Any woman who tells another woman what she has to say, think and support is not really a feminist, she is just a label wearer. The accusations made against you are likely bouncing off the mirror the accusers are staring at, dug out of their innermost self and typical accusations used to try and bring down an independent-minded woman. Shrug them off and hang in there. Signed, 1960 feminist
Dang, Meghan, that's awful, but not surprising coming from the kind of self-centered morons who idolize plastic airheaded hacks like TS. They can all go take a flying jump. And anyone who treats you that way for expressing your valid opinion can do the same. For my part, I think you are quite the dish, not to mention intelligent and a good writer. You merit being called a real feminist too, imo, even if/when you choose not to use that label. Those other "feminists" are just a load of phonies and nitwits. My sincere support to you. There are lots of us out here who will back you any day.
I 100% agree about Taylor Swift and pop stars in general. Literally like four weeks ago, I commented to my friend how sick I was of hearing about Taylor Swift. Then I kept seeing irritating videos from conservative commentators trashing her in ways that seemed irrelevant and actually hateful, and I felt angry about conservative commentators saying shit about women. Then the AI stuff was done, and I felt terrible for her (and still do on that note). But I still am sick of hearing about Taylor Swift, and still think she is overrated, and have since "22" came out and all the girls on my high school soccer team were running around singing it during soccer conditioning like it really spoke to them, even though we were all under 18, and it was a dumbass song, annoyingly sang.
Seems like some people need a place or person to 'hold' their worshiip, their faith or their passion,. A tall young woman bouncing around in a bathing suit is not that someone. Thanks for the article.
"For those still committed to the cult: Taylor Swift is not your leader. She’s not anything. She is not your friend. She is not a thought leader, she does not speak truth to power, she is not a political dissident, she is not creating good or important art. For all intensive purposes, she is a hologram. She is not real to you." -Amen. Sadly too much of society spends more time in a world that doesn't exist (online) than in the real world with those around them.
Speaking as someone who manages to stay barely aware of the Taylor Swift phenomenon, I enjoyed your first essay and learned something from it. This essay here is overkill, though. I can understand that after receiving such voluminous criticism you felt the need to respond, but it seems clear that Taylor Swift is just another manufactured star who deserves to be ignored and (where necessary) grown out of, not made some kind of battleground. I loved your presentation of Joni Mitchell's marvellously dismissive quote about her!
"Stop funding a campaign that exists to keep you dumb, blind, and amped up with emotions about a thing that isn’t even real." Totally! But that's a big ask in our superficial fourth turning. Middle aged men like Taylor Swift? Creepy.
Why adults are afraid of the free exchange of ideas and opinions is one of the mysteries of life right now. We can't even talk about something as dumb as the Taylor Swift phenomena?!! It's under the category of group think, a la "The Psychology of Totalitarianism" by Mattias Desmet.
When "feminists" come after you, Meghan, just remember these are the same women who are against clitorectomies in Muslim societies, but fully support the sexual mutilation of children here in North America!
You are courageous -- a trait very rare in western society today.
P.S. Besides your piece, I also liked Sasha Stones's "Taylor Swift's People Meet Joe Biden's People: A Tragedy in One Act" on Substack. It will give you a chuckle.
You should be able to dislike a pop star and critique a cultural phenomenon without people getting their knickers in a twist. I'm tired of being told why I SHOULD like her; your perspective was a breath of fresh air. They make it as though disliking her was a betrayal of women. Thank you for retaining a class analysis. She's the latest in a long line of over-rated pop divas, from Madonna to Britney Spears.
I only take issue with the assertion that nobody cares about (or makes) good music anymore. Have you heard Whistle? Their record came out last year; it features detransitioner Cat Cattinson on vocals, and is wholly gender critical. I thought you might enjoy it:
It's true that was a hyperbolic statement. I just feel like at one point there was sooo much incredible music and now I find almost everything that comes out boring. I will check out Whistle!
