in her team thought it would be a good idea to set her up with literally EVERY assumed gay teen heartthrob? everyone can fall for a gay man but like 6 in a row seems very fishy.
Taylor could be such a fantastic woman, very succesful and talented, but as a human being i strongly dislike her. acting so sweet and innocent certainly doesnt help when basically all of your songs are based on bashing your ex boyfriends and most of your interviews consist of you attacking other female musicians.
“isnt that treating someone terribly? telling the whole world they are horrible without a chance to fight back?”
I have to admit that if I were a singer, I would have some songs about conflicts with exes, family members, and peers too, especially if I thought other people could relate to it. I don’t see that as treating someone terribly. Taylor’s problem is that the people she’s dated were known, and she’s done songs about those failed relationships multiple times.
I’m threatened by women who use shrill screaming voices while I’m grocery shopping. If that woman is pretty and charismatic I’m still threatened – she’s still screaming and that ain’t natural.
+1
I like Taylor Swift. I also like that she talks through her issues, even if she can become annoying. She has made a good point ,even if sometimes she doesn’t verbalize it how some might like.
Ugh she is such an immature child. I truly can’t with her.
There’s just something about her eyes that gives me the creeps… It feels like she’s staring into my soul and now knows all my dirty secrets. I’m afraid I’m gonna hear a song about me in the grocery shop.
Also, how come all of her exes treated her terribly? That sounds a bit far fetched OR she has only dated douches, which I doubt she did, because that one kid was in high school. Come on.
The junior high comment was kind of stupid too, but then again she does live in Hollywood. It’s filled with child stars and Bieber’s, so I guess I don’t blame her.
What I think bothers me most about Swifty is the level of hypocrisy. “Don’t be threatened by women that are good at their jobs,” she preaches, while rhyming Katy Perry’s name with mean words and complaining about how she TOTALLY stole those dancers!! Tay Tay doesn’t care that they got better money/insurance/whatever from Katy!! THEY WERE HER DANCERS!!
Taylor swift is a brand not a person. When I see Taylor,I think mannequin.She is spitting out lines fed to her by her PR team. I say this because her actions do not match her rhetoric.
Oh thank goodness, the riddle of life has been finally solved! Lordy, but I dislike this vapid idiot.
Oh my. Gotta love the humble brag. So Taylor has deemed herself pretty, charismatic and good at what she does. I thought it was only our peers who get to praise our good traits and talents. When a person says it about themselves, the conceit and arrogance discredit anything meaningful in what the person is trying to say. She should get to be better friends with Faith Hil. They’re both totally stuck on themselves.
Uh, Taylor, I think you might have the words “charismatic” and “obnoxious” confused.
I think Taylor is reflecting a bit on herself……sometime during her very busy day, she takes out her hand held mirror iphone and repeats to herself….”Don’t feel threatened by Katy, Don’t feel threatened by Katy, Don’t feel threatened by Katy…U are better than Katy Perry.”
yep.
Sometimes charismatic people, men & women, are complete fake bullshaiters. Women can feel out their manipulation. Not intimated by them but they literally make me want to leave them room if they’re in it.
I’m sorry, but I think the girl is doing damage control only. Walk the walk (no, not the pap or cat walk)…The walk, not the talk.
Easy to say when you’re an beautiful and accomplished young woman – I wonder how successful she’d be if she looked like she’d been smacked in the face with a spade….
Might be harder not to feel threatened then.
So did she get her eyes done? They’ve looked different for a while now compared to a couple of years ago.
I do understand what she’s saying, since we do socialize women to compete with each other, constantly comparing themselves to an unreachable standard. Whether or not a wealthy, beautiful, thin white woman is the right person to be delivering that message is another issue entirely.
If Taylor Swift was 5″5′, average looking with brown hair, no one would know who the hell she was.
If she thinks she got where she is today because of her song writing, singing and her supposed charisma she’s delusional.
I finally figured out why I dislike her so much. I thought it was all the whining, but then that doesn’t really phase me if I think a person is genuinely a big neurotic mess. No, it’s that she thinks she’s amazing and special and just the coolest, and she can’t understand why everyone doesn’t agree. When she sings about not being the popular girl at school or not getting the guy or dealing with ‘haters’, the subtext is ‘but I’m so great, what’s wrong with you that you don’t love me?’
She’s basically just like Kanye, except Kanye doesn’t try and hide his ego. If she’d just own her ego, instead of trying to have it both ways, well I still wouldn’t like her but I’d find her a lot less frustrating.
“a strange, eerie form of justice that happens when someone treats you terribly, you write a song about it, and that song ends up playing all over the world. You know at some point they’ve heard it in the grocery store, and they can’t escape.”
Oh my Lord, that is perverse.
It really is!