On the double standards of Taylorâs love life and Swiftiesâ role in Taylorâs reputation
{Fair warning: this is kind of long and I actually originally wrote it during the Ratty stuff but itâs relevant now and this post from @9w1ft (specifically the tweet) made me think that maybe this needed to be really laid out there. }
Disclaimer: I am in no way claiming to know what Taylorâs sexuality is definitively, nor am I suggesting that every relationship sheâs had with a man was fake, or that she is a lesbian. I myself have experienced enough bi erasure and biphobia to know better, but I had to put this out there explicitly so hetlors donât have that as a âgotchaâ.
Swifties have the lowest possible standards for whom they consider to be a boyfriend of Taylorâs.
Their standards are a) the media has to stir something up b) they have to interact distantly in some public capacity before they c) walk around together (holding hands or not).
I can give you the names so many women with whom Taylor acted like that, often for longer periods of time and with more interaction than a couple dinners and pap walks or whatever sheâs done with those men. And thatâs without time to go do research which would doubtlessly turn up more names.
Karlie Kloss, Diana Agron, Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid, Blake Lively, Cara Delevingne, Martha Hunt, Sophie Turner, Lorde, all three Haim sisters, Zoe Kravitz, Emma Stone, Camila Cabello, Lily Aldridge, Lily Donaldson.
(To be clear, Iâm not suggesting that Taylor dated all or most of those women.)
Now, I have no doubt that if most swifties looked up photos of Taylor with a lot of those women theyâd go âthey arenât even doing anything in that pictureâ or âtheyâre just walking side by sideâ or whatever else.
Iâm 1000% sure that if you photoshopped a man into basically any of those pics people would assume theyâre dating because theyâre walking together.
Almost all of Taylorâs supposed boyfriends have had significantly less interaction with her than those women, but people donât hesitate to say sheâs dating the men. Her team can and will deny it, but swifties will add a name to their list anyway, and that creates a whole other problem.
In my opinion, the sl*t shaming that Taylor has experienced for about the last 15 years has been, at least in part, because of swifties who jump to conclusions about men sheâs seen with. When her own fans believe sheâs dated however many guys, itâs that much easier for the media to repeat that and twist it to be negative.
If you wouldnât look at a random guy and girl standing within a few feet of each other or walking together and come to the conclusion that they must be dating, why do you assume that about Taylor? Or, for that matter, does every person of the opposite gender that you associate with have to be your SO?
[And yes that can easily be turned around on Gaylors, but the whole point is that we arenât solely using proximity to link potential exes or lovers to Taylor. We actually do the analysis of the lyrics, we break down the connections, we do the research.]
My point is that swifties have contributed on a large scale to Taylorâs sl*t shaming in a way that should make them think twice about who they claim sheâs dating. Unfortunately as weâve seen with this M*tty situation {and now the football guy}, they donât seem to have the self awareness to realize how theyâve aided such a disgusting campaign of hate.
One more thing: you can say that no one will say those things now anyway because Taylor is on top of the world and they wouldnât dare sl*t shame the Queen of Pop or âThe Music Industryâ. You might even be right. But if you do this and feel no guilt or shame over how your actions may have played a part in the several intense periods of sl*t shaming that Taylor has gone through previously, you need to think about why that is.
Taylor said it best in her speech at the Grammy museum in September 2015. She was introducing Blank Space and talking about the situation that made her write the song.
âIn the last couple of years the media have had a really wonderful fixation on kind of painting me as like the psycho serial dater girl⌠It got pretty out of control there for a couple of years because⌠every article would be like, Taylor Swift Standing Near Some Guy. Watch Out Guy!â
That sounds insane, and it was definitely worse then than it is now, but the fact that itâs happening right now at all is ridiculous. Swifties need to stop helping the media tie Taylorâs name to men as if that makes her relevant. Sheâs a highly awarded singer, songwriter, and performer who has set and broken records (and then broken the ones sheâs set) countless times. Swifties need to stop pretending that dating someone is what makes her interesting or weâre no better than the people who think she only writes breakup songs.