An article on Taylor Swift published in the New York Times has been the reason for outrage among her fans and supporters. Critics claim that the article goes too far, straying from logical analysis and requiring needless conjecture. This begs the question of what constitutes appropriate discourse regarding public figures.
Taylor Swift’s sexuality speculated by op-ed:
Recently, The New York Times published an editorial which openly questioned Taylor Swift’s sexuality. But this is not the first time that such questions have been raised on a singer’s sexuality. This is the first time that mainstream publication has published a piece which speculates the pop-sensation Taylor Swift’s gender identity.
The op-ed that ‘over-analyzed’ the gender identity of Taylor Swift has angered her fan base. A source who knows the situation, anonymously told CNN, “Because of her massive success, at this moment there is a Taylor-shaped hole in people’s ethics. This article wouldn’t have been allowed to be written about Shawn Mendes or any male artist whose sexuality has been questioned by fans.”
The person further added, “There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is – all under the protective veil of an ‘opinion piece’.”
Taylor Swift’s sexuality under scrutiny:
Anna Marks, opinion editor of Times who wrote that piece explored all the questions that many ‘swifties’ were asked for years: Was Taylor Swift trying to come out when she released her album ‘Lover’ in 2019?
The evidence presented by the opinion editor is compelling: promotion for ‘Lover’ album featured rainbows and ‘pastel shades of blue,purple and pink colour that subtly evoke the pride flag.’
In a 5000-word piece, Anna Marks added that on April 26,2019 celebrated as ‘Lesbian Visibility Day’- the singer released her single ‘ME!’ which also has a scene of Taylor Swift dancing at a pride parade and “turning down a man’s marriage proposal in exchange for a … pussy cat.”
In June 2019, her song video ‘You Need To Calm Down’ featured queer celebrities including Ellen De Generes, the hosts of ‘Queer Eye’ and Billy Porter. In the same month, Swift said with Vogue,that video is the evidence of her allyship “Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male,” she explained. “I didn’t realise until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of.”
Marks conceded in her piece that the singer’s queer-eyed rendition of “Lover” could be “merely a mirage, born of earnest projection,” but she also noted that the singer’s work “simultaneously captures two dominant cultures – traditional and cosmopolitan.”
Marks wrote,Ms. Swift needs to keep telling the story that those audiences expect to hear—she falls in love with a man or gets revenge—in order to keep her grip on pop culture. Because of this, her confessional songs stagnate in a state of assumed stasis; despite the fact that their craft has become more intricate and their meaning has grown deeper, a sizable portion of her audience still associates them with the same tired stories.
Anna Marks is also aware of the fact that raising questions on International sensation sexuality is inappropriate for outlets like Times, she wrote “I know that discussing the potential of a star’s queerness before a formal declaration of identity feels, to some, too salacious and gossip-fueled to be worthy of discussion.
Taylor Swift’s fans reaction:
A fan wrote,especially a person of such great cultural significance who has refuted the implication before. Many people believe that such pieces are inappropriate. One person expressed this belief by saying, “I find myself hoping her machine punishes those who did this and I suspect she could do it, either overtly or subtly.”
Before that Taylor Swift also denied to be the part of LGBTQIA+ community but Swift said, she support them anyway.
Taylor Swift clarified in the prologue to her album “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” that she primarily surrounds herself with women in an effort to deter people from asking about her romantic life. She said that “I swore off hanging out with guys” as well as “decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships.”
Being an alley, it can be possible that Taylor Swift is showing her support towards the queer fans and people.The reason behind choosing different colours from her album cover, ‘Lover’ is to demonstrate that love is for all, and there is no particular way of loving someone.
In her song ‘You Need To Calm Down’, she mentioned in her lyrics that “cause shade never made anybody less gay” helped and influenced a lot of people to come out of the closet and accept themselves as they are.
After all these arguments, it will be totally Taylor Swift’s call to tell the truth about herself and end all of these rumours.
