29 Quotes That Call Out Taylor Swift's White Feminism

“Yes, poor Taylor Swift is the victim once again. A victim of a ‘character assassination’. A character assassination much like when she posted Joe Jonas‘ breakup voicemail on YouTube. A character assassination much like when she described the woman Joe Jonas dated after her, Camille Belle, as ‘an act…”

— Todd, idly.craveonline.com

“Songs like ‘Fifteen’ dig up the ancient Puritan ideal that girls can only access power by confidently and heterosexually denying access to their pants.”

— Riese, autostraddle.com

“But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts She’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers.”

— Taylor Swift, azlyrics.com

“Other girls are obstacles; undeserving enemies who steal Taylor’s soulmates with their bewitching good looks and sexual availability. Unfortunately for these mute yet effortlessly hunky jungle-eyed boys, by choosing the ‘beautiful’ girls over Taylor (who is, suspiciously… also beautiful…), they’re m…”

— Riese, autostraddle.com

“She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think. She’s an actress and she’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress.”

— Taylor Swift, azlyrics.com

“Taylor Swift, a woman who has built a career by slut shaming women, publicly humiliating girls who ‘stole’ her exes, teaching women to not have sex because it will mean they are bad sluts, teaching women that their virginity is everything they have and losing it makes them bad sluts, teaching women…”

— mrsmelchiorgabor, mrsmelchiorgabor.tumblr.com

“There's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women.'”

— Taylor Swift, eonline.com

“"Women shouldn't take down other women" is one of the most tired and tiring tenets of pop feminism, slung around by celebrities on social media whenever one of their squad members faces a slight, either outright or the kind you only get if you read into it just the right way.”

— Amy Odell, cosmopolitan.com

“Of course female friendship is a beautiful thing. It’s insanely powerful. Sisterhood is something so valid and important when you are growing up that I literally think the essence of it should be taught in schools. But, the ‘squads’ we see in the media are very polarizing. Feminism and friendship ar…”

— Rowan Blanchard, usmagazine.com

“Taylor, Selena, her fucking squad, and her ‘swifties’ demand we talk about real issues, but yet do nothing when Leslie Jones a black woman and fellow feminist is harassed, compared to a gorilla, and given death threats to the point she leaves Twitter. They have never once mentioned the racism in Hol…”

— arthurkirklandseyebrows, arthurkirklandseyebrows.tumblr.com

“Taylor Swift must be the second coming of Jesus because it’s become damn near impossible to utter a critical word against her.”

— Kevin Allred, kevin-allred.com

“Ultimately this involves three unfathomably rich and famous and annoying people who will continue to be unfathomably rich and famous and annoying. But what Taylor did is a form of what Darth Susans have been doing since America’s inception. Using the inherent empathy and benefit of the doubt her Whi…”

— Damon Young, verysmartbrothas.com

“The best example of Swift’s white feminism is when Nicki Minaj posted about the racism and antiblack misogyny that fuels award nominations after the announcement for the MTV VMA’s in 2015... Swift loves to instigate everything about herself, and then didn’t respond to Minaj until numerous articles w…”

— Ashleigh Shackelford, wearyourvoicemag.com

“There is a difference between an artist who actually employs women to further her feminist message and one who seems to expect them to surround her as though bounce boards there simply to magnify her own limelight.”

— Amy Odell, cosmopolitan.com

“Swift had been nice to Minaj, so Minaj could not criticize her. It was a statement about control. Minaj was out of control and Swift had to pull her back in. For some reason, Minaj had to walk on eggshells, so as not to anger Swift. Remember [Taylor’s] rule of friendship #1? ‘You have to like me.’ B…”

— Amy Stockwell, mamamia.com.au

“[asked if she considers herself a feminist] 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.”

— Taylor Swift, jezebel.com

“By centering Minaj’s observation around herself, and thus shifting the narrative into a Nicki vs. Taylor story, she silenced Minaj, dismissed her experiences, and derailed an important conversation about race and gender. Swift tried to deflect Minaj’s criticisms of the music industry (again, not abo…”

— Zeba Blay, huffingtonpost.com

“Because when you look beyond the millions of dollars, fans and followers, Minaj is simply another black woman being accused of divisiveness by a white feminist for pointing out racial inequality.”

— Yomi Adegoke, independent.co.uk

“We do not live in a post-race (or post-racist) society like many would like to believe. A black man stood up and spoke back to the white establishment for an enormous slight of the music and accomplishments of a black woman; that same black woman then ended up having to apologize for and distance he…”

— Kevin Allred, kevin-allred.com

“The video for ‘Wildest Dreams’ perfectly demonstrates the ways in which Taylor continually misses the mark: By seeing life through only her experience (and that of those similarly sociopolitically positioned), she’s unable to notice — let alone prioritize — the needs of the most marginalized. So her…”

— Melissa Fabello, everydayfeminism.com

“When a white female artist pens countless songs bashing her ex-flames & former friends without their stamp of approval, it's considered "musical genius" and "art" but when a black male artist does so, it's considered "character assassination." Another racist double sandard in our country which must…”

— Daniel Preda, rxse-gxld.tumblr.com

“Because Swift operates on white feminism and white fragility as survival. Her albums, her platform, and her life is based upon being a victim, being the one to be saved and being a white princess. Collaborating with one of the most controversial rappers over lyrics that seemingly destroy the narrati…”

— Ashleigh Shackelford, wearyourvoicemag.com

“But we can also drag Swift for being a respectable white woman that often performs purity (more whiteness) and constantly plays the victim card, using her white femme womanhood to navigate conflict in ways that avoid accountability or culpability. Especially when this conflict is her pinning the bla…”

— Ashleigh Shackelford, wearyourvoicemag.com

“The song, titled ‘Innocent,’ sees Swift playing judge and jury, offering her verdict that West is finally off the hook. Again, the black man on trial for a crime he was falsely accused of is a familiar occurrence in U.S. history.”

— Kevin Allred, kevin-allred.com

“Despite insistence from Taylor that she would ‘very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that [she] has never asked to be a part of, since 2009,’ she followed the VMAs incident up by releasing the song ‘Innocent’ that directly referenced the drama with Kanye. In a quite condescending so…”

— Ira Madison III, medium.com

“You didn’t ask to be part of the narrative? Sorry. Did John Mayer, Taylor Lautner, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joe Jonas, or Harry Styles ask to be part of your narrative that you used to portray yourself as a victim?”

— Todd, idly.craveonline.com

“Try as people might to divorce celebrity from the real world, it directly influences the world that we all live in. Portrayals of black men in the media lead to racist narratives that paint Kanye as a villain and Taylor as the white woman in distress. Putting on a show at the Grammys to become a vic…”

— Ira Madison III, medium.com

“Alas, to most of America Taylor Swift represents a return to much more conservative morals and values, an anti-feminist heterosexual romantic ideal, and a throw back to the times when paternalism and more subtle forms of racism passed as progress.”

— Kevin Allred, kevin-allred.com

“Anyone who calls themselves a feminist after learning about the movement from, of all people, Lena Dunham, is not to be trusted.”

— Melissa Fabello, everydayfeminism.com