Unless you live under a rock, you probably know who Taylor Swift is. She's probably the biggest name in pop music currently so it's hard not to hear about her. But recently, it seems like there are more fans of hating Taylor Swift than there are people who actually like her. But does this hatred stem from something legitimate, or does the public simply hate her for being popular?
If I'm being completely honest here, I have never liked Taylor Swift. But it was mostly because a neighbor girl that was really mean to me loved her, and I recognize now that that's not fair. When I gave myself a chance to listen to her, I actually found that she was exactly my kind of music: bubbly girl-pop that's fun and shameless. Still, I never really cared about her as a person, so the fact that I am coming to Taylor's defense worries me.
Right off the bat, let's talk about legitimate reasons to dislike Taylor Swift. Not hate, just dislike or critique because let's be honest, she does not know everything in the world. She is still learning, and she might sometimes say offensive things. But literally everyone in the world does, so let's not act like Taylor is unique in that aspect.
One thing that people like to cite as problematic is the songs "You Belong With Me" and "Better Than Revenge", in which Taylor bashes on girls who like sex and compares herself as better for being pure and virginal. This is obviously not okay, but we need to put it into context. These songs came out in 2009, and Taylor had written them when she was 17. Long before she knew about feminism, back when she was still a literal teenager and upset about losing her boyfriend. If we're all being honest with ourselves, we would have done the same thing at that age. Not to mention, when she finally realized how problematic those songs were, she actually came out and acknowledged it.
As for her feminism, now that's a legitimate concern that continues to this day. Taylor learned her feminism from Lena Dunham, a notorious white feminist (AKA a feminist who only cares about women's issues when it centers around white women, and disregarding issues about people of color, LGBTQ people, etc.). Taylor definitely has a lot to learn when it comes to feminism, and she won't learn anything when she continues to be friends with people like Lena Dunham. If people hate on her for that, I can't argue with that.
What I am arguing against are people who hate her just to hate her. Very recently I heard someone say that back in 2009 when Kanye West famously interrupted Taylor's VMAs speech he had every right to do so. This person then continued to say that it was because Taylor was "untalented" and "unoriginal". I immediately felt the need to come to her defense, despite not even being an avid fan of hers.
What bothered me so much about this person's statement was that they only believed it because they already had a predisposition to dislike Taylor. They weren't into her kind of music, they hate most pop music, that's fine. If someone doesn't like Taylor's music, then leave it at that. If you hate pop music then, of course, you're going to hate most pop music artists. People just tend to pick on Taylor just because she's the easiest to pick out.
As for her being untalented and unoriginal, she has five studio albums to back her up. She's been writing songs and playing the guitar since she was 12 years old, and obviously, has an amazing voice that got her to the place she is today. Sure, her songs are pop, which most people claim is manufactured garbage, but if pop music is what you enjoy, then you can't deny that she has some really good songs (that she wrote herself). Even my bitter 13-year-old self couldn't deny that.
So when you say you hate Taylor Swift, what are you really saying? Do you hate her for her brand of feminism? If so, then that's valid, but remember how recent a feminist she is and who she's learning it from. She still has time to grow, and she's willing to listen. But if you hate Taylor simply because you hate pop music and she just happens to be a cog in the machine, then that's a problem. There's no good reason to insult Taylor because you hate a genre of music. Just ignore her. It's that easy.
