To ask what the appeal is for Taylor Swift?

[lingo1234]

Maybe it's just me, but I find her music really average and I don't think she's anything special.

The Chief's Super Bowl win seems overshadowed by her and I don't understand why. I watch a lot of sports and I don't recall a team's final win ever being mostly about one of the players' spouse/partner.

AIBU to just not understand the appeal?

I find it weird how defensive the fans are,like she can do no wrong.
Plus there's always plenty of other threads about Madonna and how she's too old to be touring.
She gets a lot of flack,but for some reason nobody can say anything about TS.
She's in the public eye,so not everyone is going to like her.

@beguilingeyes - disappointing that the poster didn't know that given she's said at least twice in this thread that she's 'in the industry'...

Read any of the number of threads on here and you'll find quite a few posters doing that.

Fans and media make pop stars role models.

Imagine any one of us becoming famous in our field, then being held up as a role model for young women, and being pulled apart due to hypocrisy. Good luck with finding that perfect role model. They don't exist.

I would defend any women genuinely being criticised for such reasons too. Unfortunately some swifties are quick to label any criticism of her as one of the categories you listed, when actually the criticism is justified. They shut down any criticism and don't allow any objectivity.

Again, some of the criticism of her lifestyle is justified and not exclusively 'being pulled apart due to hypocrisy'.

Completely this.

I wake up to find the thread has moved onto how she's doing feminism wrong.

I can't think of a specific example of where she's fallen below the required standard but heaven forbid a woman who has been in the public eye since she was 14 slipping up in her purity credentials along the way.

Who would be a famous woman working hard and being apparently nice when a website aimed at women starts a thread every 24 hours to say they can't stand you?

@CasperGutman really? I've yet to see one report not mentioning her. I'm pleased to hear there are some though.

On this thread alone she's been slagged off for not working as hard as a banker, dating a guy who isn't very nice, protesting about climate change (when?!) being a billionaire, not being a good enough feminist... The list goes on. It's absolutely nuts.

You cannot see how her feminism is selective and tailored towards a specific group of females?
Some of her fans act like she invented feminism - that's not her fault completely, clearly, but her PR machine has something to do with it.

1 and 2 are uncalled for.
3 is justified.
4 is a misquote.

(I'm assuming the being a billionaire isn't a separate point, as no comma, and is part of point 3)

It isn't a misquote at all. She's selective apparently

Oh and then being attention grabbing for attending the superbowl. Funnily enough no one has said the same about Beyonce announcing a new album at the same game.

I missed the comma off, clearly a separate point, again something she's done wrong apparently.

But then because Im engaging with batshit accusations apparently that makes me defensive.

*Once you become hugely successful, other singers have to praise you at any public occasion to get your attention and be part of this amazing group to climb the wocial ladder.

I remember despite being so talented and successful, Adele would praise Queen B in awards, events.*

Adele mentioned years before winning that award that she grew up listening to Destiny’s Child and Beyoncé like many in our age bracket. It’s not surprising she would mention someone who inspired her.

It’s also not uncommon for those winning awards to say something about those who were also up for the same award. It happens in acting, music, and sports and has been a thing for decades. It has absolutely nothing to do with being “woke”.

'Singing is not that hard work.' Yes, I'm sure singing the occasional song isn't. There's hard work involved in learning to play instruments and to read music. There's hard work in writing and recording albums. There's hard work in staying fit enough to sing and perform a 3 three hour show.
If it was easy anyone could do it.
Lots of jobs are hard. Just because she doesn't clean floors doesn't mean she didn't work hard.

Her feminism is selective.

OK, so if the billionaire thing is a separate point then of course it's unjustified to criticise someone simply for being wealthy! I did wonder if your point had related to 'the billionaires flying in private jets who also seem to lecture us about environmental issues' theme that also exists.

I've also not called you personally defensive, it's just odd that some folk won't accept any criticism of her.

Why would anyone? It’s not a big deal just as it’s not a big deal that TS was there and other celebrities watching the game.

I’ve seen more on here about TS than I have on FB and Instagram. II’ve seen more about the new Deadpool movie with Wolverine than I have about TS and most of my content in both is from the States. Maybe it’s the media here and some poster’s algorithms.

@Yaddayaddayadda12345 what would you like her to do that she's not currently doing from a feminist perspective? What would make her a whole rather than a selective feminist?

@phoenixrosehere its weird, there are so many 'I don't get Taylor swift' threads. There have been two on the last 48 hours. There's some sort of weird obsession about it. I think she's become the new teachers on mumsnet.

Selective feminism is when someone tackles issues only relevant to specific females, often themselves/their own group. That in itself can still be beneficial to many and not unimportant, but it ignores lots of other equally important issues. Of course she cannot be everything to everyone, however she has somehow morphed into a role model for feminism as a concept. People act like she's the first feminist in the industry or that she's a feminist role model, and that's partly down to her own PR.

This. And if you dare to disagree or defend her in any way, you're an obsessed Swiftie. The people who want to criticise her repeatedly seem to be equally as obsessed.

She's in the media more and more, more coverage leads to more folk questioning just what the hype is all about. Of course the coverage isn't completely her fault.

Not true at all. The issue is those who blindly defend any criticism, not those who offer considered and valid responses.

@Yaddayaddayadda12345 that doesn't answer the question of what she should do to make her a better feminist. The question wasn't to define what selective feminism means. You've asserted she's a selective feminist which sounds good but what does she need to do to get her the label of fully formed feminist?

It does.
I'm sorry you don't understand it.
She doesn't need any 'fully formed feminist label' if she stops promoting herself as a role model for feminism in general.