I’m so tired of discourse that treats charting on the Billboard or Spotify charts as a feminist issue (e.g., some variation of “poor (insert current woman of the hour) being blocked by Taylor Swift—she’s not a feminist, she’s not a girl’s girl”) when there’s actual horrible things happening to women all over the place and all the time.
Equating chart tactics to feminism or even linking the two is genuinely insulting to actual women’s issues. Most (if not all) of the people (and i say people because there’s been men too) that Taylor has “blocked” are famous multimillionaires that are largely insulated from the woes of the world.
I'm a communist and I don't think billionaires should exist, but this particular emphasis on one billion as the dividing line between a problem and not a problem is ridiculous.
People will screech about how "you don't need to defend a billionaire" when the other person in the situation is worth like $700 million. And people will lump Taylor in with Musk and Bezos when really she is in the same bracket as people worth hundreds of millions, not hundreds of billions.
Absolutely, it’s a meaningless line to draw in the example comparison and it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of just how unfathomably enormous the wealth of Musk and Bezos is.
To me it just demonstrates a TikTok understanding of economic and social issues. They think being a billionaire is bad because they were told it was bad, not because they actually understand the issue. As if it's somehow possible to make $500 million without exploiting anyone but completely impossible to make $1 billion without doing so. It's childish.
Exactly! It’s not enough to say billionaires are bad... WHY are they bad??!?
Which is usually around the time I start ranting about the means of production, who owns them, and the fact that Taylor Swift does not. The wealth is bad because of HOW it is acquired.
Exactly! People likes bezos and musk are still worth HUNDREDS of times more than she is. It drives me a little nuts when people (& the media especially) lump them together like she’s anywhere near their playing field
Imagine if we demanded men “step aside” to let younger men to succeed because they are “past their prime” and “middle age” at 36. Then we accused them of not being “boys’ boy” because they wouldn’t take the L.
It is frankly also insulting to the artists they insist she is blocking. If I was them, I would be very insulted that my fans are so threatened by another artist that they think a few acoustic versions of a pre-released song are more impactful and able to get a #1 than my brand new single.
And for the record, telling a woman to get out of the spotlight and calling her “old” and a “hag” at the age of 36, and saying she’s jealous of younger women, is WAY more misogynistic and causes more damage than Taylor “blocking” anyone on the charts. And if you think otherwise you need to get offline.
Lol, the whining about this makes me laugh. The charts are a competition, not a charity. You either have what it takes to get number 1 or you don't. Clearly these bitter fans know that their faves don't have it, so the only solution is to demand Taylor doesn't compete.
the discourse literally makes no sense for anyone with half a brain. olivia released her remix the same day as tate’s new song and no one batted an eye. but for some reason when taylor does it too it’s anti-feminist? so olivia is allowed to “block” tate?
She is held to a completely different standard than almost every other celebrity. People hate that she’s a successful woman - if she were a man no one would bat an eye. People don’t have to like her music or even her morals, but the way people project their frustration with the ruling class onto her is absolutely nonsensical and outrageous. Instead of focusing their rage onto the real problems they’re trying to make Taylor Swift responsible for the world’s problems and it’s such a dumb distraction from the real issues.
It is so stupid lol. "How do people keep defending this???" Idk maybe because it doesn't matter? The artists she's "blocking" are still making plenty of money, I really don't understand why chart positions matter so much to random people. Let their managers worry about it!
No one says Olympic athletes are not "girls' girls" because they compete against one another or that Olivia is not a girl's girl for dropping a remix when Taylor was doing well.
Instead of complaining about Taylor blocking [insert artist here] why not just, I don't know, support that artist and stop, I don't know, comparing all the girls who are killing it.
So wait is Patient Zero hanging on to number 1 another week? I just keep seeing this blocking commentary but nothing behind it. Too early to say I guess?
Probably, but the physicals were always going to be shipped this week so it makes sense the other versions would go up on streaming this week as well. Olivia only announced the remix a few days ago so I really don't believe this had anything to do with blocking her specifically lol
And you never see the argument in reverse, Taylor has had the number one spot and nobody is accusing Olivia of dropping a remix to knock her down a peg! It's almost like this stuff is planned in advance regardless of who else is dropping what.
Too early to say still! Idk why people are so confident any artist was gonna get that #1 even if Taylor didn’t release the acoustic versions. For all we know Ella could end up blocking everybody 🤷♀️
Predictions have it beating Texas by quite a large margin for the week that ended yesterday, remaining #1 for the third week. Today (Friday 10/16) is a new chart week, hence all the new stuff like the Patient Zero variants going to Spotify, the new song from Tate McRae, and the new song from Olivia and Chappell. Too early to predict if it holds for a fourth week.
