Feminist attacks on Taylor Swift reveal something very ugly about the movement
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift  performs in Houston. (John Salangsang/Invision/AP)
In Washington  an army of UPS trucks is swarming the city plastered with signs promising a #TaylorSwiftDelivery: the pop singerâs sixth album  âReputation â out Nov. 10. Four already released tracks tease a darker tone where the âold  Taylor â is âdeadâ and a reinvention of one of the most successful artists in the world. Itâs not enough to appease feminist critics  however.
Itâs been quite a year for  Swift   who has matured in public in a way few female stars have the courage to    staging a dispute between  her  different public âselvesâ in a video for  her  song âLook What You Made Me Doâ earlier this year. Meanwhile   she  pursued a lawsuit against a former radio host whom  she  accused of groping  her  in 2013  a move heralded by the Guardian as a âuniversal feminist statementâ long before #MeToo.  Swift  has openly embraced feminism since 2014 and tweeted in support of the Womenâs March in January  so you might think  given our current focus on womenâs rights and dignity  that âReputationâ would land with a girl-power splash.
But youâd be wrong. Very wrong. In fact   Swift  is already under fire from feminist critics. And their attacks reveal something very ugly about modern feminism: While todayâs feminists claim to champion the rights of all women  they speak only for women who agree with them â vocally  frequently and on demand.
[Sorry   Taylor Swift . Being a feminist is about more than supporting your girlfriends.]
Anticipating âReputation â Bustle editor Rachel Simon insisted that the 27-year-old Swift âcanât just say that the media has painted her as a fake feminist or a manipulative liar; she needs to say âI deserved it.â â Even after her sexual assault lawsuit  feminists pounced on  Swift . Salon writer Rachel Leah retorted that  Swift  is âknown to wave the feminist banner only when it directly benefits her.â Bustle agreed  decrying  Swift âs feminism as a âdeeply flawed â âself-servingâ âwhite feminism.â
As proof of her feminist failures  editor Kadeen Griffiths listed  Swift âs many faults: not criticizing President Trump  not âpublicly support[ing] organizationsâ like Planned Parenthood and not attending the Womenâs March (her tweet apparently wasnât enough.) Outlet after outlet has pressured  Swift  to condemn the president in the name of feminism. In January  the Daily Beast went so far as to accuse her of âSpineless Feminism.â  Swift  may be the highest-paid artist in the world   but her decision to speak out on issues as she pleases rather than as others call on her to means she gets little credit for the space sheâs made for female artists.
[The ACLU slams Taylor Swift for trying to protect her reputation]
We have no idea what  Taylor Swift  thinks about any number of specific political issues: how  she  feels about Trump  what  she  thinks the goals of feminism ought to be  where  she  comes down on abortion or anything else. But the ongoing denouncement of  Swift  proves that you donât even have to have convictions as firm as antiabortion feminists to be counted out of todayâs movement. All it takes to get exiled is to not affirm the party line loudly enough. And for any movement seeking to advance the cause of women as a whole  thatâs a problem.
The test of a feministâs commitment should be how  she  treats women who are different from  her . It shouldnât matter if  Swift  agrees or disagrees  if  she  speaks or remains silent. We should applaud  her  ability as a person  independent  with  her  own heart and mind  to be who  she  wishes. The same should go for any number of women who hold different political views but agree that womenâs voices should be a part of the national conversation. Their feminism is real  their perspectives matter  and they should be welcome to contribute to a movement that promotes womenâs welfare and status. That should be feminismâs reputation.
[TGT] performs in Houston. (John Salangsang/Invision/AP)
In Washington  an army of UPS trucks is swarming the city plastered with signs promising a #TaylorSwiftDelivery: the pop singerâs sixth album  âReputation â out Nov. 10. Four already released tracks tease a darker tone where the âold   [TGT]  is âdeadâ and a reinvention of one of the most successful artists in the world. Itâs not enough to appease feminist critics  however.
Itâs been quite a year for  Swift   who has matured in public in a way few female stars have the courage to    staging a dispute between  her  different public âselvesâ in a video for  her  song âLook What You Made Me Doâ earlier this year. Meanwhile   she  pursued a lawsuit against a former radio host whom  she  accused of groping  her  in 2013  a move heralded by the Guardian as a âuniversal feminist statementâ long before #MeToo.  Swift  has openly embraced feminism since 2014 and tweeted in support of the Womenâs March in January  so you might think  given our current focus on womenâs rights and dignity  that âReputationâ would land with a girl-power splash.
But youâd be wrong. Very wrong. In fact   Swift  is already under fire from feminist critics. And their attacks reveal something very ugly about modern feminism: While todayâs feminists claim to champion the rights of all women  they speak only for women who agree with them â vocally  frequently and on demand.
[Sorry   Taylor Swift . Being a feminist is about more than supporting your girlfriends.]
Anticipating âReputation â Bustle editor Rachel Simon insisted that the 27-year-old Swift âcanât just say that the media has painted her as a fake feminist or a manipulative liar; she needs to say âI deserved it.â â Even after her sexual assault lawsuit  feminists pounced on  Swift . Salon writer Rachel Leah retorted that  Swift  is âknown to wave the feminist banner only when it directly benefits her.â Bustle agreed  decrying  Swift âs feminism as a âdeeply flawed â âself-servingâ âwhite feminism.â
As proof of her feminist failures  editor Kadeen Griffiths listed  Swift âs many faults: not criticizing President Trump  not âpublicly support[ing] organizationsâ like Planned Parenthood and not attending the Womenâs March (her tweet apparently wasnât enough.) Outlet after outlet has pressured  Swift  to condemn the president in the name of feminism. In January  the Daily Beast went so far as to accuse her of âSpineless Feminism.â  Swift  may be the highest-paid artist in the world   but her decision to speak out on issues as she pleases rather than as others call on her to means she gets little credit for the space sheâs made for female artists.
[The ACLU slams Taylor Swift for trying to protect her reputation]
We have no idea what  Taylor Swift  thinks about any number of specific political issues: how  she  feels about Trump  what  she  thinks the goals of feminism ought to be  where  she  comes down on abortion or anything else. But the ongoing denouncement of  Swift  proves that you donât even have to have convictions as firm as antiabortion feminists to be counted out of todayâs movement. All it takes to get exiled is to not affirm the party line loudly enough. And for any movement seeking to advance the cause of women as a whole  thatâs a problem.
The test of a feministâs commitment should be how  she  treats women who are different from  her . It shouldnât matter if  Swift  agrees or disagrees  if  she  speaks or remains silent. We should applaud  her  ability as a person  independent  with  her  own heart and mind  to be who  she  wishes. The same should go for any number of women who hold different political views but agree that womenâs voices should be a part of the national conversation. Their feminism is real  their perspectives matter  and they should be welcome to contribute to a movement that promotes womenâs welfare and status. That should be feminismâs reputation.