Friday, October 26, 2012

In Defense of Taylor Swift

Unless you live under a rock, you know about Taylor Swift's new album. It was released on Monday, and with the album have come the haters.


I have seen tons of hate towards my girl Taylor. And I take it way more personally than I probably should (seeing as I myself am not Taylor Swift). The hate is coming from all sides. It's one thing to hate on her music, because everyone has an opinion, but what gets me is people that are hating on her persona. They see her good girl image as just an act: that she's fake, immature, etc. I think that in the age of social media, Twitter and Instagram especially, an image like that is pretty hard to create if it's not at least based on something real. Maybe that's just me being naive.


I saw one article calling her a feminist's worst nightmare. Whoa there. I think that's a little harsh, and I beg to differ. I love Taylor Swift, because I feel like she stands for the same kind of feminism that I do. The kind where just because you can wear something revealing or outrageous, doesn't mean you have to. The kind where being soft and kind is embraced and seen as strength, not weakness. What's wrong with being a good girl? What's wrong with appearing on talk shows in knee length skirts? How does that make you someone to look down on? Who do we look up to now? Girls that flip off paparazzi at baseball games. Nice.

So say what you will about Taylor. Hate her music, but don't hate her. Remember that there are girls sitting at home wearing cat socks (read: me) who look up to her. Who see a little bit of themselves in her and hear their stories in her songs. Who feel that falling too fast or too hard isn't a sin, and that being you is the best you can be, even if it means laughing at your own jokes and baking by yourself. 


2 comments:

  1. Taylor is kind of a crazy girl, but that's why I love her. She has no problem being like yeah, I fell too hard too fast for a stranger, sure I threw my phone across the room at my boyfriend, but it is what it is. And maybe part of it has become a persona that sells, and maybe it is a little bit fake. But she's a good girl in the media - silly, sophisticated, modest. Why would we discourage that? I think that for someone who is so intensely in the spotlight and scrutinized by the media, she does a pretty good job of staying grounded and as real as you can be. She just seems like the kind of girl you could run into and spill all your secrets too, and I kind of love that.

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