AIBU to think Taylor Swift is being carefully repositioned and we’re not meant to notice?

[MidnightTheory]

I can’t shake the feeling that there’s a very slow, very subtle shift going on with Taylor Swift’s brand.

She built herself up as pro-choice, feminist, outspoken and a liberal figure. But since this whole NFL era, it feels like the edges are being sanded down. It’s not loud, not obvious, just little things like the relentless focus on her cheering in the boxes, the glossy all American girlfriend framing, the way the messaging has become more family-friendly, less political.

It’s clever because it’s incremental. Nobody suddenly says that she’s gone conservative, but drip by drip she’s aligning with NFL values which are patriotism, wholesomeness and big money sponsors who want safe.

I'm not a massive swiftie, but I have enjoyed her music, and maybe I'm a bit of a cynic but isn’t this how brand re-positioning works? Quiet, steady, so by the time you realise it’s happened, it already has.

AIBU to think we’re watching that play out in real time and it could backfire badly? Especially if the upcoming album turns out to be very beige?

Missed this one sorry, thank you, yes that is the issue and I agree having followed her for absolutely years is it a new direction. It would be fine if its just me but I have a 10 year old who idiolises her and she was so rare in the popular music world not to have gone in this direction before. Taylor Swift obviously owes me nothing but I am a bit disappointed in it clearly.

I really like the song Lover but I assumed it was slightly tongue in cheek/ lighthearted

There are cultural elements here that very normal to Americans and not to Brits. This post is a non post seen through that lens.

I suppose she did kinda lean into the independent woman narrative, but can anyone realistically keep that image forever?

Er, yes, they can. Both in real life and celebrity (Katharine Hepburn would be an example). Marriage and children are not the inevitable endgame. However I think it’s always been pretty clear they are things that Taylor wants for herself, and fair enough.

He isn't.

Because she is an incredibly talented song writer. There’s a reason so many people want to work with her.

And what do her looks have to do with anything?? Does she have to be gorgeous to be a singer/songwriter writer?

But also she’s a tall, thin, pretty girl. Not sure where you live but I’m in Canada and she’s in no way average. I’ve been all over the world as a model and she would easily fit in with us.

Sorry, to clarify, I meant the whole album

She is growing older…maybe she doesn’t feel the need to be loud as she is established 👀

Probably just maturing, I’d focus on your life!!

Taylor Who?

What’s the point of posts like these? You’re on a social media forum that is all about focusing on other people’s lives. Why would anybody take this advice when you’re not taking it yourself?

Big time Swiftie here 🙋‍♀️

I think the last election shows that celebrity endorsements (and celebrity politics in general) can really backfire. TS endorsed Kamala Harris and that did not help KH at all. If anything it gave her detractors ammunition. If I was TS I would rethink political statements in the current climate.

I think she and Travis Kelce are both liberal.

Big Swiftie.here, you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about! Stop judging other women you're probably jealous of and concentrate on your own life @MidnightTheory

She is a good songwriter, but there are equally talented if not more so, others for example Sara Bareilles (much superior musically), who are not even a quarter as famous as Swift. I think swift has been very clever in playing social media and the "friends with my fans" thing, and managed to string them along for many years!

Sorry... Now she's 'stringing her fans along'.
What does that even mean?

calm down @MrsJamin , I'm not stealing your friendship bracelet.

She’s the best singer songwriter of all time imo

Do you just like to criticise other women needlessly? What's the fucking point? What did you gain from this thread?

Given how divided the US is I think a backlash would be more likely if the album wasn't beige. And I don't think her work has ever been significantly non-beige tbh.

It never ceases to amaze me how people rush to slate and bash Taylor Swift. I feel like no other music artist gets so much hate and vitriol. She is beautiful, slim, talented, a nice person, kind, very rich, very famous, and she has come out with some amazing work. Some people really don't like talented, beautiful, and successful women do they?

Some people seem actually angry and offended that many people love and admire her so much. They seem to spend a lot of time frothing and ranting about how 'average' and 'basic' she is, and mocking and deriding her fans, as a bit weird, and 'like a cult.' They claim people get angry if you don't love Taylor Swift. The only ones I see getting angry are the haters.

The haters say how she has had only one song that anyone actually remembers (Shake It Off.) That's a load of old nonsense for a start. My DH is not a Taylor Swift fan - he likes her but isn't a fan - and he can name at least 8 or 9 of her songs. I am a fan but not a super fan and I can name at least 25 of her songs off the top of my head...

She is a talented and successful music artist, who happens to be beautiful, and upper-middle class, and for some reason, this makes some people SO angry. Moreso men, but some women too. The men who bash her are angry and bitter, the women who bash her are jealous and bitter. Not a good look. As I say, no-one else receives the same kind of bashing as Taylor Swift. People fall over themselves to start (or come onto) threads on here - and other websites - to say how 'crap' or 'basic' she is, and how all her songs are crap - even though they haven't heard 80-85% of them, ever.

It's almost funny, because it's so predictable now. When I see people bashing Taylor Swift, I just roll my eyes. 🙄 I just genuinely do not get the hate and vitriol when it comes to her. It's so bizarre!

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Maybe they're lining her up as the next Beyonce. I saw the end of something on tv the other day about her - it said to me that they're renaming her as 'Taylor' rather than 'Taylor Swift' and is anyone noticing without us stating it.

Harry Styles will soon be known as Harry?

Maybe she's planning to become Taylor Kelce ?

Oh no, that is a horrible name.

@MidnightTheoryher music is already beige to a lot of people 😉

She's built a billion dollar empire on her name I'd be stunned if she changes it on marriage - I mean she may well do in private but I can't see her releasing music as Taylor Kelce.