Pages

Monday, March 4, 2013

Where I'm Overly Conservative and Discuss Taylor Swift

I am a big Taylor Swift fan.

I listen to her music frequently (on Pandora or YouTube, because I'm too cheap to own an iPod, let alone buy songs for it). I always wished the time-space continuum had altered just a bit so her songs would have come out while I was in high school, because I would have very much related to them. Especially "You Belong With Me," but that's okay, because I did score the guy the in the end. :D

Anyway, her songs aside, I've always liked Taylor Swift because she seems like a decent, genuine, all-around good person, which is harder and harder to find in the entertainment industry nowadays. (I don't think I need to illustrate my point, there.) She's always been very nice in the interviews I've seen of her, very good-hearted, and very kind to her fans.

But more importantly, for me, I think she's an excellent role model. I love that I never have to worry about filtering or turning off a Taylor Swift song on the radio because I know it will be free from lewd* references and cursing. I love how modest she is in behavior and in dress. And here comes the part I'm sure many of you will argue with me about.

Her recent cover on Elle Magazine:

Photo from Elle.com

Putting the fact that Taylor is so photoshopped I barely recognize her, is she wearing a transparent dress?

Mmmm.... yep. That's see-through all right, and photoshopped to take out her crotch and and any bit of nipple that passes the boundary of those small yellow squares. Is it just me, or does this picture completely go against Taylor's branding? Does anyone else think that this breast-and-skin-emphasizing photo shouldn't be centered on a girl who is the role model to millions of teenage girls across the world?

I don't know. I was really surprised when I saw this magazine in Walgreens because it kind cracked this awesome image I had of Taylor Swift in my head. I'm worried that the industry has finally gotten to her and the "good girl" I've loved since I heard my roommate playing "Fearless" on her guitar might be in a downward spiral toward joining the ranks of all those other entertainers you know I'm talking about.** I mean, what makes a person willing to be photographed in a clear dress?

Anyway, there's my two cents for the day. What do you think?





------------------------
*I learned how to spell "lewd" today.
**This was a very long sentence.

13 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh. I saw this in the store and it didn't even occur to me that it was see through. But now that you say that... wow. I never thought she would do something like that...bummer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, it's pretty much what has happened to me in the past, with celebrities that seem genuine and modest. So far I'm not a huge TS fan, but some of her songs are cute. I am so sorry you are so disappointed. It's a cruel reality, sorry Charlie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The fact is that the dress is ugly and no one would wear it anyway. On the other hand, if someone shows up with checkers you're all set.

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's always hard to see someone we admire making choices we wouldn't. Even worse when someone who is a role model for so many makes choices that could damage so many.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You should watch this music video of hers:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoKguSdy4Y

    She's certainly not the innocent little Taylor Swift she was. Shame that they all go down this road, eh?

    And then watch this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSKXmVE32uk

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree. I don't know that much about her, but I've heard her songs are clean, and she seems to be (was, at least) modest in behavior and dress. I guess our little Taylor is changing her image. :\

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, and it looks like she wasn't actually naked. They comment on it briefly in this article:
    http://taylorswiftstyle.net/page/3

    "Taylor made this look more demure and less voyeur by adding a nude slip underneath."

    ReplyDelete
  8. My girls like Taylor Swift too, and I've come to think of her as a good role model. But the modesty has definitely been slipping. Her dresses in the awards shows have been causing my jaw to drop lately. It makes me sad.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Okay. I'm jumping into the frying pan here, but why the crap not? Someone has to be the voice of dissent! (This is going to be really good, since I'm the first dude to comment, unless Pegasus is a dude...) So here goes:

    Taylor Swift. A role model? Wow. This chick goes through boyfriends like they're candy. She is obviously too childish to act like an adult with her relationships. I think it's funny that it took this picture to convince you she might not be the best example to follow.

    Taylor Swift's idiocy aside, the picture really isn't all that risqué. Charlie, you even point out that the magazine went to lengths to photoshop out bits of her anatomy. What's the big deal? I've seen more skin at every swimming pool I've been to in Utah. This photo is not erotic. TS is an adult. Just because you think she ought to be a role model doesn't mean she thinks she has to be a role model.

    I don't care one way or another about Taylor Swift, but I thought it worth sticking my foot in the flames. Oh, and her music sucks. She's just another empty-headed pop singer who can't seem to write anything that doesn't have to do with her fickle love life.

    That's all. :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have to agree with Jordan that Taylor Swift's music is just more mindless carbon copies of pop country already done. And she is an adult and of course has the freedom to be as screwed up as she wishes to be.

    Hollywood is just a cesspit of social disease. This happens to all young stars who are tainted by it. Look at all the Disney channel child-stars. Hard to name even one who hasn't gone a-whorin' after Hollywood's standards. They grow up with rigid contracts to keep them sweet and clean, and once released they swing to the other side of the spectrum real quick. All in the name of finding "their own image". Which, in the end, turns out to be all the same thing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Trouble, trouble....

    Nothing enlightening to add, but I wanted to share another Taylor-related blog post a friend of mine wrote recently.

    http://ohsweetmonkeys.blogspot.com/2012/11/33.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. She actually only had two boyfriends from 2010 to the present. That's a pretty good record.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.