Hi Ali, I hadn't followed Taylor Swift, even though she is hugely famous and popular. I only decided to research her music this week as she was on tour when I was in Liverpool and then she was in Dublin when I returned home. :)
I happened to be on a late train going home just after a packed-out concert in Dublin last Friday night. Wow! What great energy when all the Swifties go on the train!
I got curious and asked one of the fans why she loved Taylor Swift. She was quite innocent, saying she liked the heartbreak songs, the friendship bracelets, and that Taylor loved cats. She mentioned Taylor Swift had a new boyfriend, but the sense I got from all the young girls/women was that they were rooting for Swift as they wanted to see her find love and not be treated badly by guys.
They also said she was very strong standing up to a record label who tried to bully her. Also, a rapper tried to humiliate her when she was receiving an award for best singer-artist to which she gracefully said nothing, disappeared for a year, and came out with a powerful album called, 'Reputation' which made her extremely successful and popular again.
I got a laugh when I listened to her song, "The Man". It's brilliant! :) She is well aware of what people say about her and how society perceives single women.
Oh I love this interaction you had. I'm not a Swifty myself. But I love everything she stands for. I love how she gives women and girls the power to smash that glass ceiling. Have a grat time in dublin.
No, she doesn't need to be a Christian to break social norms and that's where I think her power is. But, I believe men and women are very different and so girls need to guard their hearts.
"The men owning women sentiments of this make me shudder."
YES.
And:
“What young girls truly need, perhaps without fully recognizing it, are role models who provide both authenticity and actual depth, rather than artificial narratives and superficial glamor.”
Clearly he’s never listened to her music and his lazy research only went as far as celebrity magazine stories about her having had boyfriends. Great writing. (insert eye-roll) Had he done a professional job, he'd have listened to at least four songs and learned from them that there's little about her work that's artificial (or artificial-sounding). Had he done a professional job, he'd have watched her doc or listened to one of the many interviews available (for free!) on YT and discovered glamor doesn't seem to be a priority for her.
It's hard to be offended by men who take the position of wounded, insecure boys; it's more offensive to me that a magazine like Newsweek published this empty rant that likely took him five minutes to pound out in the middle of a Budweiser binge.
Totally agree. There are always going to be those men who write this sort of trash. But WHY, oh WHY give them a platform and publish it. This isn't even a fine line between opinion and hate speech. It is full on hate speech toward women!
Ali, I'm always so grateful when you share these examples of warped expectations of women with us. Thanks for standing up for unmarried women!
Thank you Sandra, I just can't not. The patriarchal BS is reductive of all women and I can't stay silent on it.
Hi Ali, I hadn't followed Taylor Swift, even though she is hugely famous and popular. I only decided to research her music this week as she was on tour when I was in Liverpool and then she was in Dublin when I returned home. :)
I happened to be on a late train going home just after a packed-out concert in Dublin last Friday night. Wow! What great energy when all the Swifties go on the train!
I got curious and asked one of the fans why she loved Taylor Swift. She was quite innocent, saying she liked the heartbreak songs, the friendship bracelets, and that Taylor loved cats. She mentioned Taylor Swift had a new boyfriend, but the sense I got from all the young girls/women was that they were rooting for Swift as they wanted to see her find love and not be treated badly by guys.
They also said she was very strong standing up to a record label who tried to bully her. Also, a rapper tried to humiliate her when she was receiving an award for best singer-artist to which she gracefully said nothing, disappeared for a year, and came out with a powerful album called, 'Reputation' which made her extremely successful and popular again.
I got a laugh when I listened to her song, "The Man". It's brilliant! :) She is well aware of what people say about her and how society perceives single women.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbEekLA7J3Y
Oh I love this interaction you had. I'm not a Swifty myself. But I love everything she stands for. I love how she gives women and girls the power to smash that glass ceiling. Have a grat time in dublin.
Yeah, she's strong and confident. I like that. :)
However, she is not a Christian, so I don't know where she's going with it so I could not say I support or follow her.
I don't believe she needs to be a Christian either to be a good role model to young girls. But I appreciate that may be important to you.
No, she doesn't need to be a Christian to break social norms and that's where I think her power is. But, I believe men and women are very different and so girls need to guard their hearts.
"The men owning women sentiments of this make me shudder."
YES.
And:
“What young girls truly need, perhaps without fully recognizing it, are role models who provide both authenticity and actual depth, rather than artificial narratives and superficial glamor.”
Clearly he’s never listened to her music and his lazy research only went as far as celebrity magazine stories about her having had boyfriends. Great writing. (insert eye-roll) Had he done a professional job, he'd have listened to at least four songs and learned from them that there's little about her work that's artificial (or artificial-sounding). Had he done a professional job, he'd have watched her doc or listened to one of the many interviews available (for free!) on YT and discovered glamor doesn't seem to be a priority for her.
It's hard to be offended by men who take the position of wounded, insecure boys; it's more offensive to me that a magazine like Newsweek published this empty rant that likely took him five minutes to pound out in the middle of a Budweiser binge.
Totally agree. There are always going to be those men who write this sort of trash. But WHY, oh WHY give them a platform and publish it. This isn't even a fine line between opinion and hate speech. It is full on hate speech toward women!