"You Need to Calm Down" a song by the famous American pop artist hit the charts when the "Pride Month" was just around the corner. For Taylor who barely acknowledged gay movements before because she has never been reported having vocal about anything of that sort, a song like this presented her as nothing but as an opportunistic person who exactly knows when to strike on a readymade sheet of hot iron. When I say readymade, mark my words : Isn't the historical Stonewall Inn already boiling with Pride filters? When singers like Beyonce have been heard for long favouring LGBTQ+ movements, isn't Taylor came out oh-so-much late?
Taking a step back from calling, 'the cameos of stars from the LGBTQ universe in the service of Taylor as the leading brand' is slightly difficult. On the other hand, calling it a crude marketing strategy is as biased as the former.
When Taylor has long been silent on anything political, coming out as big as this is quite justified. So, did Taylor really change or is she enjoying her guilty pleasure relaxing in her favourite lavish pool parties again ?
When we dive a little deep into her life, we may find some instances rejecting the latter hypothesis. She went through a trial for her sexual harassment case against DJ David Mueller, which she herself mentioned transformed her on how she now percieves inequality in US legal system and as a result when she saw Republican candidate Rep. Marsha Blackburn, it kind of triggered the same. Marsha being a woman who voted against 'Equal pay of women' , against reauthorization of 'Violence against women act' and who even doesn't believe in rights of the gay community ; Taylor thought it is high time for her to be on the "right side of history".
So, here is the new Taylor shedding her good girl image, who is no more neutral or silent but rather shouting at the top of her voice, "If I get bad press for it then let it be so!". The song came as a political awakening for her. Back then, she said she DON'T talk politics about which she thinks she doesn't know enough and that is why she doesn't want to influence because she as someone with a large fan following might influence. Now, she is vocal which she showed by endorsing the Equality Act through her song. Her song debuted as a "Queer or Gay anthem" because it has been brought forth to represent the bill which prohibits discrimination on the basis of the sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any sex-based stereotype. It actually mentioned the GLAAD ( Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) activism group by name! For the new Taylor silence has become so silent that it is shouting and that is what is echoing all over. She no more adheres to what everyone wants her to, she flouts, she has wings, she is a butterfly! I am not sure if that's what the tattoo butterflies represent on Taylor's back in the video.
Is Taylor really "telling" or rather "selling" to shed homophobia & queer antagonism? When the Pride month is so full with rainbow filters by almost all kinds of brands be it YouTube, H&M, Google ; Is Taylor launching a brand of her own? Well, we cannot stop pondering over the probability of such a fantastic plan when Taylor herself resorted to a mixed and binary type of "calming down". We cannot easily conjecture who needs to calm down, the internet trolls who trolls Taylor or trolls who deny gay rights. By that logic, "Are those who hates Taylor hates gay now or those who hates gay hates Taylor?" This makes Taylor guilty of using Gay as a symbol, and that further as a backlash against her critics. Is she mixing LGBTQ with feminism? This is after all very controversial and equally confusing.
When we truly look for authenticity in artistry nowadays, I am scared if we are to find one. We are all so intertwined in a world full of materialistic possessions that it is very difficult to separate oneself from it. Maybe this is the new normal. That makes one ask, Are we lost? But then, don't we breathe on this loss?
DAMN, IT'S (JUST) 7 AM !
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