I have a confession: I love great Internet drama. When it's not involving me or anybody that I love or care about, it can be quite entertaining to watch strangers tear each other apart over trivial matters. So when I logged onto social media over the weekend and heard of the drama surrounding Taylor Swift, I went straight to Twitter to watch all the drama unfold.
Background info: earlier this year, Kanye West released the album "The Life of Pablo." which has a song on it called "Famous." In that song, Kayne goes "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? Cuz I made that bitch famous." This made Taylor angry, with her PR team claiming that the song was sexist, and that Kanye never called Taylor to ask permission. Well, that turned out to be a lie. Kim Kardashian released secretly recorded phone calls between Kayne and Taylor, where Taylor agreed to the "we might still have sex" line. The videos sparked the hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty, where people celebrated the end of Taylor Swift, and acted as if Kimye were now perfect angels who could do no wrong.
This incident, as mindless and superficial as it is, is a great time to discuss the idea of a "problematic fave." This is someone who's creations you love, whether they be songs, movies, TV shows, etc. that believe problematic things or have done problematic actions. I'll be honest: Taylor Swift is my problematic fave. While her songs are catchy, relatable and fun to sing along to, Taylor Swift is known for pushing a very toxic type of feminism known as "white feminism," where she promotes equality and "girl power," but only for her and her white, thin, rich friends. While she apologized for the Nicki Minaj incident, she still supports a very white-centric type of feminism. Not to mention that she sued her guitar teacher and numerous fans for creating crafts mentioning her for their Etsy store.
So, you love Taylor Swift. That's perfectly OK! I love Taylor too. However, we cannot deny that she is problematic, and was caught in a lie. What's a fan to do? It's perfectly fine to want to continue financially supporting Taylor, and to continue listening to her music. But as fans, we should hold her accountable for when she messes up and lets not only her fans down, but everyone else as well. Taylor Swift should be held to the same standards that everyone else is, and when she messes up (as she has), it's important to call her out on it, and discourage her from making the same mistake again.
It is OK to call out celebrities that you love when they become problematic and hurtful. In fact, it's imperative that you do. It proves to artists that they cannot slip up or hurt others, or take advantage of the fanbase that has made them famous. Celebrities are human, and will mess up eventually. You can still love them, but don't pretend that they didn't make a mistake. That doesn't help the artist, and just makes you look bad. Remember, it's OK to have a problematic fave. Just don't deny it.
