The Women’s March was held on January 21st as a protest against Donald Trump. It received a response of over 4 million people marching across the country and around the world. Many well known celebrities also attended the march and spoke up about the importance of standing together. One thing that many people were wondering was: Where is Taylor Swift?
Now, I would just like to make it clear that nobody is expecting every single celebrity is attend the march. No one is calling anybody who didn’t participate a “fake feminist”. We understand that not everybody has the time to go, and some may not have been in a city where a march was happening. Obviously, that applies to celebrities as well. But, the reason why people are targeting Taylor is because she is constantly labeling herself as a feminist. It’s part of her brand.
Taylor has mentioned feminism when Kanye West interrupted her at the VMAs. She claimed feminism when Kanye wrote lyrics about her without her consent, which turned out to be untrue. She went against Nicki Minaj about pitting women against women when Nicki made comments about the exclusion of people of color at award shows, which weren’t even directed at Taylor. Yet, despite how many times Taylor has talked about feminism, she is often silent when it comes to feminist issues.
When the story about Kesha’s legal battle against Dr. Luke broke out, Taylor simply donated some money to Kesha, without ever mentioning her case in the public eye. Although Kesha would’ve needed and appreciated the financial help, her case became important for women as it showed the way women who speak about their sexual assaults are treated. With a platform as big as hers, Taylor could’ve easily spoken up, not to just support Kesha publicly, but to also support victims of sexual assault. But, she stayed silent.
Taylor loves to talk about feminism when it makes her look like the victim of misogyny, but still refuses to use her voice to stand up for actual feminist issues.
The media loves painting Taylor and her exclusive group of skinny, white women as “squad goals” or the ultimate feminists, however; none of them ever talk about issues concerning women unless it has to do about themselves or their group. Taylor Swift has made feminism her brand, but, even though she is an extremely popular celebrity, she barely talks about real feminist issues.
