FEMOSPHERE

Taylor Swift has been growing in popularity since the early 2000’s. While she has always been successful, 2023 was an especially big year for her. Her tour generated 1.04 billion dollars, she released a box office movie, and released multiple new albums- all of which charted.

She recently began openly dating her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce, who plays for the NFL. The combination of their popularity has led many to voicing their negative opinions about Taylor and her music. Especially among establishment Conservative media.

Taylor’s Political Background

Having started within the country music genre, many assumed that Taylor Swift was a conservative. She was previously outspoken about her Christian faith as well, with many of her songs referencing God.

During Taylor’s transition to pop music with her album “1989,” her fans started calling on her to speak about politics. Taylor Swift remained quiet on her views which led to public speculation about her political beliefs.

Some took their speculations too far, insisting that Taylor was a neo-nazi and even including her in related propaganda. With the approaching election year and increasing backlash, Taylor began vocalizing support for democrat politicians. Taylor campaigned against Republican senator Marsha Blackburn and went on to voice her support for the Biden administration during the 2020 elections.

Taylor has remained silent on the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

Backlash

Having expressed these liberal views, Taylor began to garner even more criticism from right-wing commentators. Her political beliefs are not the only source of criticism. Those who take issue with her political stance are quick to bring up her personal life and their distaste for her music.

Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, Matt Walsh, and Candace Owens have been very outspoken about their dislike of Taylor Swift. Many have claimed that Taylor’s support of Biden in the 2020 election is the cause of Gen-Z’s exodus from the Republican party.

There are many reasons cited for why Taylor Swift is so horrible and such a detriment to Republicans. These right-wing personalities claim that Taylor is popular because she’s 34 and unmarried, and a career woman. They insist that Taylor is influencing young women into following a similar path.

It is not uncommon to be scrolling through social media and read a post about how Taylor’s music is centered around her ex-boyfriends, how she’s immature, her songs are bad, and how she is influencing Gen-Z toward the left.

Taylor Swift’s name has quickly become a scapegoat for Republicans who do not understand why they are failing to engage the youth.

Girls Love Love

If you’re unfamiliar with Taylor’s music, most of it is centered around romance. While she has written songs about her parent’s divorce, songs memorializing those who have passed, songs about her parents, and her mother’s battle with cancer, most are about love.

This attracts major criticism. Here is what conservatives fail to understand: Taylor’s popularity is largely due to the fact that she is unapologetically romantic and that is a great thing.

After years of pushback and criticism for dating men and writing about it, Taylor still continues to write beautiful love songs that make women swoon. This is what makes her so popular with young girls.

She hears the backlash and continues to write the most romantic, fantastical lyrics in the music industry today.

“Even if we’d met on a crowded street in 1944
And you were headed off to fight in the war
You still would’ve been mine
We would’ve been timeless

I would’ve read your love letters every single night
And prayed to God you’d be coming home all right
And you would’ve been fine, we would’ve been timeless”

Timeless, Taylor Swift

These lyrics are hopelessly romantic. Here’s more of Taylor’s lyrics:

“Marry me, Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone
I love you, and that’s all I really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
It’s a love story, baby, just say yes”

Love Story, Taylor Swift

Oh and how could we forget:

“Today was a fairytale, you were the prince
I used to be a damsel in distress
You took me by the hand and you pick me up at six
Today was a fairytale”

Today Was a Fairytale, Taylor Swift

One more, just to get my point across.

“This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go
I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you”

Enchanted, Taylor Swift

These young women listen to the lyrics I listed above and they yearn for a love like that. The romance, the chivalry, the powerful love story they long for is displayed all throughout Taylor’s discography and this is a large part of why she is so successful.

The fact that Taylor’s songs showcase a romantic, committed, monogamous relationship means that conservatives could use her popularity for good.

Not only this, but Taylor’s music includes numerous references to classic fairytales, slaying dragons, and castles. All the dreamy inclusions of a perfect love story.

In our modern world, hook-up culture has become the norm. The type of love stories Taylor writes about are becoming increasingly rare. Our culture is utterly starved of romance. Male-female relationships have become merely transactional in the secular world. Sexuality and promiscuity are at an all-time high.

The old-fashioned love Taylor writes about is the opposite of the behavior represented throughout the media right now, and she is still so popular because this desire is innate.

Would right-wing personalities really suggest that young girls shouldn’t desire romance? That this good and natural desire to love and be loved, to know and be known, is somehow wrong? Somehow antithetical to the pro-family ideology they supposedly support?

Taylor Swift’s popularity is not a sign that the youth is becoming liberal. It is a sign that the culture is looking for something better. It’s a sign that hook-up culture is not working.

What’s the Problem With Romance Anyway?

So, so what if all Taylor writes about is romance? I mentioned above the other types of songs she’s written, but even if she only wrote about love, what is wrong with that?

Why would we discourage a generation of women away from something so intrinsic to feminine nature?

Furthermore, love has inspired art throughout all of history. It’s inspired some of the most beautiful artwork, melodious music, and even gruesome wars. It should be no surprise that love is often the subject of art.

Republicans fail to see that Taylor’s music is representative of women’s desire for romance and chivalry. Instead, they push away a huge demographic of women with their cheap shots at Taylor’s dating life and fertility.

Republican’s will not win young women to their side by pointlessly taking shots at their favorite artists. Especially when it’s unprovoked. By taking aimless shots at Taylor Swift, the right alienates young women- young women who desire the type of love, type of family that Conservatives promote.

Comparatively

Compare Taylor Swift to other large popstars and their music. We have Ariana Grande, who just released a song entitled “yes, and?” as a response to her cheating scandal. There’s Justin Bieber who wrote the song “Yummy” referencing his wife. Don’t forget Nicki Minaj, whose lyrics routinely reference sex, drugs and profanities.

Taylor on the other hand, uses curse words very sparingly, dresses relatively modestly for a celebrity, and is not hyper-sexual. She is incredibly feminine, making her even more appealing.

Oh, The Irony

Taylor Swift is the cleanest, most modest and feminine female pop star of our time yet Republicans choose to spend airtime slandering her. For women who already don’t like conservatism due to the fact that pop culture and the media are both very liberal, this is just the icing on the cake.

For Republicans, Taylor Swift is a catch-all explanation for what is wrong with the youth. They refuse to acknowledge the real reason why Gen-Z is quickly turning away from the Republican Party.

There are a few different factors, but failing to engage the culture is a large part of it. Republicans toss Taylor under the bus, for no benefit beyond engagement, despite the fact that “Swiftie’s” are a huge demographic.

Undecided Gen-Z observes Republican creators talking about Taylor with hatred and vile, only to turnaround and support Ben Shapiro’s lacking rap song. They start to understand that right-wing influencer’s opinions are inconsistent and of little value.

And for those who don’t put much thought into it, they perceive it as you’re attacking their favorite creator for simply existing, for being a woman with a dating life.

I fully understand why someone as a Christian would not want to listen to Taylor’s music. I’m not advocating for everyone to support her. I recognize that she holds some liberal views, and she is capable of wrong. I also recognize that her type of music is not everyone’s cup of tea.

However, I think that this article demonstrates that rage-baiting Taylor Swift’s followers for the engagement does little but turn them off to the other beliefs you hold.