Taylor Swift positioned as Time Person of the Year?

[Squirrler]

Moral courage can be found everywhere. There are stories everyday - large and small - of vulnerable people risking their jobs, their reputations, even their lives, to take a stand against abuses of power. If, to reflect the zeitgeist, Time wants to make it about women standing up to sexual abuse, who would argue against that.

But Taylor Swift? One of the most powerful people in modern music, with a personal fortune of millions... that's a choice for the front cover? What did she risk? What was on the line? A man grabbed her bottom and she won a dollar in court. And this is supposed to be inspiration for women to put their own jobs and reputations on the line?

Do me a favour.

I am not questioning the validity of Taylor’s experience or her story. What I have a problem with is what Taylor is being positioned as the face of a movement by being placed on this cover, because she won a lawsuit. She lost nothing when others have lost everything when they break silence, but don’t get visibility. Just look at Ke$ha, whose abuser was her record label boss. She took him to court and lost everything, including her career. She broke silence when there was zero room for it and got shamed into hiding. He even put a gag order on her. Why is she not on the cover?

Why is Tarana Burke not on this cover, when she’s been doing this work for 10 years? Yes, she is on the inside and gets to tell her story but she deserves to be on this cover, because if there is a face for the movement, hers is it.

What about, say, Terry Crews, who is a man who decided to break silence and that shit was major. In this culture of toxic masculinity, men speaking up about their victimhood is revolutionary.

www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2017/12/time-person-of-year-taylor-swift.html

Have you been at the vino op?!

Despite her high profile success and money TS was still sexually harassed. Says it all.

Oh and that wealth she has - she earned it. Writes her own stuff and sings it well. Save your ire for Trustafarians - through work I see numerous young people from families so rich they never need to work..

What the hell are you angry about? I cant make head nor tail of your posts?
And yes you could have been plainer - as I really don't understand your actual point.
Is it because it was 'only' an arse feel?
Is it because she has still become successful in her career and not let this (and probably many more) affect that drive?
Is it because she is successful and didn't hide it?
Is it because she is successful and spoke up about it?
Is it because she didn't want to release a shit bomb on her family- (possibly this has been a shitbomb on her esteem for a long time)

I have no doubt that she used her fame and influence and brought this action to represent and highlight ALL casually carried out but life changing sexual assaults. This is why she is on the cover.
She should be applauded.

It doesn’t matter how much power you have. If a man grabs your arse when you don’t want them to its sexual assault.

And its the same kind of sexual assault if a man grabbed a homeless woman on the arse.

It’s nothing to do with self fullness prophecy.

I think it’s shameful you’re suggesting she hasn’t been assaulted just because she’s powerful. Thats a dangerous way to look at things.

It doesn't matter how successful you are, you'll still just be a woman?

Where violence against women is concerned, yes.

You’re also contradicting yourself. Her success as a woman means she should accept sexually assault because she hasn’t got much to risk if she reports it.

How is that empowering for women.

Successful woman can be sexually assaulted because powerful. Odd argument

I honestly don't know what your problem is, OP. Taylor Swift is part of it - women who spoke out.

I'm now wondering if Stella Creasey is reading this thread. Stella for PM!

So are you saying she's too successful and powerful to be a victim of misogynistic patriarchy? Because it actually seems she's not too successful or powerful for that as she still gets sexually assaulted. So unless women of all backgrounds who feel able to speak up do speak up, no woman will ever be immune to it. Which is the point of all this and the reason why she is on the cover of Time magazine.

Your beef op with Ts is she’s young pretty successful.not your notion of deserving feminist
You’ve constructed a convoluted notion of whom deserves plaudits,and it’s your prejudice
Many have responded here about Taylor and her qualities,you seem purposefully to overlooked this

Wealth is a type of power - but in this case, clearly not one that stops men thinking it's ok to abuse you. The whole point of this is that men will still abuse woman even if they have wealth, influence, and all the normal trapping of power. She didn't have the power to stop him.

You seem to take the position that it doesn't matter if she was abused in the same way as a poor woman because being rich and famous will make that less upsetting. It's the "cost of success" argument. What Taylor Swift and some of the others did was say "no, this isn't an acceptable normal cost of doing well in this industry".

She's rich and privileged and that wasn't enough to protect her. Speaking out and changing what woman are expected to just put up with is the only way to protect other woman.

OP you’re saying that people on this thread are missing the point that she was only featured on the cover because of who she is, but I feel you’re missing that that’s the point being shown here.

Maybe you’re right and she was featured because she is Taylor Swift, but then maybe the slimeball only tried to sue her because of who she is and how wealthy she is. If she wasn’t so famous and popular then the world probably wouldn’t have ever heard about her assault so it wouldn’t have been brought to everyone’s attention and a discussion started about how even an arse grab is sexual assault and women/girls shouldn’t feel they just have to accept it.

Taylor Swift is not the movement, she is PART of the movement that has shown recently that it doesn’t matter what skin colour, class, wealth, job position a woman has, she can (and according to statistics) probably will experience some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in her lifetime, and that is just not acceptable.

