We Need to Talk About Taylor Swift

I grew up with Taylor Swift. Unabashedly, I can say that her first albums have been the soundtrack to my life. As she’s transitioned from country to pop to folk, then back to pop, I’ve seen her through many controversies, some of which have faded into the collective back of our minds, some of which still linger, and a select few that have completely turned people against her. Like many celebrities, I’ve seen her both loved and hated, celebrated and bullied (I still remember when she had to defend herself for her dating history in a way no man has ever done or will ever do) but there is something unique about Taylor Swift that invokes the best and worst in people – and for good reason. 

Sure, she seems charismatic, bubbly and nice online. She’s making bank for herself by re-recording her albums pre-Big Machine Records, releasing exclusive merch, and giving fans the hidden tracks and collaborations they’ve been foaming at the mouth about for years. But lately, I’ve noticed that there is something incredibly calculated about how she conducts herself behavior-wise in the public eye. Her album announcements, her letters to fans, how she reinvents herself with each album, the passionate fandom she’s built online all serve to create a marketable brand that she’s curated very carefully over the years to sell her product and make money off her music. 

Sure, every artist does that. In this capitalist society, who wouldn’t? But there are few artists who talk to their fans the way she does, like a close friend, seemingly being very open and vulnerable, so that they will staunchly defend her with their lives even when she messes up or does something wrong because they feel like they know her – and that’s where the problem lies. If she has a certain hold over people through a toxic parasocial relationship, what’s to stop them from failing to keep her accountable?    

Because of how much she controls every perception of her image, I really don’t know what she was thinking when she started associating herself with Matty Healy. For years, he’s been known to spout slurs and kiss fans at concerts and is a well-documented Islamaphobe, homophobe, misogynist, racist and just about every other -phobe and -ist. But really, this isn’t about Healy. While I do believe that he should not have the circle of influence he has and that he should be held accountable for his actions, this is more about Taylor Swift going against everything she believes in – which, ironically, isn’t much. 

If we look at her career through the years through a social justice lens, it becomes clear just how sparingly she speaks about politics, using it only when it benefits her, when it feels safe, and when it works in her favor to win brownie points from fans. Early on, she staunchly steered clear of politics and was very open about staying out of anything “controversial,” blaming the country music scene as “hostile” towards political activism. Only to then turn around in 2019 and release a music video in allyship with the LGBTQIA+ community for her song “You Need to Calm Down” that felt underwhelming and pandering, and, notably years after it was generally accepted to be a gay ally, too little, too late. Sure, people can change but the whole thing felt weird and disingenuous, a feeling shared by many others in the community. It happened every time she tried to be politically progressive in what is now known as her “political activism era,” like wielding her feminist anthem “Bad Blood” with her all-girl crew, sending critical tweets at Trump, and mourning Roe vs. Wade only after it’d been overturned.  

That feeling reappeared again last month when it was announced that she was collabing with rapper Ice Spice for her remix of “Karma,” which felt simultaneously random and calculated. How could it be a coincidence that at the moment she was being flamed for dating a racist she decided to put out a song with a Black artist (yes, it’d likely been planned for months but her timing felt eerily deliberate), especially when she has never collabed with an artist of color in the entirety of her career? And on top of that, an artist who was bullied by the racist she was dating on a podcast? And then to not even have it be a good remix, it became a layered situation that made Swift look bad no matter what angle you looked at it. It was bad all around, only added even more fuel to the fire, and brought her past transgressions out of the woodwork. 

In this day and age, it’s hard not to be politically active or outspoken about issues you care about, even if it might earn you backlash online. Unless, I guess, you’re a wealthy white woman whose problems have nothing to do with and are not affected by most social justice issues. Now more than ever, it’s become clear that as a white feminist, Swift is not interested in making noise above her music, speaking up unless it affects her, or dating people with select political affiliations. As a white woman, that is her privilege but one that, I’m noticing, more and more white celebrities are less willing to wield in a world that feels constantly on the edge of violence. Sure, does she owe every single one of her political beliefs to her fans? Maybe not. But does she need to be held accountable for being the only one staying silent? Absolutely.   

Now that she’s no longer dating Healy, it’s scary to me how quickly people and her fans forget everything that just happened within the past month. How much her wealth and influence protect her and allow her to be so easily forgiven as the (undoubtedly) talented musician she is. At the same time, though, I think we have to stop expecting white people, especially celebrities, to be our liberation. If she wants to stay nothing, there’s not much even her fans can do. But I hope it encourages others to see the price of staying silent and truly, how much can be gained by speaking up about our truths.