Anyone Who Says Taylor Swift Isn’t A Good Role Model Is A Misogynist
Taylor Swift might be a billionaire, but she’s also one of the very few who tries to put her money to better use.
Featureflash Photo Agency | Shutterstock There's a huge uproar over an article that went viral about Taylor Swift. It’s an opinion piece written by John Mac Ghlionn at Newsweek, and it boiled down to this pearl-clutching crap:
- She dated 12 different men
- She has no kids
- She’s not married
- She is also against the patriarchy
Ergo, Taylor Swift is not a role model because she doesn’t have kids. Of course, it was written by a guy who asked his readers, “Would any loving parent reading this want their daughter to date 12 different men in the span of just a few years?”
Hey, John, your misogyny is showing.
It never ceases to amaze me how many men will pick apart a woman who does amazing things because she is either sexually active, childfree, not a mom yet, or a vocal feminist. More amazingly still, guys like Mac Ghlionn seem to pat themselves on the back when they do this — as if they are doing some kind of groundbreaking work in humanities.
Newsflash: there are millions of weak, pathetic men who hate women. Slut-shaming is the bottom of the barrel as far as insults go. It’s what losers cling to when they can’t come up with anything to say of substance. We see through it, you know. Our society is over it. The fake pearl-clutching and moralizing say more about them than it does about Swift or any other victim like her.
Taylor Swift is a role model, and anyone who says she isn't may be a misogynist.
There’s no questioning her talent and drive regarding her music career. Swift was very careful and meticulous when creating a solid fandom, encouraging a community, and working to promote her subculture. Even when she was faced with insecure, fragile oafs like Kanye doing incredibly rude things to her on stage, she handled herself like a lady. (I’mma let you finish, but Kanye is a perfect example of fragile masculinity.)
So what if she dated 12 men in a couple of years? Breakups don’t make you a failure, nor does getting back on the proverbial horse. Somehow, men like Mac Ghlionn didn’t get that memo. Or, maybe they carefully shoved that under the rug because it doesn’t fit their narrative of “women must be chaste and immediately pick one guy or else.”
Brian Friedman / Shutterstock
Taylor Swift might be a billionaire, but she’s also one of the very few who tries to put her money to better use.
Her dating record and way of carrying herself are admirable, but let’s talk about why I personally love her as a role model. It’s her business acumen and her charity work. While I could discuss the ethics of being a billionaire, the truth is that she does try to use her money for good.
Throughout her career, Taylor Swift paid for people’s college, stocked Britain’s food banks with millions of dollars worth of food, sent aid to Gaza, and also sent food to Americans stateside.
It doesn’t stop there. This rockstar of a rockstar also:
- Supports 33 charities
- Donated millions to tornado relief
- Donated $70,000 worth of books to her local library
- Boosted NYC’s school system with a generous $50,000 donation
- Supported fellow singer Ke$ha (LOVE HER!) with $250,000 during her court case against a producer who assaulted her
- Donated to Joyful Heart for survivors of assault
- Gave aid to multiple wildlife and animal conservancy groups
- Gave an autistic boy a service dog and met with him
- Gave rent help to a fan to the tune of $5,000
You can’t sit there and tell me that her business success isn’t applaudable. You can’t sit there and tell me that her philanthropy isn’t amazing. She could be like so many other hyper-wealthy individuals — buying off politicians to increase tax breaks, donating to anti-democracy charities, hoarding money yet she's not.
Taylor Swift has been known for personally reaching out to people affected by tragedies, disease, and poverty.
She does a lot more than most other celebrities in this sense. I can’t help but wonder how many charities John Mac Ghlionn donated to, how many puppies he bought children, or how many charities he volunteers to. I’m guessing the answer is between goose egg and two, but I might be wrong.
I’m also curious about how John Mac Ghlionn supports sexual assault survivors. Sure, he might not have the paycheck to donate to legal fees, but does he volunteer with any organizations? Does he do anything other than blame women? Judging by his writing, doubtful.
Even if Taylor Swift's public image is curated by PR agents, curation only goes so far.
Let’s take Mac Ghlionn’s argument that PR agents curate her public image. Sure. Let’s say that it is because honestly, it is. However, ol’ Johnny Boy here forgot a little something about the internet. The internet leaks stuff about celebrities all the time. Paying people off only works for so long. People who were able to hide behind clean veneers, like Diddy, Cosby, and even Kim Kardashian, were exposed.
On the opposite note, Ke$ha and Paris Hilton were presented as spoiled party girls. In later years, it came out that both led incredibly difficult lives and worked hard to get the fame they had. Both of them also became famous for being amazing people.
PR agents can do a lot. So can lawyers and scary-worded libel suits. However, these relations teams are not wonderworkers. They can’t weave miracles from crap. With how high profile Taylor is, does Mac Ghlionn think the media wouldn’t swarm her if she stepped out of line? Does he not think, for a moment, that the press wouldn’t talk if she was cruel to her staff members or something like that?
Get real. That would be the story of the century. Diddy, who was a known offender, got blown up. Taylor’s downfall would be up there with Britney Spears in terms of how the media would lap it up. So let’s not pretend it’s all fake. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, even with all the PR in the world.
Yes, the pearl-clutching around Taylor Swift is misogyny.
I wish people like this would just stop with the fake moralizing and just say they hate seeing women being happy, independent, and child-free. Please. Seriously, because it’s getting old. You see, Taylor Swift and women like her don’t care what saggy, puerile men have to say about their bedroom antics. They know that the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate…
And they’ll just shake it off.
Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer on Medium, Substakc, and more. She is also the founder of RaggedRiches, a personal finance site for people who don't fit the typical wealth mold.