#ex swiftie

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

Taylor Swift is a Female Rage icon? Get a Grip.

I’ve just received word that Taylor Swift is calling her show “Female Rage: The Musical.” Here is my very much pissed off response to that nonsense:  

The phrase, Female Rage has an intimately rich history:  

Some of the first accounts of female rage dates to the Italian renaissance. To be clear, women in those days were not allowed to become painters- the arts were seen as the domain of men. They did not believe that women have rich inner lives capable of delivering the type of artistic innovation with which renaissance men were obsessed.  

However, rebels abounded, through the might of their fucking rage. Several women created some of the most compellingly emotional paintings I’ve ever fucking seen. They did it without permission, without financial support, and often under the threat of punishment. They did it as a protest. In paintings like “Timoclea Killing Her Rapist” by Elisabetta Sirani (1659), and another by Artemisia Gentileschi “Slaying of Holofernes” (1612) as it depicts the bravery of Judith as she slayed a traveling warlord out to rape Judith and enslave her city. The painting often is referred to as a way Artemisia was envisioning herself as slaying her rapist. These paintings were used against these women as proof that they were unfeminine- and far too angry.  Both these women suffered immensely for their audacity to call attention to the violation men perpetrated on them. Female Rage bleeds off these paintings- bleeds right through to the bone-deep acknowledgement of the injustice women faced being barred from the arts and having their humanity violated in such a sick way. Both women were hated- and considered far too angry.

In philosophy, also as early as the 15th century, an example of female rage is a philosophical text, often hailed as one of the first feminists works in the western world, written by Christine de Pizan titled The City of Ladies (1405). She wrote in protest on the state of women- writing that “men who have slandered the opposite sex out of envy have usually know women who were cleverer and more virtuous than they are” (“The City of Ladies”). People mocked her all her life- but she stood fast to her convictions. She was widowed at a young age with children to feed and the men wouldn’t let women have jobs! She wrote this book and sold it so that she could feed her family- and to protest the treatment of women as lesser than men. Her work was called aggressive and unkempt- they said she was far too angry. 

In the 18th century, a young Mary Wollstonecraft wrote, A Vindication of the Right of Women ( 1792) upon learning that the civil rights won in the French Revolution did not extend to women! She wrote in protest of the unjust ways other philosophers (like Rousseau) spoke about the state of women- as if they were lesser. She wrote to advocate for women’s right to education, which they did not yet have the right to! She wrote to advocate for the advancement of women’s ability to have their own property and their own lives! The reception of this text, by the general public, lead to a campaign against Wollstonecraft- calling her “aggressive” and far too angry.  

Moving into modernity, the 1960’s, and into literary examples, Maya Angelou publishes I know why the caged Bird Sings (1969) in which she discusses the fraught youth of a girl unprotected in the world. It beautifully, and heart-wrenchingly, described growing up in the American South during the 1930’s as it subjected her to the intersection of racism and sexism. The story is an autobiographical account of her own childhood, which explains how patriarchal social standards nearly destroyed her life. Upon the reception of her book, men mostly called it “overly emotional” and far too angry. Maya Angelou persisted. She did not back down from the honesty with which she shared her life- the raw, painful truth. With Literature, she regained a voice in the world.  

Interwoven into each of the examples I have pulled out here, is the underlying rage of women who want to be seen as human beings, with souls, dreams and hopes, yet are not seen as full members of society at the behest of men. They take all that rage, building up in their souls, and shift it to create something beautiful: positive change. Each of these cases, I have outlined above, made remarkable strides for the women as a whole- we still feel the impact of their work today. They were so god-damn passionate, so full of righteous anger, it burst out into heart-stopping, culture-shifting art. Feminine rage is therefore grounded in experiences of injustice and abuse- yet marked too by its ability to advocate for women's rights. It cannot be historically transmogrified away from these issues- though Taylor Swift is doing her best to assert female rage as pitifully dull, full of self-deprecation, and sadness over simply being single or losing money. She trivializes the seriousness with which women have pled their cases of real, painful injustice and suffering to the masses time and time again. The examples above deal with subjects of rape, governmental tyranny, and issues of patriarchally inspired social conditioning to accept women as less human than men. It is a deadly serious topic, one in which women have raised their goddamn voices for centuries to decry- and say instead, “I am human, I matter, and men have no right to violate my mind, body, or soul.”  

