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It is the tenth month of the year 2018 and Taylor Swift has finally taken a political stance. In an article posted on Instagram on Monday, Oct. 8, the singer endorsed Tennessee's Democratic representative Jim Cooper and former state governor, currently a candidate for the Senate, Phil Bredesen. She also encouraged young fans to register to vote before the October 9th deadline. Yet, even though her foray into the political world has earned her praise, Swift does not deserve to be admired for finally talking about politics, whereas she should have done two years ago.
After Swift's Instagram post, many people cheered on him, largely because the reports published the next day hinted that his message could have resulted in an increase in the number of entries on electoral lists in Tennessee. It is also true, however, that the causal link has not been proven and that the peak of voter registration could be due to the simple fact that the deadline for registration was that of Tuesday. But whether or not Swift personally modifies the result of this election by inspiring strong voter turnout, it is undoubtedly very useful to be able to talk about a pop star of its magnitude, whatever the timing. However, his actions are far from deserving of all praise, as Swift is hardly an activist.
Many people have begged the singer to express it for years, especially before the 2016 elections. Although she declared herself a feminist in 2014, Swift rarely spoke out about the problems of women and men. women and, as 2016 approached, major outlets such as The Daily Beast were calling to remain silent in the face of the increasingly misogynistic turn of the presidential election – despite many Swift pop stars like Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus and even the Republican (and fellow Southerner) Kelly Clarkson vocally supports Clinton.
On November 8, 2016, Swift shared a photo of her standing in line to vote, though she did not specify for whom, exactly, she would vote. But it is as political as she has. To her credit, she acknowledged in her recent Instagram post: "In the past, I had hesitated to publicly express my political views, but because of many events in my life and the world over the last two years, I have meaning very differently about it now. "
People are changing and freedom of expression largely recognizes that people also have the right to remain silent if they wish. And maybe something has happened to Swift personally in the last two years that inspired him to make the jump. However, it is also true that during this period, it has happened many things in the world that could have greatly benefited from a voice like his.
When Hilary Clinton ran into the presidency with a lot of sexism, Swift was silent. When Donald Trump won the presidency, sparking mass protests around the world, Swift remained silent. When women marched – two times – Swift was largely silent (a tweet about the March of Women in 2017 has since been deleted). When Muslim visitors and immigrants were banned from entering the country, Swift is not you. While millions of Americans threatened to have access to affordable health care, Swift was silent. When pictures of immigrant children in cages emerged from facilities located along the US-Mexican border, Swift is you. When a woman who had reported allegations of sexual assault was ridiculed by the president last week, Swift remained silent. Meanwhile, celebrities such as Alyssa Milano and Amy Schumer were in the capital – the latter was even arrested for protesting against Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court.
Now, however, Swift says she defends LGBTQ rights and believes "the systemic racism we still see in this country against people of color is terrifying, disgusting and widespread." And although these statements are very good, she does not really completed a lot to prove that she means them. Although she has already been summoned for her problematic feminism (or "white feminism") – her silence about the struggles of women of color and her female squad consisting mostly of slender white women – she does not seem to have been struggling. In fact, it took her years to qualify as a feminist, and once she did, she almost always talked about the relationship with her in particular. She recounted having suffered from misogynistic media who called her "crazy" because she had dared to write love songs, but not about how these stereotypes affected women every day nor even the first presidential candidate of a large party. .
Swift has a similar track record with regard to the problem of sexual assault. After she sued DJ David Mueller for allegedly fumbling during a meeting, the incident turned into a battle in the hearing room when the DJ sued for defamation. She counter-sued and got a settlement of one dollar. Later in 2017, Swift appeared on the cover of Time The magazine's Personality of the Year 2017 magazine features "Silence Breakers". Although she talked a bit about sexual assault victims in the cover, something she also addressed during a concert on the occasion of her first birthday. trial, Swift remained largely separate from the growing #MeToo movement. A quick search on Twitter shows that she has never tweeted the words "#MeToo" and "Me too" – or if it has been, they have been deleted. And while Swift has the right to do what she chooses with her social media, there's no denying the power that even a single Swift tweet might have had.
Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
Overall, when Swift spoke about potentially decisive issues in the past, people were quick to point out the convenience of the singer. Many people on Twitter have indicated the timing of his latest post, published a day after the end of his reputation tour – and just one day before the deadline for voter registration. Writer Kate Stayman-London, @_ksl, suggests that Swift is waiting until now to ensure that all his fans, regardless of their political affiliation, will enjoy his tour. But it is also possible that Swift has chosen to speak now because she knows that for all the conservative supporters she could lose by supporting the Democrats, she could lose hundreds of progressive youngsters who are waiting to what modern celebrities express politically if it remained silent. As Pier Dominguez of BuzzFeed said: "She can no longer function as an adult and relevant artist, she aspires to be without taking a political stance."
It may be a cynical view of the singer's actions, but it's not completely wrong. The fact is that Swift chose to speak at a time when East good for her, and as the columnist Michael Harriot of The Root has said, Swift's decision to make politics now speaks to his privilege. "When you attributed your revelation to" many events in my life and the world in the past two years, "I could only think how good it was to ignore discrimination, homophobia, and racism until it affects you personally, "wrote Harriot. .
Speaking now of politics, Swift is less likely than she would be in 2016, when tension was at its highest. The recent lukewarm reaction she's received from Donald Trump is proof of that. Trump, a man known not to break his fist, especially when it came to his female critics, was quite tame when he responded to Swift's message. He did not call him "a low IQ person" as he did for Maxine Waters. He also did not make derogatory comments about his appearance, as he did with Heidi Klum or even with Megyn Kelly. All he has said publicly about it is that he likes his music "about 25% less" than last month, which means that there is a small chance that the president is currently dancing around of the White House on an air of "Shake."
Meanwhile, the right-wing politician Tomi Lahren even issued a statement in favor of Swift, tweeting that despite his policy, "Taylor is a much better model for girls than 99% of celebrities." Still #TeamTaylor.
In addition, Trump and Lahren both claimed that Swift was not necessarily a Democrat, but she simply did not understand what she was talking about. "I'm sure Taylor Swift does not know anything about her [Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn]Trump said. Meanwhile, Lahren wrote that she thought that Swift's attitude would change if she knew more about Marsha and her track record. but it's also a way of retaining the singer as a potential Republican figure: she is not necessarily a Democrat – the singer did not mention any political affiliation to a post – but, according to Lahren, she simply ignores the Republican candidate in his state.
And that's where the problem lies. Swift may be taking a stand now, but his long history of silence will allow this kind of success to flourish. The only reason Trump and Lahren want to make this kind of argument is, it seems, to keep Swift as "their" celebrity. And his timing and his past past about his political affiliations will allow this story.
It may be true what people say – better late than never – and there is no doubt that Swift has important. But when someone arrives so late to the political party, it is not commendable. Not even close. Call me when she tweets to support ordinary women who are living hell to hold powerful men accountable. Call me when she uses her platform to fight for Black Lives Matter, the right to choose a woman or the rights of immigrant women. Until then, I'm just not interested in keeping Swift above others.
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