I read. I write. Sometimes poetry, sometimes prose. Sometimes reviews, sometimes articles. Sometimes nothing at all. 
I like Taylor Swift, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Yeah, I know. I know. Taylor Swift? But my first-year roommate was obsessed with Love Story, and so we used to sit on our beds and just howl out the lyrics while watching the video over and over again. We even did that (in the dark) for earth hour (her laptop was unplugged). What can I say? Bonding is weird.
After that introduction, I began to drop my Taylor-Swift-is-silly-bubblegum-music act. I started to listen to some more of her music, and in spite of all odds, in spite of myself, fell a little in love with her. I mostly like Our Song, Fearless (my favourite), You Belong With Me, Picture To Burn….oh, who am I kidding, I like it all.
See, the thing is that, while Taylor Swift does make sort of silly pop music, I respect her as a writer. She’s similar in age to myself, and when I read her wikipedia page, I’m sort of in awe. Before turning to songwriting, she dabbed in writing poetry (she won a national poetry prize at the age of 9) and wrote a 350-page novel at age 12. That sort of drive and discipline is impressive. She’s also been writing songs since she was 12, and her drive and determination is the major force behind her fame. She made it happen - driving to Nashville every weekend to perfom her songs. It’s a pretty impressive read, especially when you get to the part about her selling over 10 million albums world-wide. Oh, and she’s 20.
Rejoicing in the fact that it was somewhat legit to be a Taylor Swift fan, I let go of my qualms. That is, until, the tricky implications of liking Taylor Swift chose to rear their tricky little heads.
What tricky implications, you ask? (sidenote: how fun is the word tricky? I never use it, but today, I’m all over it.) Well, firstly, some of her lyrics are a little disturbing. Take Fifteen, for instance, where she sings “Abigail gave everything/ she had to a boy/ who changed his mind,”. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wowzers.
Now, I actually like Fifteen, and think that most of the lyrics are pretty true-to-life, but I cannot get past those lyrics. She’s flat-out saying that Abigail’s virginity was “everything she had”. How unbelievably sexist, patriarchal, and insulting is that? Putting aside the fact that virginity is a culturally constructed concept that is a product of patriarchal society, this is an incredibly creepy way to talk about Abigail’s first time (Also, if you were Abigail, how pissed would you be? “Oh, what’s that, Taylor? You want to use my heartbreaking story about being dumped by my first boyfriend after we had sex in your new song? Yay!!”). I understand that, in poetry or songwriting, it is somewhat necessary to change the wording of things to fit with the rhythm/rhyme/whatnot, but, surely, there had to be a better way of phrasing this?
While Taylor’s talent is undeniable, part of her appeal is definitely that she exudes a pure, virginal, wholesome image. There’s nothing about her or her sexuality that is aggressive, demanding, or intimidating. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the niche she’s chosen for herself; I’m just commenting on it. It’s especially relevant when you compare her to Miley Cyrus.
Full disclosure: I am not a big Miley Cyrus fan. I think she’s loud, obnoxious, and a little crass. I also think she’s a teenager, and that being a teenager can sometimes explain a lot of obnoxiousness. It doesn’t explain her lack of talent, but whatevs. Moving on. Despite not being the biggest fan of Miley, I will defend her recent antics to the death. Yeah - stuff like Can’t Be Tamed, and her weird, ugly pseudo-underwear performing outfits.
Yes, she’s 17, and maybe it’s inappropriate. But, while I’m certain she’s not writing her own lyrics, I find Can’t Be Tamed interesting. She’s becoming more aggressive and confidant in her sexuality, which is what brings about her recent slew of detractors. She’s frequently compared to Taylor Swift, who prances around in white dresses and sings about crying about boys. I mean, Taylor, you’re 20. Get a life. Miley has.
In fact, it probably is inappropriate for Miley to run around in tiny outfits singing about how she “goes through guys like money flying out their hands” (poetry, right there, people.), and maybe that does make her a bad role model for 8-year-olds. But, several things: first, her actions are entirely understandable. If I were a mega-famous pop stair (unlikely), I would find it creepy that the majority of my fans were elementary school children, and I would probably want to shed said fanbase.
Secondly, maybe she shouldn’t be a role model for 8-year-olds. She’s a 17-year-old girl, why does she have to be a model of behaviour when she’s still figuring out how she wants to behave? Yes, she’s in the public eye, but perhaps, the person to blame for all of this is the parents who allow their little girls to listen to Miley Cyrus. I listened to Britney Spears at that age, and I turned out just fine, but if parents are so concerned, maybe they should examine their own parenting tactics before criticizing a teenager they don’t know.
Thirdly, maybe she should be a role model for teenage girls, rather than children? I know that sounds a little out there, but Miley is, currently, exhuding a type of teenage sexuality rarely seen. Teenage girls are constantly taught that they must pick between being a good girl and being a whore; good girls never want sex. Teenager are sexual, regardless of what other might want to believe or to teach their teenagers, and teenage girls being interested in and controlling their own sexuality is not a bad thing; I think Miley illustrates this. I’m not saying 13-year-old girls should have sex. I’m saying, maybe they can look at Miley, and think, oh, so, when I’m 17, being in control of my own sexuality is not a bad thing. Maybe parents should not let a teenage pop-star parent their children. Just sayin’.
Anyways - this has somehow turned into a post about Miley Cyrus. I wanted to illustrate how liking Taylor Swift is somewhat troubling, because she presents herself as a weird virginal woman-girl-child. Miley doe not - Miley is trying to break free, and to grow up and become an adult, and the lyrics of her latest songs reflect that. Taylor is the same age as my friends who are going into third-year university, and yet she acts more like a child than an adult. Her lyrics reflect frightening ideas about teenage sexuality (which I would argue is a major factor in her popularity, as most of the US seems to have frightening ideas about teenage sexuality, or sexuality in general), and slut-shaming girl-hating (the other girl is always the monster, never the guy). Miley’s not perfect, but at least her lyrics promote being alive and dynamic and doing things, rather than sitting home crying.
I don’t mean this as any sort of tract against Taylor. As I said, I like her. She seems sweet. Relatable (to me) circa about 2005, probably because she refuses to grow up and act like the adult she is. But there are definitely weird ooky bits to being a Taylor Swift fan.
How closely do you analyze the lyrics of musicians you like? Do you ever wonder what liking certain songs means for you on a personal or political level? Do you write songs? Do you consider songwriting a form of creative writing (I definitely do!)? What are your personal thoughts on Taylor? Miley? Anything?
See More:
- This great “Fifteen” parody, reminding girls that “you have more to offer than your hymen”. Terribly funny, terribly true.
- Bitch Magazine: Miley’s Teen Sexuality and all that brouhaha
- Autostraddle: Why Taylor Swift Offends Little Monsters, Feminists, and Weirdos
Again, I don’t mean to attack Taylor. This is all just food for thought.
Also, I would just like to state for the record, that no one freaks out when Taylor Lautner takes his shirt off. No one calls him a whore and a bad role model. No one has a meltdown and screams about how his whorish antics are the end of “American Values” or other idiocy like that. He and Miley are the same age. Know how Miley is dating a guy older than her? Taylor (Swift) was 3 years older than Taylor (Lautner) when they dated. No one went around screaming that either of them was a whore.
All just some food for thought!
