Taylor Swift has taken some flack from feminists in the past for her rather romantic songwriting, but now she’s getting a very different sort of attention.
The singer/songwriter is the focus of a parody account on Twitter that was created by a fan and uses variations on her lyrics to send a positive feminist message. Clara Beyer says she’s not making fun of Swift with her posts; rather, she’s taking popular music that she herself likes and giving it a new spin.
“I’m not the only one who enjoys her music but feels uncomfortable with some of the messages,” said Beyer. “I couldn’t do this if I didn’t know all of our lyrics, it takes a fan to be able to do this.”
Beyer created the account with a friend; when it was done, she had 300 followers. The next day, she says, she woke up to find she’d amassed over 6,000.
“You were Romeo / I was a scarlet letter / Because I’ve had like, 6 boyfriends / Which isn’t even that many / Slut shaming is a real problem” reads one tweet. Another says, “She wears short skirts / I wear t-shirts / Neither of us is asking for it”. Swift herself hasn’t commented on the page, but has said that she doesn’t consider herself a feminist, and many agree with her. As the girl who is known for writing songs about her ex-boyfriends, Swift has garnered something of a bad rep among young women.
“I don’t really think about things as guys versus girls. I never have. I was raised by parents who brought me up to think if you work as hard as guys, you can go far in life,” she told The Daily Beast.
But Beyer says she thinks that a young woman who has taken control over her career and become such a success is a positive role model to feminists everywhere.
'Cause when you're 15 / And somebody tries to police your body / You might not realize how inappropriate it is
— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) June 18, 2013
You go talk to your friends / Talk to my friends / Talk to me / But you are never ever ever / Going to shame me for my romantic history
— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) June 18, 2013
Words that you whispered / For just us to know / "I'll never ask you to make me a sandwich / And I think those kinds of jokes are juvenile"
— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) June 18, 2013
Get me with those green eyes baby as the lights go down / Because as a woman I am always subject to the male gaze
— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) June 18, 2013
I can't decide if it's a choice / Getting swept away / Which is unsettling, because I should have agency in all of my sexual decisions
— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) June 17, 2013
