The Taylor Swift problem(s)
Now, a couple of days ago I talked about how Taylor Swift is living rent-free in the minds of conservatives and driving them mad—and how much I love that. But I don’t love Taylor Swift, and it’s not like this is the first time someone I’ve voted similarly to rubs me all kinds of wrong ways. Even my daughter, with a number of Swift songs in her rotation, is generally irritated with the woma’s demeanor, image, and bearing.
Why am I saying this? Is it because I want the notoriously venomous “Swifties” to descend upon my comments and mentions because I’m a masochist? No. Is it because I love to tear down celebrities or other women? No. It’s because I think she presents and upholds a lot of things that are toxic both in terms of womanhood and whiteness. And as a Black woman who is an anti-racism professional and a feminist, I would not want my post the other day to be misread by people who overlooked my criticisms and qualifications with regard to Swift—and have them assume I’m a fan of how Swift operates.
So, what’s my problem?
Well, there isn’t just one.
First, it’s her image, and it’s something my daughter has commented on before: Swift, who is approaching middle age fast now at the age of 34, seems to be stuck in the persona and mode she created in the early part of her career. That is, she seems to perpetually act like an early 20-something. It’s a kind of self-infantalism that I see as unhealthy in any woman and certainly not a good image to project for people to fawn over and celebrate.
Moreover, she has adopted the same kind of “princess” persona that many white women have cultivated since at least the slave days in this country. It’s the kind of persona where as soon as you misbehave—like having sex with a Black man during slavery or Jim Crow of your own volition and getting caught—you become a helpless damsel who was misled by someone else. And that gets people harassed, fired, assaulted, and even killed on “behalf” of these “delicate” white women.
The thing is that a lot of the women who do this are not damsels in distress. They’re just playing a role and throwing others under the bus. It’s how angry, self-entitled women can sow chaos in stores and restaurants and public and then as soon as they are called on it, they weep and insist they are the victim. I’ve written about the issue of “white women’s tears” before and to me, Swift seems to embody this in a more subtle way. She will play the strong woman role that is more truly who she is, but in a pinch, she makes herself seem weak and in need of protection.
I don’t shame strong women for wanting to be soft and vulnerable at times instead of always putting on a front. I’ve talked many times about the problems of the “strong Black woman” trope that keeps people like me in a state of never being able to talk about our feelings. Certainly, Swift has faced struggles and attacks in the course of her career and has rightly stood up against that at times and she deserves to be comforted at times as well. But that’s not what she does. She creates a false persona of fragility and lets her fans—her stans; the Swifties—go on the attack. And she doesn’t seem to care.
In fact, I’d argue that Swift is one of the most self-centered people in celebrity circles. Her songs seem overwhelmingly about her, of course, but more than that she makes everything about herself. At the Grammys this year, Céline Dion—a musical legend who is fighting a life-threatening illness—made a rare public appearance for the delivery of Swift’s Grammy, and Swift barely acknowledged her and instead decided to promote her next album on stage. It was tacky in so many ways.
And lest you think a Black woman like me doesn’t care for white artists, Dion is legitimately a legend and deserving of all kinds of roses. Black people aren’t just rallying behind Black artists. The other day a guy on social media posted that Phil Collins only had a career because of the song “In the Air Tonight” and you should have seen how quickly Black people came to Collins’ defense. A lot of us, especially Gen X and Millennials, love us some Phil Collins.
Of course, I’ve also now created a segue to talk about Black artists vis-a-vis Swift here. Beyoncé’s fan based (the Beyhive) and Swift’s (the Swifties) often clash and the Swift fans are always quick to tout how much more successful Swift is. Hold up! Swift may have won album of the year four times (despite better albums being in the running, like Olivia Rodrigo’s this year), but Beyoncé has more Grammys overall. She should have won Album of the Year for “Lemonade” years ago because that was a groundbreaking album, and the fact that no Black woman has won Album of the Year ever is ridiculous. But even beyond the number of Grammys or who won what, there is no comparison.
Beyoncé is a better stage performer with dancing and production values that are almost cinematic at times, and she has better vocal range. She’s slightly more successful on the financial front, I believe, and the only place I might give the edge to Swift is in personally writing songs.
Well, I’ll also give the edge to Swift for audacity because I really do believe she’s pumped up high enough to think she’s way better than Beyoncé. And Jay Z caught all kinds of heat for pointing out at the Grammys that his wife won more Grammys and that people other than Swift deserved the Album of the Year nod more—which is par for the course. Woman criticized by Black person must be protected at all costs, even though the criticism was justified, mild, and far from anything one could call an attack.
Basically, in a nutshell, Swift embodies all the worst aspects of womanhood and whiteness that frankly uphold both the marginalization of women and the celebration of white supremacy. Am I saying Swift is a racist or some secret white supremacist? No. But she is upholding systems.
It’s no different than when women rise the corporate ladder and hold other women down or adopt all the worst behaviors of male CEOs. Or when Black people find success and act like that means Black people in general are just lazy if they aren’t getting ahead—as if institutional racism and generations of lost wealth and inability to get ahead for Black people don’t exist. It’s like when so-called progressive white people end up in leadership or guidance roles in groups meant to combat inequities and bigotry and then enforce all the kinds of requirements and obligations that have held back people on the margins.
Just like she is a symbol of all that the GOP fears on the Democratic side of politics, Swift is also a symbol of female whiteness and success that frankly is not healthy, is not progressive, and leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
In the end, I think Swift is more a product than a person—and she’s willingly done that to herself. It’s just a shame that she encourages people to embrace and celebrate all of that, too.