I don’t feel the same as you about Taylor Swift, as I cannot really see what your particular issues are with her over any other female pop star, but I support your right to write about anything you please! I don’t know her music very well, but I do like some of her songs. And I think she used to perform with proper clothes on (but that has changed) which did mark her out as different from other female pop stars 😂 and I did like that about her. She seemed to have some sense of self worth. I also do think that she works hard for what she has got and that she does have some musical talent. But those are my opinions. However, There will always be these crazy fans. Even though the Beatles were amazing, would you have screamed and cried hysterically to just be in their presence like thousands of women and girls did back then? People are crazy! People want someone to look up to. I wonder if your focus on Taylor Swift is because you see young girls looking up to her and that bothers you. You want them to look up to truly inspirational women who actually do stuff and really make a difference. Like astronaut Sally Ride for example. The cult of fame and stardom is here to stay it seems. And it is depressing. It has not changed. Kids still get obsessed by people who make music. Lots of successful pop stars make bad music. But there are still lots of people making good music. They are just harder to find and less successful. I remember seeing this amazing musician at a tiny venue in the UK called Sian Russel Jones who was infinitely better than Ed Sheeran and the like and he wrote his own songs performed all the music and it was wonderful. I bought two of his CDs but he never “made it”. You seem to like Ed Sheeran but I can’t stand his music maybe because I can’t help but compare him to what I heard from Jones.
I think initially the bafflement was at the fact her music is just so boring and unremarkable yet people were acting like she was the second coming, adults included. Now the defensiveness and vitriolic attacks on me for saying so are almost just as strange (though I get that people feel insulted by my assessment). I don't like Ed Sheeran I just like one of his songs and can recognize objectively that he is a good singer and songwriter... I find all pop music today boring and overproduced/manufactered.
All I know about Taylor Smith is that she is a singer who makes a lot of money. The cult of personality, is however, a disturbing trend. It's as if many people have no real lives and live through whomever is the current 'name'. What a shallow way to live. And dangerous because all that energy could be used to keep up with the real world and real world problems as Meghan and others do.
My only quibble with Meghan's latest is that I'm very tired of the word fuck. It has become so commonplace that it is now just boring.
Any woman who tells another woman what she has to say, think and support is not really a feminist, she is just a label wearer. The accusations made against you are likely bouncing off the mirror the accusers are staring at, dug out of their innermost self and typical accusations used to try and bring down an independent-minded woman. Shrug them off and hang in there. Signed, 1960 feminist
❤️
Dang, Meghan, that's awful, but not surprising coming from the kind of self-centered morons who idolize plastic airheaded hacks like TS. They can all go take a flying jump. And anyone who treats you that way for expressing your valid opinion can do the same. For my part, I think you are quite the dish, not to mention intelligent and a good writer. You merit being called a real feminist too, imo, even if/when you choose not to use that label. Those other "feminists" are just a load of phonies and nitwits. My sincere support to you. There are lots of us out here who will back you any day.
❤️❤️❤️
You GO girl!!
(Jaysus, how I love smart, strong, independent women😏)
I 100% agree about Taylor Swift and pop stars in general. Literally like four weeks ago, I commented to my friend how sick I was of hearing about Taylor Swift. Then I kept seeing irritating videos from conservative commentators trashing her in ways that seemed irrelevant and actually hateful, and I felt angry about conservative commentators saying shit about women. Then the AI stuff was done, and I felt terrible for her (and still do on that note). But I still am sick of hearing about Taylor Swift, and still think she is overrated, and have since "22" came out and all the girls on my high school soccer team were running around singing it during soccer conditioning like it really spoke to them, even though we were all under 18, and it was a dumbass song, annoyingly sang.
Seems like some people need a place or person to 'hold' their worshiip, their faith or their passion,. A tall young woman bouncing around in a bathing suit is not that someone. Thanks for the article.
"For those still committed to the cult: Taylor Swift is not your leader. She’s not anything. She is not your friend. She is not a thought leader, she does not speak truth to power, she is not a political dissident, she is not creating good or important art. For all intensive purposes, she is a hologram. She is not real to you." -Amen. Sadly too much of society spends more time in a world that doesn't exist (online) than in the real world with those around them.
Speaking as someone who manages to stay barely aware of the Taylor Swift phenomenon, I enjoyed your first essay and learned something from it. This essay here is overkill, though. I can understand that after receiving such voluminous criticism you felt the need to respond, but it seems clear that Taylor Swift is just another manufactured star who deserves to be ignored and (where necessary) grown out of, not made some kind of battleground. I loved your presentation of Joni Mitchell's marvellously dismissive quote about her!
