Have we finally reached Taylor Swift saturation point? Right now it’s impossible to move for the micro-updates. From a flurry of amateur sleuths insisting that she somehow found time to write the terrible new spy thriller Argylle (spoiler alert: of course she didn’t) to the Empire State Building turning itself red and white because Swift was spotted eating some chicken with ketchup and “seemingly” ranch sauce (I wish I was making this one up, but alas).
And yes, before the Swifties come for me, I do recognise the irony of using up column inches to complain about over-exposure while actively contributing to it even further, but bear with me.
There seems to be a steadily mounting backlash against Swift at the moment. Some of it is justified — and perhaps even overdue. It is completely fair to critique the artistic world that she has constructed for herself over the years; the way she has carefully positioned herself as a plucky underdog taking on the big bad wolves of the music industry.
In reality, we are talking about one of the world’s most powerful stars making a series of very savvy business decisions, and successfully rebranding the whole thing as an act of empowerment, all while flogging endless torrents of tat from 10 separate merch shops, for every single one of her albums, in the process — 50 quid for a Speak Now-branded snowglobe, anyone?
Over the next week, we won’t be able to move for Taylor Swift updates between the Grammys this Sunday (where she’s nominated for six gongs) and the Super Bowl a week later. There she’ll be cheering on her boyfriend Travis Kelce, a star for the Kansas City Chiefs who are playing the San Francisco 49ers. There is little doubt that footage of Swift enthusiastically bobbing along to Usher’s Yeah! and waving around a red cup full of vodka cranberry during his half-time show will go rapidly viral. Perhaps she’ll even appear as a surprise guest and fill in for Pitbull on DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love?
Yet as much as I despair of the Swift-overload, something is troubling me. Namely, the blatant misogyny coming from certain quarters.
Hard-Right personalities and Trump allies in the US have accused Swift of being some kind of psychological warfare op to secure election victory for Joe Biden
The utterly unhinged commentary has already started. A variety of hard-Right personalities and Trump allies in the US have this week accused Swift of being some kind of psychological warfare op manufactured by the NFL and the Democratic Party to secure election victory for Joe Biden. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, apparently she is also promoting some kind of vague “pro-abortion” agenda along the way.
Already we’re hearing all sorts of backwards drivel — with no doubt more to come — about what an enormous relief it is to see Swift finally dating Kelce: a “real man” who (checks notes) is tall, muscly, and has been known to hold open doors sometimes. What is this, the Fifties?
It really is just more of the same old rubbish. Last year, the Barstool Sports podcast was broadly criticised after its hosts made a series of profoundly misogynist comments. “If Taylor Swift is going to be taking over our Sundays I’m going to need to see a sex tape,” co-host Dan Katz said.
Speaking of such grimly sexualised nastiness, it has also been deeply disturbing watching the Taylor Swift deepfake scandal unfolding this week. The star has become the latest casualty in an epidemic of fake, AI-generated pornography. X — where hate speech appears to be on the rise since Elon Musk’s takeover of the app formerly known as Twitter — was woefully slow to react. One offensive image was viewed 47 million times before the platform temporarily blocked searches of Swift’s name while they removed it.
It’s revolting stuff that, put bluntly, would just not happen to a man in Swift’s position.
Sure, critique her artistry. Question her persona, along with the overpriced guitar pick merch, if you like. That’s fair enough. She has her problems, but this gruesome culture war that has enveloped her demands you take sides. And in this case (overwhelmingly, these things always seem to happen to women in the limelight) a decidedly nasty line has been crossed.
Swift isn’t a psy-op, she’s a star. As she breaks records and reaches new heights of fame she’s facing a very old enemy indeed: misogyny. And I know whose side I’m on.
