Taylor Swift has plenty of songs about feminism – and her ‘f*** the patriarchy’ attitude appears to have struck a nerve with a conservative journalist, Daily Mail reports.
According to the report by Daily Mail, John Mac Ghlionn was slammed for his article accusing Swift Taylor whose Eras Tour is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time – of being a bad influence on young girls.
In the Newsweek piece titled Taylor Swift Is Not a Good Role Model, Ghilonn claimed the songstress was setting a poor example as she’s ’34, unmarried and childless’ – failing to call out her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, for being the same.
The op-ed writer penned the piece last week to ‘offer some pushback’ on the Taylor-mania that has swept the globe – and has been swiftly ridiculed for his ‘1950s misogynistic’ views.
In his piece, he claimed despite the popstar’s ‘talent for sparking conversations, driving engagement, and raking in profits is commendable,’ she is not a good role model for young girls.
Commenting on Swift’s past relationships, Ghilonn suggested her martial status was crucial in shaping her as a role model, citing her not being wed as almost a sole reason girls should look elsewhere for a figure to emulate.
Although he acknowledged her ‘musical talent and business acumen,’ the researcher and essayist argued that ‘instead of encouraging young girls to see the “Swift standard” as the norm,’ they should be encouraged to aim for a romantic lifestyle that was a ‘little more… wholesome.’
‘Would any loving parent reading this want their daughter to date 12 different men in the span of just a few years?’ he argued in the piece.
‘This is not an attack on Swift; it’s a valid question that is worth asking.’
Ghilionn did not comment on the fact that Swift’s boyfriend Kelce is also unmarried and 34 – which was immediately noticed by furious readers.
Branded an ‘incel misogynist coward’ by some readers, irate users took to X, previously known as Twitter, to share their thoughts.
‘What the actual f*** is this misogynistic claptrap from @Newsweek?! Taylor Swift isn’t a role model because she’s “unmarried and childless”, what the hell? Written by a man, of course, but you should be ashamed to have published this vacuous nonsense,’ one person wrote.
‘No man has ever been chastised in the media for being a “bad role model for boys” because he was “34, unmarried and childless,”‘ another commented.
Someone else wrote: ‘Young girls do not need to aspire to marriage and children. I personally have no interest in Taylor Swift but there are worse role models than someone who evidently works hard and is financially independent and also made huge donations towards food banks.’
Branded an ‘incel misogynist coward’ by some readers, irate users took to X, previously known as Twitter, to share their thoughts – while some agreed.
A fourth chimed in: ‘This man clearly doesn’t understand patriarchy. Man mansplaining feminism, patriarchy and who is and is not a female role model.’
Despite heavy backlash, some users praised Ghlionn for sharing his brash views.
‘It is a point of view. Everyone is allowed to have one. I wouldn’t want a daughter seeking out hollow fame personally. Money and adoration of the masses tend to be cold comfort in later life,’ one user wrote.
‘Personally, I absolutely love how triggered all the woke feminazis are by this,’ another snarked.
‘If there’s nothing wrong with being unmarried and childless, what are you all so angry about?’