The depictions of female rage over the last few centuries, crossing through many cultures, is an array of outright anger, fearsome rage, and into utter despair. The one unyielding, solid underpinning, however, is that the texts are depicting the complete agency of the women in question. The one uniting aspect of female rage is that it must be a reaction to injustice; instead of how male depictions of female rage function, (think Ophelia), the women are the agents of their art with female made- female rage. They push forth the meaning through their own will- not as subjects of male desires or abuses, but as their own selves. That is what makes the phrase so empowering. They are showing their souls as a form of protest to the men who treat women like we have no soul to speak of.  

Taylor Swift’s so-called female rage is a farce in comparison. Let’s look at an example: “Mad Woman” (2020). I pull this example, and not something from her TTPD set, because this is one of the earliest examples of her using the phrase female rage to describe her dumb music. (Taylor Swift talking about "mad woman" | folklore : the long pond studio sessions (youtube.com)  

The lyrics from “Mad Woman” read “Every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy/... And when you say I seem angry, I get more angry”  

How exactly is agreeing with someone that you are “crazy” a type of female rage in which she’s protesting the patriarchy. The patriarchy has a long history of calling women “insane” if they do not behave according to the will of men. So, how is her agreeing with the people calling her crazy- at all subversive in the way that artworks, typically associated with concept of female rage, are subversive. What is she protesting? NOTHING.  

Then later, she agrees, again, that she's “angry.” The issue I draw here is that she’s not actually explicating anything within the music itself that she’s angry about- she just keeps saying she's angry over and over, thus the line falls flat. The only thing this anger connects to is the idea of someone calling her angry- which then makes her agree that she is... angry. So, despite it being convoluted, it’s also just not actually making any kind of identifiable point about society or the patriarchy- so again, I beg, what on Earth makes this count as Female Rage?  

In essence, she is doing the opposite of what the examples above showcase. In letting an outside, presumably male, figure tell Taylor Swift what she is feeling, and her explicit acceptance of feeling “crazy” and “angry,” she is ultimately corroborating the patriarchy not protesting it. Her center of agency comes from assignment of feelings outside of herself and her intrinsic agreement with that assignment; whereas female rage is truly contingent on the internal state, required as within our own selves, of female agency. As I stated above, the women making female rage art must have an explicit agency throughout the work. Taylor Swift’s song simply does not measure up to this standard.  

Her finishing remarks corroborates the fact that she's agreeing with this patriarchal standard of a "mad" or crazy woman:

"No one likes a mad woman/ You made her like that"

Again, this line outsources agency through saying "you made her like that" thus removing any possibility of this song being legitimate female rage. There is simply no agency assigned to the woman in the song- nor does the song ever explicitly comment on a social issue or protestation of some grievous injury to women's personhood.

She honestly not even being clever- she's just rhyming the word “crazy” with “crazy.” Then later rhyming “angry” with “angry.” Groundbreaking stuff here.  

Perhaps Taylor Swift is angry, in “Mad Woman,” but it is not the same type of rage established in the philosophical concept of female rage of which art historians, philosophers, and literary critics speak. Instead, it is the rage of a businesswoman that got a bad deal- but it is not Female Rage as scholars would identify it. In “Mad Woman” I fear her anger is shallow, and only centered on material loss- through damaging business deals or bad business partners. She is not, however, discussing what someone like Christine de Pizan was discussing by making a case for the concept that woman also have souls like men do. In her book, she had to argue that women have souls, because men were unconvinced of that. Do you see the difference? I am saying that Swift’s concerns are purely monetary and material, whereas true examples of female rage center on injustice done against their personhood- as affront to human rights. Clearly, both things can make someone mad- but I’d argue the violation of human rights is more serious- thus more deserving of the title “Female Rage.”  

Simply put, Taylor Swift is not talking about anything serious, or specific, enough to launch her into the halls of fame for "Female Rage" art. She's mad, sure, but she's mad the way a CEO gets mad about losing a million dollars. She's not mad about women's position in society- or even just in the music industry.

She does this a lot. The album of “Reputation” was described as female rage. Songs in “Folklore” were described as female rage. Now, she’s using the term to describe TTPD, which is the most self-centered, ego-driven music I’ve heard in a long time.

Comparing the injustice, and complete subjugation, of women’s lives- to being dumped by a man or getting a bad deal- wherein she is still one of the most powerful women of the planet- is not only laughable, but offensive. 

[singing-like-a-bird-about-it-now]

Everything about ttpd makes me cringe.

Actively playing into the victim thing by hinting at her ex doing her wrong, when the album wasn't even about him. Doing nothing to prevent the hate he got from the Easter eggs she was leaving, and instead fueling it when she goes on to make it clear he already has mental health issues.

Using an aesthetic that does not relate to the album because poetry and dark academia explore deep emotions, not whatever power trip spiral she's on.

