Taylor Swift receives unnecessary hate

Taylor Swift receives unnecessary hate

Mariam Jabri

People either love or hate Taylor Swift, and the deciding factor is usually the latest misogynistic news headline.

First off, the body shaming: it’s disgusting and something Swift has to deal with constantly. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at some comments and headlines. “Someone should make a kickstarter to get Taylor Swift a booty,” tweets Diplo, a well-known DJ and record producer. How about in 2014 when news outlets body shamed her: “Starving’ To Be Skinny? Taylor Swift’s Shrinking Frame Under Fire – Top Docs Weigh in.” There is also a comment made by comedian Nikki Glaser in an interview stating how “She’s too skinny; it bothers me… all of her model friends, and it’s just like, c’mon!” The media is always commenting on her weight, and it’s unnecessary and crude.

Another sexist thing people feel the need to comment on is Taylor’s dating life. People in the media have used it as the butt of their sexist jokes, adding more fuel to the T-Swift hate train. For example, in 2021 a Netflix show called Ginny & Georgia referenced Taylor in their show. Ginny, the main character, utters these offensive words that shame Swift over her dating life: “What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift.” That is not the first time her love life was mentioned for entertainment.

There’s more: “You know what, Taylor? You stay away from Michael J. Fox’s son,” said Tina Fey at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards. Do you see a pattern here? Whenever people discuss Taylor Swift it’s never just about her music, and usually tied to her former flings. That perpetuates the narrative that Swift uses men to produce more material for her music, and that she needs them to be successful (You have the patriarchy to thank for that narrative, by the way). In reality, if she needed men to be successful then everybody with a broken heart would have 8 No. 1 hit songs on Billboard’s Hot 100.

The point is, anyone on board the T-Swift hate train is most likely influenced by the media. You don’t have to like Swift or her music, and it’s ok to be fairly critical of her as an artist, but to hate Taylor is unnecessary and–honestly–playing into the media’s misogyny.