This article began as a post on my personal blog, but I think it has a powerful message for women, so I decided to import it to Liberal America.
I like Taylor Swift. I don’t love all of her music. It’s generally not my favorite style, though a couple of her songs are on my list of favorites. I like who she is as a young woman. What I hate, however, is the “Taylor bashing.” What is it with grown people and their hatred of this young woman?
My friends and I discussed her on Facebook when I shared her new song Blank Space.?My friend Norm said this:
I don’t understand the hate this woman gets. She’s got talent. It may not be your style, but she has talent. Not a fan, personally, but when I’m forced to listen to top 40 she is the best on pop radio at the moment. And if you say “Mumford and Sons” I’ll f***ing stab you.
I responded:
It’s something you see with all young/kid entertainers. Adults (not kids) who will never be as talented or successful as they are love to tear them down. I don’t really get it either! Do I love her music? Usually not. But she’s a decent kid.?You don’t see kids bashing Bieber, Taylor, Britney back in the day, etc…..it’s always adults. I do NOT get it.
And my friend Catherine nailed it:
They feel REALLY threatened by a beautiful, non-compliant, incredibly talented, non-stoned, musical genius (within her genre) who really doesn’t need any part of the establishment to succeed, and who can and has told them all to go to hell; she’d sell her music herself. {{{{foundations cracking}}}}}
Bam! And THIS, my people….is why we need to address the Taylor bashing. Is this why people are inclined to tear her down??We’ve written about her at Liberal America because she’s coming out as a budding feminist and she is on the attack against sexism. Young male artists don’t face the same criticism that she faces. She points that out in interviews.
Scroll down to read more.
With Blank Space, she did something amazing.?She took the public’s perception of her and bottled it into a song and a video. It’s a song about “being Taylor Swift.” It’s….amazing. Yes, amazing.
She explains?in the video below:
I think as a song writer you have to be pretty well aware of who you are as a person, then I think you also have to have one eye on what people think of you. What the general perception is of you out in the world. In the last couple years I’ve noticed there’s been a pretty sensational fictionalization of my personal life. To the point where it’s sort of like ‘Wow, that too?’ They’ve kind of drawn up this profile of this girl who is a serial dater, jet setting around with all her boyfriends, she can get ’em but she can’t keep ’em because she’s too emotional and she’s needy. Then she gets her heart broken because they leave and she’s jilted so she goes to her evil liar and writes songs about it for revenge.
Most of us can relate to what Taylor Swift is addressing here. We’ve all, at one time or another, been baffled by someone’s perception of us.
This piece shouldn’t be taken as a “celeb worship” piece. As I said, I originally wrote it for my personal blog but decided it needed to be here.?Matthew Perpetua of BuzzFeed said this:
This is the Taylor we’ve been waiting for.
I agree.
Watch the Blank Space video below.
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Tiffany Willis is a fifth-generation Texan and the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.