I’m not really certain what the fuss is about. She talked about voting Democratic some years ago. Which should not be much of a surprise, to be honest. I mean, I know The Chicks have never recovered from the fallout after they dared criticize a sitting POTUS. Jane Fonda is still reviled by some for visiting Hanoi over 50 years ago.
I know the standard has been to insist women not criticize the (white) male power structure but that doesn’t mean much to the young women of today, who see in Swift a cooler older ( or not) sister or cousin who sings to their lives, telling their stories.
This is an almost exclusively male forum so I don’t think you all realize how utterly absent women’s voices have been in …society. I’ve mentioned before how common it has been to look at the movies playing in our local movie theater and see not a single film of the 6 or 8 playing that featured a female actress. And the outrage when a film dares to be predominantly about female experiences, or a female POV that is not centered around supporting if not idolizing men. Shit, it’s considered a fucking gimmick! For reference see the thread about Barbie ( the movie) or the Ghostbusters film featuring a female cast and a male actor in an overtly sexualized role, in parody of countless films which featured women in exactly this same way.
Nearly 92% of the inductees into the Rock N Roll Hall of fame are male. Most music producers, bookers, dj’s etc. are/were male. Most films are written by/for makes, cast by males, directed, produced by males about maybe, if we’re being generous, 3 themes centered in male fantasies, heavily imbued with violence.
I am still startled on those rare occasions when I turn on a newscast ( granted, almost always PBS) and see the full panel female newscasters. Pleased but startled. It’s hard to explain how it is for a woman my age to see even tiny bits of the world not male dominated. Some months ago, I had a minor eye surgery. My surgeon was a woman abd so we’re all the people in the operating theater. They’re making casual chit chat with me before they administer the anesthesia and hearing where I’m from, got excited because a few went to school at the university in my town. I said me too and they asked me what area and when I told them cell and molecular biology and biochemistry, they…squealed in delight at having a fellow science nerd in the room.
You cannot imagine what that feels like to someone who heard constantly when she was growing up that boys are just so much better at math and science—and even my own father would look at me when I talked about what kind of career I wanted and tell me that was fine but someday I’d get married and have kids and have to put all that on he back burner. Dad was my #1 cheerleader, btw when I earned all the top grades for everything and all awards for science. Women were just assumed to put their own ambitions, their own wants and needs aside in favor of whatever their husband wanted and their kids needed.
For those of you who have not yet figured it out: It’s a brand new day. Girls aren’t interested in songs about how they neeeed to get him back. Nope. They don’t need him or those sad songs anyway. Nope, they happily listen to songs that tell him to fuck right off if he can’t appreciate their awesomeness.
And Taylor Swift is just the girl for them.
She is wicked smart and not coy about it. She speaks up and out. And they listen because she’s not just telling her truth but theirs as well.