Calling her personal tantrum female rage the musical when female rage is supposed to attribute to the wrongs done to women by virtue of our societal structure.

The fetishism of cheating/wanting someone who is with someone else. How the fuck is fortnight a lead single when it outright says toxic things like 'your wife waters flowers. I want to kill her.'

And just when it can't get worse, the music video. That awful triggering harmful music video. Psychward aesthetic?!?! Thats an aesthetic now? And that too from a woman who has publicly said 'I've never been to a therapist because I just feel very sane?'

Stop. Just stop.

(Also whatever that song was with the hint at outing someone bisexual. Wtf)

[lumoskillercrispin]

I think another reason Joe is getting so much hate from Taylor and Swifties that isn’t talked about is…

He is proof Taylor is the problem.

When they started dating it was doing the time everyone was calling her a snake. Which she might not have deserved it when it came to Kim and Kanye but she is still a snake. She always has been because she will attack anyone that she believe she is justified to.

Anyway, Joe and her staying together for so long allowed Taylor and Swifties to tell the world that she was never to blame for all her failed relationships.

Even when she wrote songs about how she causes/caused problems in joe and her relationship him sticking around meant that all those other men were terrible for not putting up with it.

Now that the relationship is over she and her fans are back in the same position they were before him. Were non Swifties are once again proving Taylor is the problem. This has caused her and them to have to try harder to convince the world she is only a victim.

Taylor won’t take personal responsibility for her actions ruining her relationships and her fans, cult honestly, refuse to see her true colors so they are all taking it out on Joe.

Honestly this is disturbing behavior.

[that-was-a-bit-stupid-of-you]

fucking hate how difficult it is to leave something. taylor swift has been in my life for 4 years and she inspired me to start writing poems, her talking about learning to play a guitar if you're a writer cuz you're already halfway there made me pursue guitar, her songs have helped me with some of the most difficult times in my life, and god I loved it. I loved the excitement, the happiness, how fun it was seeing the outfits, the tours, the releases. And now she's just someone who blames her fans for calling out racism, ruins the planet, is a billionaire, dates racists and xenophobes, uses mental illness and asylums as an aesthetic to profit off of, and god knows what else. Fuck.

[listonstuff]

I am seeing alot of criticisms for tay like never before. This album release was the last straw and more people are coming out and calling out her bullshit. Her antics are exposed now and im so shocked at how many things she got away easily bc of her innocent facade she was pulling all this long. Even i was blindfolded.

Incredibly disgusted by her behaviour of her openly claiming racist man and calling her own fans vipers. Im glad some swifties are calling her out. She might have seen the blacklash. Did she really think she can get away by openly claiming a racist piece of shit and no one would be bothered about it? Even willing to mask out her good girl facade to defend this… creep?

Her silence now really tells that she is seeing the criticisms now. Many music critic articles calling her out and her quick buck album release really tells all she care about is milking the profit and not passion for music.

Only twitter is the cesspool that rides for this lame album. Every social media is sick of her relentless advertising of her mediocre album. Does she know that her only fans will listen to her music and no one even casual pop music enjoyers wouldnt peek into her music anymore. Her 2014 had solid pop hits garnering fans even tho they dont listen to her. Sadly no one is excited for this except her fans.

I wont doubt at all when she pulls another stunt to clean her image off and her hard pr will publish articles about how forgiving and generous she is even though she couldnt let go of the feud that happened decade ag by involving the child too…. Pathetic

I used to be her fan but looking at her state and the moment she decided to dare and flaunt that racist man, she lost so many of her fans. Is it so hard to stay away from that man who openly claims that he would je*k off to dehumanising black women porn ? Such a downgrade from dating a man like joe, an outspoken Palestine supporter to this sleezebag and not to mention her defying silence and refusal to utter a word about Palestine is so…. The allegations about her ideologies are so true right now…. A white billionaire with questionable tactics with no respect to her own self and her not speaking a word about ring wingers aryan goddess worshipping thats happening for years and yet she wants to entertain both side by appearing a liberal queen but not so liberal to piss off her conservative audience.

The soon she realises, the better it will be. Inorganic star status wont withstand long. Swiffers comparing her to mj please

[friendsdontlieokay]

Was extremely sad, devastated and heartbroken when the news of Taylor and Joe breaking up flashed last year, not so surprisingly, my love for Taylor Swift started to dim from back then even if I tried my best not to admit it, I just had this gut feeling that she was actually the one at fault, but sure enough, she was my childhood, my favourite singer and one of my favourite people ever, so I just decided to bury the fact, but how long can you fight with yourself with something you know is wrong, right? Needless to say, in a span of less than a year, I came to terms with it, and honestly I'm more than glad they broke up, I hope Joe's better off now, and I really hope the swifties leave him alone fr.