OP would you have objected to any other woman of equivalent success and fortune being featured on the cover?

I was thinking, imagine if she'd lost the case. The papers would have been full of "Taylor Swift LIED to get me fired from my job" and so on. I It would have been grim.

And why you are acting like TS is the only one on the cover? And don't forget how many people wouldn't want to be in that article.

OP "Speaking out is inherently about rocking your own boat: it's about your employer, your friend's husband, a member of your own family. Whilst it's someone else that was abusive, in that moment before you speak, all is calm. ...and no, TS is not representative of that dynamic."

well, no. But I'm certainly not going public with my story of harassment because of all the things you said. So I'm really glad TS can do it and that might make my employer think different about how they handle things.

but then maybe the slimeball only tried to sue her because of who she is and how wealthy she is

That’s a good point. Not only did he feel entitled to grab her arse . He felt entitled to grab the arse of a woman who was famous. If power is a determinant in this, he still felt more powerful than a rich and famous influential woman.

He was then of the opinion that his power would extend to the court, despite a photograph of him in action, and witnesses! He was infuriated that his disgraceful behaviour was not simply accepted by all and sundry.

TS didn’t try to get him fired, as far as I remember. She told the radio station what he had done, and they fired him of their own volition.

A recourse that, sadly, most women simply do not have.

It was Taylor’s very position that was pivotal in the entire issue as, additionally, he would not have considered suing someone with no money.

He met his match in Taylor, because, on this occasion his power didn’t work.

It’s a very telling indictment.

It shows exactly how the odds are stacked against women. How far Taylor to go to get the smallest justice.

And I, for one, am very grateful that she did.

I do think TS deserves to be there actually. She is kind of unique in the way that she is a role model for young teens. She doesn't claim that taking her clothes off, writhing around in spaghetti or balancing a champagne bottle on her photoshopped arse are 'empowering' feminist acts. She is open about having lots of relationships and writes about them in her songs. She publicly exposes sleaze bags who touch her without her consent.

Now yes, the reason that she is able to do those things is because of her position. Wealthy, white, supportive people around her, already very successful before she became a mainstream pop star. But none of those things are things to be ashamed of, she is who she is, and she could still choose the 'easier' way which would be to the wholesome meek, coy young female role model who doesn't question anything, never 'tells' about her relationships, never fights back when challenged.

I thought her case against that DJ or whoever he was was really important. Like it or not TS is a huge role model and for them to see her stand up that way (and shout down those who said 'why didn't you say anything at the time blah blah blah') in a culture where women are usually portrayed as the temptresses that the poor men just cannot help themselves but grope, was a big deal actually. When she was asked how she felt about the fact the DJ had lost his job said:

'I am not going to allow your client make me feel like it anyway it's my fault because it isn't. I don't know him, but what he did was despicable.'

Those words are really powerful.

Yes Datun, he went after her because although she has way more money and fame than him, she is still a woman, so he thought he would win.

Agree with thehairthebod post,Taylor Swift does demonstrate good qualities
And yes she pushed back on that projected poor man lost his job.good on her
Well that man shouldn’t assault women and he’d not lose his job

And all the young female workers in the office across from the Court put up supportive signs for her everyday, because they felt solidarity with what young women have to put up with on a daily basis. Those young women felt she was fighting for their rights to bodily autonomy by standing up for her own. That is how feminism works - a sense of female solidarity where one young woman can leverage her privileged position to fly the flag to inspire all women.

TheLuminaries "And all the young female workers in the office across from the Court put up supportive signs for her everyday, because they felt solidarity with what young women have to put up with on a daily basis."

did they? I'm glad they were allowed to do that, I thought they'd get told off for not being neutral.

I dont particularly like Taylor Swifts music or have that much interest in her but I dont really get your point OP? She did do a brave thing and spoke up. Its not easy to do that in her position where its important for her to remain neutral and universally liked essentially by never really saying anything political. She stepped outside of that and put herself in the line of fire because she decided to do the right thing and speak plainly about it so that all her young fans would know that that type of behaviour wasnt acceptable.

Of course there are hundreds of people far braver than Taylor Swift but what has that got to do with it? Shes someone young girls look up to and so I think it was good to include her on this list because that means young girls will pay attention to the issues raised by the people on that list.

That’s a good point. Not only did he feel entitled to grab her arse . He felt entitled to grab the arse of a woman who was famous. If power is a determinant in this, he still felt more powerful than a rich and famous influential woman.

Exactly this. Exactly.

Just like Weinstein. Famous, rich, powerful women, but still not as powerful as him. Because they're just women.

I'm glad they were allowed to do that, I thought they'd get told off for not being neutral.

My guess is they didn't work for the court.

They did it with post-it notes stuck on the windows.

Yes.yes.yes.the perpetrator inherent expectation and experience of male power
He thought he was entitled to inappropriately tough Taylor.and he did
And Taylor Swift stood up,spoke out,That was great.she used her prominence to speak up

He thought he was entitled to inappropriately touch Taylor.and he did

link to story about supportive post it notes