Author Spotlight
Luke Beil
It has been a cruel summer (and fall) for anyone in Kansas City that has bad blood with Taylor Swift’s hit albums or her love story with Travis Kelce.
Someone has to say it: the level of obsession Swifties have for Taylor is unhealthy and needs to stop.
Before all the Swifties attempt to burn me at the stake, I do appreciate her style of music and I do listen to her songs from time to time — I understand why people are fans. However, there’s a difference between being a fan and having a detrimental obsession.
I’m talking about the following behaviors: spending tens of thousands of dollars on concert tickets (in the case of Kansas City $14,000 for the best seats) or filming yourself sobbing like a baby while watching a recording of her concert in a movie theater.
A riot began outside a restaurant during a rehearsal dinner for producer Jack Antonoff just because she might be there. Hell, the USA Today hired a reporter to exclusively cover her.
Swift-mania is getting out of hand.
Sure, excessive fandom isn’t unique to Swift. There’s lots of cult-like fandoms all over the internet like Beyonce, The Grateful Dead and “Star Wars.” But specifically Swifties’ obsessions aren’t healthy for a number of reasons. No one is trading thousands of handmade Star Wars bracelets outside of movie theaters like how Swift fans were doing at her concerts. Swift fans who didn’t get tickets even waited in parking lots outside of gates just to hear her concert.
There’s a lot of traits people appreciate about Swift as a person: she comes across as personable, kind, warm and affectionate. She stands up for causes she believes in like LGBTQ rights, gun violence and sexism. However, her public image is artificial.
Swift is an exceptional manager of PR. Ask a Swiftie how they know about Taylor’s life. They might say her documentary Miss Americana (which happens to be produced by her). Everything we see from Taylor is very carefully manufactured to create this unrealistic perfect image. But in reality she’s not flawless.
Swift’s public feuds with ex-friends and boyfriends range from immature to toxic. She’s a serial monogamist that makes Pete Davidson look inexperienced. She loves to rant in her songs about how much she despises her exes and it’s all their fault that things didn’t work out.
Yes, Taylor advocates for inclusivity for women. But she’s also a 5’11’’ blonde white woman who meets all of our culture’s standards for beauty. Working out, wearing makeup and being styled by fashion labels undoubtedly makes millions of girls feel bad about their appearance.
Plus Taylor makes it known that she advocates for progressive politics like climate change and animal conservation, while ironically being a frequent flyer in her private jet.
Her plane released more than 8,000 tons of emissions in a year, which is 1,000 times greater than the yearly average for an individual, according to SlashGear.com. Even though she’s loaning the plane out for other people to ride, that’s still a crazy amount.
Taylor’s reputation aside, the bottom line is that there are more important things to focus on. Millions of people listening to a re-recording of an album that is ten years old is fine, but they shouldn’t overshadow completely new albums by other artists like Olivia Rodrigo. I’m tired of the NFL broadcast cutting to Travis’ mom and Taylor looking awkward as they hug.
It’s more important to read articles about the death of hundreds of people in the Middle East than yet another one about the way Taylor clapped when Travis scored. But that’s all Swift’s fans ever want to hear about her, so that’s what the media gives them.
Seriously, let’s end the obsession.
The author isn’t wrong, but not exactly right either, and the April 3rd commenter makes essential points.
As men, we have to remember that we created a male-dominated society that excluded women. Hence, what we like is normalized, what they do is viewed with skepticism – they’re frivolous and overly emotional, right? Who cares what they think?
That attitude is a bad look for men and creates an unhealthy culture.
Sports are a great example:
• Men spend thousands of dollars on tickets.
• People who can’t get tickets gather outside sports venues.
• Fantasy sports are so ubiquitous ESPN has shows about them.
• It’s routine for fans to riot after winning or losing a championship game.
• Drunken, loutish behavior is common in and out of stadiums.
But whether those things are viewed as positive or negative, they’re also viewed as NORMAL. Analogous behavior by women is not. Men must be alert to that kind of thinking and work past it.
Other points:
On the idea of a public persona, I appreciate that she “comes across as personable, kind, warm and affectionate. She stands up for causes she believes in like LGBTQ rights, gun violence and sexism.” I wish more men did. As for being artificial, of course it is, like every celebrity’s persona.
I think being a serial monogamist is healthier than hooking up with random groupies.
The “private jet” riff needs to be put out to pasture. Yes, it’s wasteful. But can you image her flying commercial? It would be a nightmare.
Finally, yes, it’s “more important to read articles about the death of hundreds of people in the Middle East than yet another one about the way Taylor clapped when Travis scored.” But whether they focus on Taylor Swift, the NFL, celebrity gossip, etc., very few people follow serious news.
People love to criticize “the media,” but the fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves. Media outlets used to cover foreign affairs at a loss because they felt they were supposed to. Once media was corporatized and expected to turn a profit, the lowest common denominator became the only way to survive in an environment where newspapers can barely afford paper.
When it comes to “the media” (and the government, for that matter) we have what we’ve chosen. If people wanted to be informed, they’d support serious news. If people wanted functional government, they’d vote for serious people.
People vote with their feet, their dollars, and their ballots, and this is the result. No point blaming anyone else.
This article is deep rooted in misogyny. You speak of Taylor Swift fans spending thousands of dollars on tickets and merch, suggesting this is abnormal and a problem. What about all of the football and soccer fans (a group dominated by men) who also spend vast amounts of money on tickets to games and merchandise. They too cry when watching games. Yet, these fans are not presented as crazy or abnormal, in fact it is normalised. This article is just another example of how women’s interests are positioned as less than and mocked mercilessly by the media and how art is not deemed as viable until male-led audiences do so. What about the violence, aggression and vile language found at Premier League football games & even more worrisome, the fact that domestic violence increases when England loses a game? You do not see these things at a Taylor Swift concert & I think they are much more pressing issues that girls having fun at a concert!!
Furthermore, the portrayal of fan girls as hysterical and crazy conflates girls’ admiration with mental illness as such words (particularly hysteria, which is linked to the Latin word for ‘womb’) is embedded in patriarchal assumptions from the 19th Century, when hysteria was considered to be a legitimate female disorder. Let fangirls be fangirls and write an article about something which actually matters (like domestic violence and racial attacks from football fans)?
Also actually take some time to read my response and maybe do some research into this because you are just adding to the never-ending patriarchal representations of teenage fan girls! Don’t just dismiss this.
The majority of her exes are players and not even worth Taylor’s time. She is much better than them and she is real and loyal but their all dooshbags or cheaters. It makes me sad for her. Yet she’s the one being accused and shamed. Olivia Rodrigo is great too and I agree with a few points this article made but I’d much rather read another Taylor Swift article than one about some war in the middle east coz that’s too depressing. Like others I am more immersed in her life than my own. I mean think about it. Her life is really interesting to keep up with whilst who tf am I? OK whilst some fans are maybe a bit extreme but I mean what’s not to love about Taylor? She’s extremely talented and from all that I’ve read she’s a very nice person to everyone she meets and she’s totally gorgeous. Like OK maybe some of us have a bit of an unhealthy obsession or whtv. But yk.
You guys are clearly swifties you should get a life!
The fact that you can’t handle an opinion piece like this without immediately resorting to a personal attack says it all. Many of you exhibit extremely unhealthy behaviors.
Well no actually thanks!
Bro get a life