Swift was recently given an honorary doctorate of fine arts from New York University (NYU). And despite receiving the award at a critical juncture in our nation’s history, the singer remained apolitical in her 25-minute speech. Her apparent silence on the issue has been an ongoing point of contention for fans. The singer took to Instagram to promote her boyfriend’s new Hulu show but did not mention the many dangers facing women in the US.
Fans have expected ‘feminist’ Taylor Swift to be more vocal about abortion rights and Roe v. Wade.
After catching some flak for remaining silent during Trump 2016 campaign, Swift vowed that she would use her platform to be more vocal on political issues even telling The Guardian in 2019, “Obviously, I’m pro-choice.” In this same interview, she declared herself a feminist. But fans have repeatedly noted a lackluster response to women’s issues. RELATED: Why People Are Accusing Amber Heard, Jada Pinkett-Smith & Blac Chyna Of ‘Toxic Femininity’ The singer has, over the years, voiced her support for LGBTQ rights and gun violence issues but her particular branch of feminism seems to be somewhat self-indulgent given her habit of picking and choosing where she lends her voice. — dana (@danaschroath) May 14, 2022
Taylor Swift often uses feminism only to advance her own interests.
One major scandal involving Swift was when Scooter Braun bought the rights to her music and sold it to a private company in 2020. Swift claimed she was not given the chance to acquire the rights herself and has made numerous attempts to paint the shoddy business deal as sexist. Though there is an important conversation to be had about the way female artists are treated in the industry, there is no denying that Swift was still the ultimate benefactor of this deal. Under the guise of feminism, Swift has rereleased her old albums, likely gaining her more wealth and media attention than if the music masters had been given to her in the first place. This act isn’t inherently bad but when it is juxtaposed with her silence on an issue that impacts so many more people than just herself, her feminism feels hollow. Then there was Swift’s infamous feud with Nicki Minaj back in 2015 after Minaj called out the VMAs when her groundbreaking music video “Anaconda” was snubbed from several nominations. RELATED: NYU Is Offering A Class On Taylor Swift In Their Spring Semester Minaj called out MTV for repeatedly nominating “women with very slim bodies” and hinted that there may be racial bias. — Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015 Overlooking the many important issues Minaj probed, Swift instead accused Minaj of trying to “pit women against each other.” Though Swift later apologized, the response shows the singer’s repeated habit of minimizing issues that affect marginalized women by instead focusing on how it affects her.
But celebrities are not politicians and Taylor Swift is not going to save abortion rights.
Though she has influence, the singer is not a lawmaker. Are fans misguided to expect that she would have spoken up for them in any meaningful way? The backlash Swift has received perhaps also exposes a wider societal problem of looking to celebrities for guidance on major human rights issues when we should be directing our attention to the politicians who failed us in the first place. RELATED: 9 Strict Rules Taylor Swift Allegedly Makes Her Boyfriends Follow Sanika Nalgirkar is a writer who covers entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.
