Let me start by saying this. I still stand with Taylor in her current feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. I remain a Taylor supporter, and I write this like every other piece of advice I give, just to try to help.
But after my conversation with Katie and Jess, I suddenly realised this. Many people out there have always doubted Taylor's authenticity, and that's what makes her vulnerable to accusations like these. For quite a few people out there, they have always been picturing in their minds that Taylor was a fake, cooking up drama for publicity all the time, and this is their 'proof'. The many 'personalities' Taylor has displayed over the years have meant that people think they don't know what she stands for, that she may have been faking it all along.
Which brings me back to 2009, why I began to like Taylor, and why I so strongly argued that she deserved those awards back then, more so than her competition (Beyonce and Lady Gaga being the main ones back then). I liked that Taylor had values, and really stood for something. Sure, Lady Gaga was known to be gay friendly. But that had become almost a generic stance everyone took, even back then. On the other hand, Taylor Swift stood for things people may not necessarily like, that were not what mainstream celebrities were likely to talk about. I don't know if you still remember it, but she received a lot of hate for her You Belong With Me video for its supposed 'slut shaming' imagery and also for her song Fifteen (which was actually one of my favourite Taylor songs). Of course that criticism was almost ridiculous, but the hate was real, and I believe it was because she stood for something. I still remember reading one commentator being impressed by the fact that Taylor took the effort to express appreciation for her mom, something that could potentially make her look uncool in the entertainment world, but she did it anyway. Let's hope this Taylor comes back. Agree with her or not, you have a good idea of what Taylor Swift was all about.
Fast forward to today. Taylor Swift may not be 'fake' as her haters say, but she doesn't appear to stand for any particular values solidly either. She has become a 'generic popstar', if you like. She may still have many haters, but they hate her for being 'fake', not for her values. If she stood her ground like she did back then, nobody could say that she's fake. I guess that's what she should do again.
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