Let's stop speculating about Taylor Swift's sexuality.
"Look What We Made Taylor Do" is the title of an opinion piece written by Anna Marks that discusses Taylor Swift's long debated sexuality. The article discusses the potential impact she may have as an openly queer artist and unpacks the so-called "clues" Swift may have left in her lyrics and costumes.
In this case, however, Marks may need to look at what she herself did, as sources claim that Swift and her team were not happy with the work.
"When writing about Taylor, no matter how invasive, untrue, or inappropriate it may be, there seems to be no boundary that will not be crossed, no matter how wrapped in the protective veil of an 'opinion piece,'" the source said.
In the article, Marks leans heavily on images from her "sweetheart" days, with their heavy use of pink and purple pastel colors. She notes that these are among the bisexual flags, which is true, but may just be coincidence.
"Because of her great success, there is a Taylor-type hole in people's ethics at this moment," the source added.
Swift has reached a level that other artists can only dream of, recently named TIME's Person of the Year and Spotify's Global Artist of 2023, and speculation about every aspect of her life has reached a fever pitch.
Those close to Swift further linked this to the sexism that exists when discussing female artists: "This article would not have been allowed to write about Shawn Mendes or any male artist whose sexuality is questioned by fans," they claimed.
However, Marks wrote a similar article titled "Harry Styles Walks a Delicate Line" about popular singer Harry Styles in 2022, which was also published in The New York Times.
Styles has also long been the center of speculation, although he has never publicly stated his sexuality.
Fans were largely unimpressed with the article and have called for a boycott of the New York Times.
One X user wrote This article is sexist and grossly inappropriate."
One X user wrote: "I think the article is sexist and grossly inappropriate.
One user wrote of the article, "I think Taylor is a real artist type who doesn't try to hide anything central to who she is. Maybe what you see is what you get. . a young woman with a football player boyfriend who is an empathetic ally."
Swift has been dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce since mid-2023. This is not to deny her queerness, but to date she has only dated men and has only shown interest in dating men. Perhaps it is time for us to take her at her word and trust that if she has more to say, she will say it.
Swift talks about her sexuality and how she is not a member of the queer community.
In her piece, Marks discusses the famous "You Need to Calm Down" music video, which features many LGBT celebrities and symbols.
However, when discussing the song and video in an interview with Vogue magazine in 2019, Swift said, "I didn't realize until recently that I could advocate for a community I didn't belong to."
This may sound like an obvious thing to realize, but it is not for everyone. Many people fear that they will be accused of queerbaiting or using the movement for their own benefit.
Swift also recently came under heavy criticism for her new prologue to 1989 (Taylor's Version), in which she discusses the famous girl squads of the era.
"If I only hung out with my girl friends, people couldn't sensationalize it or sexualize it, could they? Swift said.
"And she said, 'I'm not going to do it,'"
Swift said.She couldn't be more clear on the matter, so let's hope fans and the media learn a lesson from the backlash to this story and don't become the target of Swift's "karma."
Comments