Taylor Swift. A household name. Everyone knows her as America's sweetheart, the country girl turned pop-princess, and the ex-slanderer. In every situation she has been with other celebrities, it has always been a media blow out. I'm sure we have read about many of her famous headlines, such as the stunt Kanye pulled in 2009, her famous relationships, and her concerts featuring the most famous of artists.
Recently famous journalist and TV personality Pierce Morgan featured the superstar in an article, saying why he believes she is an "inspiring feminist icon", when really she is much, much less than that.
Twitter user Saoirse (@Frostbite__) went on a twitter rant about the pop star, explaining why Taylor Swift is not a true feminist and how Swifts feminism "helps no one but white women". In all these tweets she gives evidence into why we should look at Swift differently.
First Saoirse goes into how Swift puts down other women to heighten herself. Swift slut shamed Camilla Belle in her song Better Than Revenge, so much and so obviously that it damaged her career.
Taylor Swift is also known to interject herself into matters that don't even involve her, such as her twitter feud with Nicki Minaj over Minaj's statements of how black women entertainers are not represented and celebrated as much as white female performers. Swift then victimized herself which put her at the center, instead of the real issue at hand. This is a perfect example of white feminism, where she not focusing on why it is harder for black women than white women. Yes, they are both women, but black women have different and worse stereotypes and do not have white privilege.
The most recent Swift vs Female Performer battle between her and Katy Perry, where three dancers who worked in Swift's tour left for Perry's newly announced tour. Swift said that Perry tried to "sabotage" her tour, saying that Perry "tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me." The best part is the dancers were first employed by Perry, and gave a 30 day notice of their departure. The only problem was that Swift didn't understand "how to contract".
Other ways Swift has victimized herself famously was in her feud with Kanye West over a lyric in his new song "Famous". The lyric, which states that Kanye "made that b*tch famous", upset Swift to the point where she publicly stated that she never gave the rapper permission to have that lyric in his song, throwing him to the sharks. In an amazing comeback, Kim Kardashian West posted a video on her Snapchat of Swift's voice giving Kanye permission and praising him on asking her first.
This upset Swift and her celebrity friends very much, names such as Chloe Grace Moretz and Selena Gomez tweeted about it, saying that there were "more important things to talk about". Though there may be more important things to talk about, it seems that the three celebrities honestly don't talk about important things at all. In my opinion the most important tweets I've seen of them are about themselves, their business deals, or about each other.
Saorise also mention that Swift's video for her hit song "Wildest Dreams" was filmed in a "colonial-era nameless country in Africa" and did not include any black people, which obviously doesn't add up. It is also very suspicious that Swift always mentions she is for female empowerment, but "employs little to no women to work on her music."
In a final string of tweets, Saoirse says this:
"Just waiting for the day where Taylor Swift's feminism helps queer and trans women, black women, and women of color, where her feminism doesn't rely on making black women and men out to be mean and or erasing black people all together, playing the victim, and doesn't rely on bashing other women to further herself. Where her feminism includes the acknowledgment of her stark whiteness and how her image alone is used to degrade black female artists. Until then her feminism ain't worth a damned thing."
I love this narrative. How can you say, as a celebrity, that you love female empowerment, that you are a feminist, and that you love everyone when you constantly belittle and put other female performers, not to mention black female performers, down so that you can rise? How can you back stab an artist that you called a "friend"? You give feminists a bad name, not to mention feminists the same race as you. And to think you are a role model for young girls.
Feminism is about giving each individual equality, no matter what race, sexuality, or gender. Feminism is not a tool that you use to make yourself look or feel better. It is a real thing that all genders use to make us equal to each other. Feminism does not put people down. It is a tool to heal, not to divide, and it should bring peace, not greed or hatred.
To see Saorise (@Frostbite__)'s tweets, check this link: http://therealstarfire.tumblr.com/post/14611640382...