Didn’t you know? The only thing holding us women back from true liberation is Taylor swift’s album release strategy. Once we fix that… we’ll be good to go.
This post made me realize why swifties as a fandom has this bad reputation of being unhinged and blindly defend their artist. Just look at the bigger picture
So, do you have something constructive to add? Are you going to argue charting IS a feminist issue? Are you going to explain why you think this post is “unhinged”?
I think the fact that she released more variants of patient zero the day Olivia released a new collab…doesn’t sit right with people. But she’s not here to make friends…she said so in suburban legends lmao. She’s not running a charity. She’s no.1 for a reason
Someone online said this, and obviously we can't verify but it makes sense:
P0 was intended to come out much earlier in the year. But then Disney came to Taylor about doing Toy Story, so last minute she put together a single release for that and it shifted all the timelines.
People out here acting like she's an evil mastermind trying to ruin people and it's not even the schedule she originally wanted.
We can’t confirm that. I would venture to say that this is the timeline encore was supposed to come out though because encore was her way of bringing showgirl back into the conversation.
My point is this is a cut throat business and is not a charity. She can release and block anything. She released all her backlog on Spotify the day Katy perry had released new music. Swifties will live a more peaceful life if we stop taking the mantle of trying to prove Taylor as a feminist or whatever.
This is business. Let others yap and move on. We don’t need to justify anything lmak
And it’s not like Olivia didn’t release variant after variant for drop dead. This has become industry standard now, people are just jealous because Taylor started it. If someone else had, you’d never heard anything about this ever
They were already available on iTunes to pay. They were just put on streaming services. Are we going to say Olivia blocked Tate by releasing another variant??
Omg I have had this conversation so many times. I DONT CARE block Jesus for all I care. This is a BUSINESS.
“I didn’t come here to make friends
We were born to be suburban legends”
The issue I have with it is that it feels like the new versions/variants are conveniently released to maximize sales and stay at #1. It’s smart, but it is much more so a business decision rather than a creative or artistic decision. If she stays on top organically then I don’t see an issue, but intentionally using sales tactics to beat out your competition feels a bit iffy to me
This isn’t a sport though. It is business. I don’t understand this expectation that everyone just puts on Taylor to be this magnanimous person. Why should she? Genuinely
I didn’t say illegal I just said poor sportsmanship. I don’t think I need to explain why, it’s been said a thousand times. and I can have a personal issue with it without calling for her head.
Genuinely asking. When patient zero dropped the * of shipping said it would ship this week. I think it specified the day. Then Tate/Olivia decided to drop their songs and videos around that date. How is Taylor being the poor sport?
Other artists aren't 5 year olds who need the big kids to let them win.
This type of fans, however, are 5 year olds throwing tantrums when the big kids win a game against the other big kids and the 5yos aren't even playing.
I'd be pissed if someone "gave" me a win. Where is the fun in that? It's like rubbing salt in a wound
Comparing music to sports is apples to oranges because it isn’t a “real” competition, but it’s not unsportsmanlike to be number one. The Knicks are not going to bow out of the NBA finals this year because they won last year.
Including the artist she’s accused of blocking. At least Taylor hasn’t issued a dot point list to her teen fans of exactly what you need to buy and stream to get her to number one.
obviously many people (seemingly urself included) took umbrage with my comment about miley this morning - and i apologize for turning it into a feminist point when my actual argument was more about the level of greed and blind competitiveness that has led taylor to seek this ubiquity over the charts - idk if i find it much of a coincidence that two weeks after the deluxe she has now dropped new versions of patient zero on the day chappell and olivia dropped their collab, but i digress. the issue is not really that it appears anti feminist but that it is borderline anticompetitive - same reason why the DOJ investigates M&A for antitrust concerns - her music is powered by a giant economic engine and in my opinion it is fair to argue that the force she exerts over the media teeters on an abuse of the airways designed to concentrate unfair levels of money and power into her own hands. I get that you like seeing your girl win and that’s fine, but letting people question if the ends really justify the means and if she’s acting w good faith / proper sportsmanship is also okay.
ty for clarifying, but yea i mean it may be that it’s a common talking point because its a common behavior - her PR machine really aughta give the general public a break and let the mystery of what’s next develop a little - we have had no down cycle from her since the eras tour and it’s exhausting non-swifties to a point of frustration - just hope she breaks the record she’s hoping to break and then gives us a little bit of a break in return lol.
