#hating taylor swift

[marveltaughtmetoread]

Not trying to directly shade anyone but saw a post recently which was anti Taylor Swift because 1) she's overplayed and mediocre, 2) she doesn't deserve her awards because the awards ignore marginalised groups, 3) 1989 sucked and 4) releasing is giving her another chance to 4a) shame a closeted man for being 4b) a womaniser 5) there was also an underlying message towards her not being political in the right way throughout the post

And I just wanna weigh in because Taylor gets a lot of unbridled hatred for what amounts to not being everyone's cup of tea and being popular, like you don't have to like her but so you have to hate her to this extent???

So let's break it down

1) Yeah Taylor Swift is probably overplayed, but that doesn't mean she's not talented, as a fan of hers, her inescapable presence currently is a bit much for me, like no artist deserves this much attention

but she's still a good artist, you don't get to be this big by not being talented, look at all the celebrities who tried to break into music and just weren't good enough, she has to have been talented to get where she is, doesn't mean you have to like her, I hate Nicki Minaj but I also have to admit that she is massively influential and clearly talented to have that influence

2) yeah, the academies are bigoted, and they do ignore marginalised talents, especially those who are vocal about their politics, but this doesn't actually have anything to do with Taylor, like you can argue that she should be bringing attention to the issue and uplifting smaller artists but you can't blame her for the awards being rigged against the marginalised, also she still has to be talented to win the awards because there are a lot of white cishet able-bodied musicians out there, and she still beat them

I get your point and I too hate the awards being bigoted but why are you blaming and holding one artist responsible for this systematic issue, why is Taylor your punching bag for this

3) 1989 isn't my favourite album of hers but once again it not being to your taste doesn't make it a bad album, like Demi Lovato's early work isn't to my taste so I just don't listen to it

4a) who the hell are you to assume Harry Styles' sexuality, Harry is openly gender nonconforming, he openly dates women, whether or not he identifies as queer is none of our business and feeling entitled to him being queer is messed up, do you know how many celebrities have come out and talked about how harmful it was for them to have the public assume their sexuality and have the public decide that they were secretly closeted or in Kit Connor's case act like he was queer baiting the audience for his assumed straightness

You do not have the right to act like you know anyone's sexuality, get off your high horse

4b) Taylor Swift writes songs about her life, she uses her songs as a journal, all of her public relationships have been attached to songs she wrote, she herself actively tries to avoid attaching any particular ex with her songs, she used to encode their names into her songs when she was a smaller artist and a teenager but she stopped doing that as she got bigger and the public scrutiny around her heightened, 1989 specifically alludes to trying to keep her relationships out of public eyes, and being hunted by the media

the media attention on her relationships is not something she enjoys and the speculation around who she dates is something she actively tries to shut down, she's not trying to ruin any of her exes

This I think we can contrast rather clearly with other artists who have written songs attacking their exes and inspired mass public backlash against them, such as Olivia Rodrigo whose hatred was so palpable in her songs that people wrote her ex and his new partner death threats and harassed them even as Joshua Bassett was in hospital with a failing heart, and when you listen to the actions Olivia describes it's not worth it, when you contrast Olivia and Joshua's songs it reads as a teenage relationship that broke up making the death threats fucking ridiculous and disproportionate

Taylor Swift songs have never inspired that same level of backlash, despite describing what sounds like abuse or at least being taken advantage of in some of them, because she doesn't write from a place of anger, her songs tell stories, and give a more balanced view of relationships, people hate her exes for what her songs reveal about their actions but she's not inspiring mass hatred, you have to be actively listening to the lyrics and a massive fan to care about her exes, and, when she performed Dear John on the Eras tour, she prefaced it by essentially saying 'I don't need you protecting me, don't go after him', trying to prevent exactly the reaction Olivia Rodrigo's songs inspired

Back to the shame over being a womaniser, Harry has said he felt flattered by her songs and it was Taylor whose reputation was bashed for dating too much, because, in our sexist society, it is mostly the women who get vitriol aimed at them for who they date not the men, so I don't know how you could think to level this argument against her, like she was very clearly the one being shamed over her body count not Harry??

Also, Style is the only song which alludes to (the man everyone's assumes is) Harry even slightly being a womaniser because he's seeing other women but can't stop thinking about Taylor, which is followed up by Taylor saying "I've been there too a few times" which feels to me like they're both guilty of not moving on even as they are seeing other people, so how is Taylor shaming him for it????

5) Taylor not being political in the right ways is a fair criticism, a lot of people are disappointed in her lack of involvement in politics, what little involvement she does have is shown to be left wing, but it's rare, breadcrumbs scattered across albums and events

I think she's actively trying not to use her influence to be involved in politics because she wants us to be involved, to vote, but she doesn't want to have the power to influence us on her politics and I can see why this is not enough for a lot of people

I personally don't mind, I agree with her trying to not get involved in shaping her fans politics because a person of Taylor's influence getting involved in politics scares me

I don't want every celebrity under the sun giving us a political opinion because they're just not qualified for it and I think Taylor recognises that, so uses her influence sparingly but if you do want your music to be political, it's okay to dislike her for this

[helpimstuckinafandom]

I'M FUCKING CRYING LMAOOO

[aru-and-leopard-cat]

I feel like this has to be said, since it’s becoming increasingly popular to be extremely rude to ppl and trash on their interests (especially on tumblr)

You can enjoy any media you like despite what losers on tumblr tell you that you should and shouldn’t enjoy, be it music, books, or shows and movies. If you’re having fun and enjoying yourself that’s all that matters, lame ass ppl on this site will try and make u feel guilty about what you enjoy and I think that’s stupid as fuck

Listen to pop, watch that popular show, read that book that everyone claims is bad. Who cares, ppl are way too obsessed with being different and unique that they’ll try and squash your interests and enjoyment to make themselves seem interesting

Bottom line, just treat people with kindness and don’t diminish their interests, it’s such a shitty thing to do

[evermoredeluxe]

“i hate it here” is peak escapism and hearing her talk about how she lives in a garden no one else has access to in her mind (unlike the rest of her life) for most of the year is sooooo. made up scenarios and imagining living in the 1800s… it’s giving the lakes except she’s alone and she can’t actually leave. so much of the album is about feeling stuck and this one is about feeling stuck in herself.

[oldhabitsdie]

No mid-sized city hopes and small-town fears

[stillgotscars]

i hate it here - taylor swift

[jakeperalta]

when they found a better planet only the gentle survived, I dreamed about it in the dark the night I felt like I might die

[juuliealbright]

[littlefoxgirlhere]

it's me, I'm girls

[vanessa-rafesgirl]

me since april 19th

[hits-differently]

[shakaprio]

girls will see this and yearn the way house wives yearned for their husbands in the war

[petaltexturedskies]

Taylor Swift, I hate it here

[stargirldotcom]

- love in the mundane

warsh_tippy and zelda- whatever, dad/ minari/ new years day- taylor swift/ @death-born-aphrodite/ stay, stay, stay- taylor swift/ everything, everywhere, all at once/ i will- mitski/ @death-born-aphrodite/ fleabag/ sweet nothing- taylor swift

[stillgotscars]

i hate it here - taylor swift

[nessa007]

“TAYLOR SWIFT IS- ”

“RACHEL ZEGLER IS- ”

“BLAKE LIVELY IS- ”

“CHAPPELL ROAN IS- ”