Joe, who's not as half as much influencial as Taylor Swift, chooses to speak about Gaza especially when Taylor is deriving attention towards him by blaming him, and the least Taylor can do is attend a fund raising comedy show? A comedy show for thousands of innocents and children dying? A f***ing comedy show!? No wonder she and Selena Gomez are best friends, well played for the victim card though ngl.

[satosuguhastakenovermylife]

okay so. ten listens and many hours of desperately trying to like the album I concur that it is mid asf. the production by jack antonoff is lazy and most of the lyrics are badly written. there are some songs i like though but I've kinda given up on most of the album. also I really didn't like how this album was literally just made as clout for the tiktok swifties to go omg poetry omg she's so relatable and for them to overanalyze the lyrics and go hate on joe alwyn. also the glorification of the absolutely shitty guy matty is until things didn't end well with him. I've liked her music for like seven years now and this album was genuinely such a letdown. Although, I enjoyed the songs Aaron dessner produced. i honestly feel like this album is a vent made into a cash grab where she constantly doesn't realise that sometimes taylor fucking swift isn't always right. I've disliked her lately tbh because of a lot of shit like the carbon emissions, the ignorance when it comes to the Gaza genocide, and doing nothing to stop the threats Joe alwyn is getting just because of how in her songs it's hinted that his mental health is super bad and he didn't want to marry her so he's at fault and also not to forget defending that absolute dick matty healy. Liking her and her music for so long has like permanently wired my brain to always defend her and her actions but honestly I'm so done. I'm so conflicted right now just making this post criticising her (and it feels wrong because I do like her older music) but it can't be helped. I'm also really disappointed because she was someone I used to look up to as a kid. Idk I guess this is just my breaking point.

[chongmiz]

scrolled the ex swiftie tag, anthropologically, but i propose a third label which is lapsed swiftie as in catholicism, which is me

[deesi-academia]

how come you dropped swift after ttdp? personally i didnt care much for her and just liked a couple of her songs (while i did think she was severly mediocre), up until the whole private jet thing happened. after that i did turn on her hard and im now a proud anti swift

Hiii I really did a full 180⁰ oopsie- but hey at least I feel like my eyes opened.

Here's the timeline. But to address ttpd only, I'll just summarize it as best as possible. I have too much to rant otherwise I'm sorry-

So. The album was marketed as being based on her ex-bf (Joe Alwyn) of 6 years, with the name itself being a play on her then bf's group chat. Taylor herself liked certain posts and further put fuel into the fire of the allegations that Joe cheated on her. The song titles were very suggestive of Joe being the target of her hate and him being a cheater and a Bad Person.

Then the album comes out and GUESS WHAT. It's mostly about her 6 week fling with a racist rat who ghosted her. There are a few songs (5or6 out of 31) about Joe and they basically suggest that TAYLOR first emotionally cheated on Joe and literally m*sturbated to the thought of that racist rat while dating Joe. These songs also suggest that Joe was depressed and had anxiety, which was just too blue for taylor and so she had to break it off.

Mind you, Joe is the same person who was there for taylor at her lowest in the world. And this is how taylor treats him at his lowest.

This is the short version of my rant but ig you get the gist of why I completely dropped her after ttpd.

[atattookiss]

Not Taylor singing not one but TWO of my surprise songs last night

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

Someone smarter than me needs to do an in-depth analysis on how swift weaponizes sex. So many of her lyrics involve cheating as revenge and picking fights with her partners about other girls. She makes it sound like some godly privilege to be with her and if she masterminded her way into your life you're just soooo lucky. Even "touch me while your bros play GTA" plays into that. Like "why would you want to have fun and game with your friends when ill let you finger me". (Sidenote a bunch of her lyrics and all of Me! sounds like an abusive partner daring you to leave and dare to find someone better) It's creepy how she's so juvenile and egotistical at the same time. She's mastered the "any mention of my bfs, even the underage ones, is slutshaming" move and uses it to get out of any criticism. Like, have all the sex you want be safe whatever but don't act like some sad little girl who got taken advantage of when the game you started goes poorly.

Ask, and ye shall receive. Because this a very insightful observation! Thanks!