I think the only major records left are #1 singles and weeks at #1 on the albums chart, so if it’s any consolation we likely won’t be getting new content without a new album as I doubt showgirl will break any of those records unless she releases like … 3 more showgirl singles and pushes them to #1 (don’t see that happening)
Yeah, I agree - Taylor Swift should probably use some of her billionaire fortune to assist some of the major feminist causes or political candidates out in the world ahead of the midterns.
*voice in ear*
I'm hearing that she doesn't do that either, and seems to only reference other women when it's to sing over them in a remix.
I'm told she did that before the most consequential election of our lifetime and more than half of the electorate still chose to vote the fascist into power. When are you guys going to realize that Taylor Swift's political sway and power is actually extremely limited to getting recently-of-age fans to register to vote?
Yeah, she really put the work in - one whole Instagram post that was mostly about her cat where she passively mentioned Kamala Harris.
Even if she's somehow incapable of getting out the vote, you have to look at something like Daisy Chain Fields - which raised significant money for abortion rights groups - and wonder why Taylor Swift has never even attempted similar strategies. Are you really trying to tell me a Taylor Swift performance this month in key election districts wouldn't even move the needle?
Frankly, it seems pretty clear she's always been on the side of the billionaire class - and models the exact kind of behavior that billionaires want out of women: don't question the status quo, and only advocate for female empowerment when you can make a profit off of it.
“Passively mentioned Kamala Harris” when it was a whole endorsement lmao.
I wouldn’t use Daisy Chain Fields as a good example when in that same festival Olivia platformed a woman who accused Taylor of sleeping to the top as a child, and the company Olivia hired to handle the vendors had to be called out publicly in order to pay a small business that served the Festival.
And Taylor performing in key election districts, are we serious right now? Do you know what caliber of fame Taylor is at? With the Vienna terror attack plans, the scrutiny Taylor is under, and the state of the world right now combined, it would be very unsafe for her to put on a whole political concert. And let’s be real, even if she did, it would never be enough for the people that criticize her. So I support her decision not to engage with the crazies that put more faith in celebrities than the government, and the celebrities that have broken their back trying to appease the mob always end up failing because frankly nothing makes these people happy.
Again, it was an Instagram text post. She wasn't actually hitting the trail with any candidate, or using her star power in any sense to benefit the political causes she pretends to care about.
Also, it's so hilarious to act like it would be "unsafe" for Taylor to appear at a political concert when she's literally showing up for NFL football games on a weekly basis. Even if you can levy some small issues with Daisy Chain's management or comments made by some other performers - the fact is it did more good for women than Swift has in her entire career. Likely because Swift has no interest in advancing the cause, just leveraging it for attention.
Saying she’s done nothing for women her entire career is a bold claim. Shows you really do know nothing about Taylor, the woman who took her music off of streaming in protest of Spotify not paying artists enough, Taylor who stood by Blake Lively when the entire world was being misogynistic towards her, Taylor who gave Sophie Turner a place to live after her divorce, Taylor who has continuously lifted up younger female artists and gave them a platform, Taylor who set the standard that women don’t have to step down from the spotlight at a certain age, Taylor who scrolls through gofundme clicking the donate button like it’s a like button, Taylor who gave a voice to millions of young women who relate to her music all in different ways…. to say that one festival demeans everything Taylor has done for women is laughable. And there’s also that Taylor chooses to donate money from her own pockets, not just money made from ticket sales.
So she's selectively helped her friends and a few fans. I stand by my assessment she's collectively done far less good than even a single charity festival would have contributed.
That doesn't actually change the fact she's done nothing to better the larger cause for women, unless it's explicitly done for her own benefit. Where exactly has Taylor been in the fight to save abortion rights the past decade? Where has she been during election cycles? During moments in popular culture where artists were challenged to speak out about weath inequality & major global strife?
The answer is usually "In her private jet, on her way from lunch to dinner."
None of that is her job. She is a singer. She has made an impact because she provides her fans a safe place to be happy, enjoy her music and feel a sense of community. THAT is her goal. She wants to make music and that is her passion.
Furthermore, Taylor doesn’t speak she acts. When she set a precedent in paying her staff way above the normal wage AND giving them a bonus, she showed us how she feels. When she stated that she wants to make sure her team earn more if the tour earns more, that’s her showing how she feels. When she donated money to every city she visited on her tour, that’s her showing what she feels. Activism is activism even if YOU don’t think it is.
She didn’t vaguely donate to the city, she donated to food banks. She has donated a lot throughout her career. That’s her way of giving back. Just cause it’s nit good enough to you doesn’t mean she isn’t doing enough. You’re just projecting onto her.
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u/im-your-daisy 1d ago
Agree. Using their own metrics, it’s like damn I can’t believe the three quarter billionaire was blocked by the billionaire 😩