Well I use this space to write about what I want to write about so I can't promise you won't have to suffer through another one haha
"Stop funding a campaign that exists to keep you dumb, blind, and amped up with emotions about a thing that isn’t even real." Totally! But that's a big ask in our superficial fourth turning. Middle aged men like Taylor Swift? Creepy.
Why adults are afraid of the free exchange of ideas and opinions is one of the mysteries of life right now. We can't even talk about something as dumb as the Taylor Swift phenomena?!! It's under the category of group think, a la "The Psychology of Totalitarianism" by Mattias Desmet.
When "feminists" come after you, Meghan, just remember these are the same women who are against clitorectomies in Muslim societies, but fully support the sexual mutilation of children here in North America!
You are courageous -- a trait very rare in western society today.
P.S. Besides your piece, I also liked Sasha Stones's "Taylor Swift's People Meet Joe Biden's People: A Tragedy in One Act" on Substack. It will give you a chuckle.
You should be able to dislike a pop star and critique a cultural phenomenon without people getting their knickers in a twist. I'm tired of being told why I SHOULD like her; your perspective was a breath of fresh air. They make it as though disliking her was a betrayal of women. Thank you for retaining a class analysis. She's the latest in a long line of over-rated pop divas, from Madonna to Britney Spears.
I only take issue with the assertion that nobody cares about (or makes) good music anymore. Have you heard Whistle? Their record came out last year; it features detransitioner Cat Cattinson on vocals, and is wholly gender critical. I thought you might enjoy it:
https://whistle.bandzoogle.com/home
It's true that was a hyperbolic statement. I just feel like at one point there was sooo much incredible music and now I find almost everything that comes out boring. I will check out Whistle!
I don’t feel the same as you about Taylor Swift, as I cannot really see what your particular issues are with her over any other female pop star, but I support your right to write about anything you please! I don’t know her music very well, but I do like some of her songs. And I think she used to perform with proper clothes on (but that has changed) which did mark her out as different from other female pop stars 😂 and I did like that about her. She seemed to have some sense of self worth. I also do think that she works hard for what she has got and that she does have some musical talent. But those are my opinions. However, There will always be these crazy fans. Even though the Beatles were amazing, would you have screamed and cried hysterically to just be in their presence like thousands of women and girls did back then? People are crazy! People want someone to look up to. I wonder if your focus on Taylor Swift is because you see young girls looking up to her and that bothers you. You want them to look up to truly inspirational women who actually do stuff and really make a difference. Like astronaut Sally Ride for example. The cult of fame and stardom is here to stay it seems. And it is depressing. It has not changed. Kids still get obsessed by people who make music. Lots of successful pop stars make bad music. But there are still lots of people making good music. They are just harder to find and less successful. I remember seeing this amazing musician at a tiny venue in the UK called Sian Russel Jones who was infinitely better than Ed Sheeran and the like and he wrote his own songs performed all the music and it was wonderful. I bought two of his CDs but he never “made it”. You seem to like Ed Sheeran but I can’t stand his music maybe because I can’t help but compare him to what I heard from Jones.
I think initially the bafflement was at the fact her music is just so boring and unremarkable yet people were acting like she was the second coming, adults included. Now the defensiveness and vitriolic attacks on me for saying so are almost just as strange (though I get that people feel insulted by my assessment). I don't like Ed Sheeran I just like one of his songs and can recognize objectively that he is a good singer and songwriter... I find all pop music today boring and overproduced/manufactered.
Yeah, that was nuts to see on IG
So crazy!
All I know about Taylor Smith is that she is a singer who makes a lot of money. The cult of personality, is however, a disturbing trend. It's as if many people have no real lives and live through whomever is the current 'name'. What a shallow way to live. And dangerous because all that energy could be used to keep up with the real world and real world problems as Meghan and others do.
My only quibble with Meghan's latest is that I'm very tired of the word fuck. It has become so commonplace that it is now just boring.
Sorry! Sometimes I try to keep it out but it's also how I speak so it's very natural to me...
❤️❤️❤️
Yes! You are what you do and you can either act like a person you respect or become a shitty person. You're the one who has to live with yourself.