It is true that Swift clearly uses sex and sexuality like a "gotcha" moment. I was always quite perturbed by her songs that glorify cheating. It's just so strange, but I think it ties into her enjoyment of revenge fantasies. Anyway, I was planning to write about how Swift's music often engages with and reinforces heteropatriarchal social standards. I think your idea adds an interesting new layer to the ways in which she manipulates through sex- both in the performance of passivity to masculine authority, as the patriarchy, and the ways in which she commodifies female sexuality by weaponizing it.

You're right it's incredibly egotistical and juvenile.

Also, I have a major bone to pick with the way Taylor Swift uses feminism to shut down criticism- like OMG do I have a problem with her there. She's only ever spent her career crying about how "women who talk bad about me are bad women" yet, she never really does or says anything actually feminist. In fact, most of her music, like I said above, reinforces the patriarchy. She herself is guilty of so much slut-shaming, too. I will go into detail, with a real argument, in a separate post soon. And I thank you for pointing out the weaponized sexuality aspect of her, often, overtly patriarchal tone.

BTW- "ME!" is Such a weird song -> "I know that I went psycho on the phone" uhh... excuse me?

[swirlingyouintomypoems]

@taylorswift ❤️

[that-was-a-bit-stupid-of-you]

two ppl in a row asked me if I like hp and taylor swift. um idk what to tell you guys, but you won't like it

[friendsdontlieokay]

Even though I'm starting to dislike Taylor as a person, I must say, her music is still very good, except for the parts where her narcissistic traits show up, and she tries to put people down for her mistakes though

[stefandstuff]

we’ve already done it in my head

[deesi-academia]

hey, I saw the anti swiftie post. If you're comfortable mag I know the reason why? I am kinda neutral about her but I feel like I should know stuff. I understand if you don't wanna answer this. Take care <3

(also I agree the swiftie fandom is kinda annoying lmao)

hello old old old anon ask I'm so sorry for replying so late but yeah hi 😭

I have tons of time on my hands for the next.... 30 minutes so let's get into it. I'll list a time line of my thought process to how I came to the 'ex-swiftie' conclusion:

1. She released a song called "renegade" which is good, but I found some lines problematic and unexpected, because I used to hold swift to a pedestal (guilty as charged).

The lines were 'is it insensitive of me to say get your shit together so I can love you' and 'is it really your anxiety stopping {something love something idk} or do you just not want to?' SOOOOO yeah these thew me off a little.

2. Her album Midnights came out which I ADORED, became my fav so quick. But then her multiple variations of vinyls etc threw me off again. This is when the Bad Feeling About Her started setting in.

3. Then she released the song 'You're losing me' which just BLARED red flags to me even though the song is actually good. It's the first time I think, where she hinted that she broke up with her bf (Joe Alwyn) because of his mental illness.

4. The ongoing carbon emissions controversy lol, and her buying carbon credits... like it just felt like a "hah I'm rich so I can do whatever wrongs i want and buy it out" moment. I really hated that, since I live in a pretty polluted city so it hit close to home.

5. She threatened to sue the teenager who published PUBLIC data about her flights. Bad.

6. The entire free palestine movement gained momentum and she stayed silent. She has her image as the American Princess and Activist Who Can Do No Wrong. Feminist Queen. Speaker For Those Who Can't Speak. Yada Yada.

I simply hated her billionaire self as she chose to stay silent (and still is). To call off the criticism she and her bestie Selena went to a live comedy show where the comedian donated his earnings for Gaza relief. LIKE. ??????? Basic billionaire below underground level of "donation"???? This had to be a joke. It was not.

I think this incident was the final straw for me where I realized I can't support her if she's such a human being. That's not what my morals stand for thank you very much.

7. I REALLY tried to separate the art from the artist but I couldn't. Not with my sane mind and strong ethics. AND THEN the entire Matty healy debacle. He's a misogynistic, racist, zionist, ugh of a person.

I don't think anyone can date someone with such drastic opposing values. So the Taylor-Matty era further tarnished her image in front of me.

8. Fast forward and she releases her new album The Tortured Poets Department. That's it this was my final straw. You can just Google and go on a reddit thread about how problematic this album is. I'll probably write a long ass essay on it. Anyway this is where I decided I'm done, back in April.

Since then I've just been trying to cope with losing my fav artist because of the person she turned out to me. And people say we shouldn't hold celebs to such high standards but bro. Taylor PROMOTES parasocial relationships. SHE held her image to that standard until recently. There's an entire documentary on Netflix about that - Miss Americana.

So yeah she let me down from the pedestal she put herself on. It's been 2+ months and I'm still coping, because I genuinely lost a very important part of my life - her music. It has got me through tough times and I have many good memories associated with those songs.

Anyway, here's to new artists to love ONLY for their music lol 🥂