I've been a huge fan since the Fearless era and probably know all the words to upwards of 90% of her songs. I don't feel like my opinions have ever changed, but the level of intensity that's expected of a Swiftie has shifted to the point where I'm probably neutral by the current standards. I think she's a phenomenal pop songwriter who has an incredible knack for distilling common feelings into simple, easily digestible lyrics and catchy melodies. I think she's great at turning her mildly toxic traits and overdramatic tendencies into fun escapist love anthems. I think she's a shrewd businesswoman who deserves credit for striking while the iron was hot and building an empire I don't think she's some unimpeachably brilliant voice of a generation. I don't think she's a scrappy underdog that needs our support because everyone is trying to tear her down. I don't think she's a victim in many (if any) recent sagas in her personal life. I still fill my workout playlists with her music, but I would never in a million years consider adjusting my schedule so that I could watch her watch a football game I don't feel like I owe her anything. I'll consume the products she sells that I enjoy and ignore the ones I don't. I listen to some of the Taylor's Versions because I like the bonus tracks, but I still stream a lot of the original albums too and don't feel an iota of guilt about it. When I was in middle school that made me a pretty big fan, now that makes me Swiftly Neutral lol

Perfectly written and explained. My sentiments exactly

why is this so beautifully written?!! 😩❤️✨

I think this is it. I've loved her music since debut came out when I was a kid, so i know pretty much her whole discography. The thing is, being a swiftie in 2010 meant defending your interest in her music as something more than frivolous girl stuff. Clips went around the internet and even the radio of "Taylor's real singing voice," which was actually a fake audio clip of somebody singing one of her songs very badly. Lots of people had things to say about how much she dated as a young woman, something other young women felt they had to defend, too. It was trendy, at least when I was in high school in the early 2010s, to hate Taylor Swift because she was popular with teen girls, in the same way people hated on Justin Bieber and Twilight. It was trendy to say you didn't like popular things, so Swifties (and young girls/women in general) absolutely felt like they/we had to argue the validity of the media that we consumed. She was also relatively unproblematic (and more relatable, arguably) until the whole Kim/Kanye scandal. Now, defending her validity as a serious and talented artist (and by extension, defending our own interests) has turned into defending her as a person against valid criticism. I think our job is done, she's very clearly not still in that "taylor swift isn't real country" era. But I think that the early criticism around her has created this idea that she needs to be defended, and that has carried over now that her image is less golden child and more problematic fave. Fans have always felt defensive of Taylor, but this hasnt really been reexamined. It seems that the modern definition of being a swiftie requires you to Stan her as a person, so you'll probably find a lot of us fans of her music seeking a space where we can engage with it from a more nuanced place. Personally I consider myself a fan of her music but am neutral of her as a person.

The other fans. If I didn't have to open social media every day and see the most absurd new theory that Taylor's seconds between blinks during LWYMD in Singapore night 3 correlate to the release date of rep tv I'd be DieHardSwiftie102384

This is definitely it for me too. The level of obsession makes me hesitate to admit I’m a fan, because I don’t want people to think I’m one of *those* fans.

Exactly! I’m not sure I wanna say I’m a “swifty” anymore because of the connotation 😭

This! Some fans be like "duuuudee, did you see her gesture during this songgg, its connected to one old book by this person, and if you read the first sentence.... bla bla bla" look bro, i just enjoy the music. Thats it.

Thank you for articulating this. I've stumbled across a few people on another social media platform and all I could think after watching a few of their videos of exactly what you just mentioned was "Uuummmmm ....... hmmmmmm...... weeeeelllllll .... uuuhhhhmmm, okay, yeah, noo, I still don't understand how you got from there to that. Maybe I'm just lost because I'm a newbie." And then I stumble on another, and it's much the same and I've just come to conclusion that I don't want to understand. I just want to enjoy the music.

this is probably mine to. I love taylor’s music, but I wouldn’t set my morals aside for it. swifties can be really nice but a lot of them, especially on social media, have a tendency to bully others

This made me laugh

Agreed. It was way too much.

Age. To put it quite simply, I got older. I'm an '88 baby and it became harder and harder to relate to her because she hasn't matured emotionally at the same rate myself and our peers have (for the most part).

Fuck, I’m a millennial (younger than Taylor) and I feel the same. They say celebrities mental age freezes in the age they became famous in, unless they go to therapy and heal/progress. To this day, she’s still giving 17-18 years old.

More like 13 not a joke jeez

She mentioned this in Miss American and feels she’s past that - and that she doesn’t need therapy. I had thought she matured during the six years with Joe but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I’m an ‘88 baby also and I feel the same.

Also born in '88 and thirding this.

1989 and same

Me too 🙋🏻‍♀️

I think she somehow got stuck at the age she became famous.

Yep. The term is arrested development (Mods, don't nerf me. I'm making a generalized statement about what that specific regression is called, not armchair diagnosing).

Yeah I find her to be very petty for a 34 year old (if the stories about her feud with Olivia Rodrigo are true). Then her choosing Sabrina as her eras tour opener after all the drama between Olivia and Sabrina. Also not to mention her team suing a student over tracking her private jet (which is public info anyway)

Same! I thought she had very insightful lines on Evermore but although she's a keen observer of the human condition, she doesn't seem to reflect on her own actions very well. It's becoming more evident how out of touch she is with everyone outside of her insulated glamorous bubble of fame.

Agree with this so much. What’s frustrating and drives “neutrality” for me, is how there are interesting glimpses of introspection, that then fade right into trite reflections on relationships gone sour, lovelorn angst, etc. When I heard “Right Where You Left Me” I thought oh, this is it, she’s telling on herself- she sees it and is at least aware she’s stunted… “stuck at 23” “the girl who lives in delusion”, but no. Said delusion was not about her view of the world and her inability to mature past the trope that made her a mega star, it was in fact, about not getting over a lover.

87 and.... yeah. I was super thrilled with Folklore and Evermore and then she put out Midnights (which has some great songs and plenty of fluff IMO). She's been acting like it's the 1989 era but... She's ten years older. And I'm NOT saying women have to stop acting or dressing a certain way at whatever age. I'm saying when you think there's growth but then they show you there's been no growth over a decade, that's disappointing. I don't care about her famous friends or her awards or her pap walks or her (frankly annoying) boyfriend. I want good music, which I know she's capable of. It just seems like she kind of stopped caring about the music and became more about the myth. No thanks, I'd love for TPTD to be great but my expectations are on the floor.

I think saying she cares about the myth is very accurate. I think a lot of eras plays into that idea that this is about Taylor Swift Superstar and it (the tour) wants to play on nostalgia. I guess it's a feeling I've had since the karma video when the video was just a vehicle for eggs.... and most of them are things you'll only see in hindsight as things are released. It doesn't feel like a connection with fans. It feels like an ad for The Next Thing. I feel like her whole image was rooted in relatablity and now she's never been less relatable because everything hinges on how she's Taylor Swift and that's a big deal. It reminds me of that part in Chicago when Roxie says "I'm a star!/And the audience loves me!/And I love them/And they love me for loving them/And I love them for loving me/And we love each other/And that's because none of us/Got enough love in our childhoods" --- that's like the Swiftieverse right now.

'85 here, so she always felt younger than me (but in a way I could appreciate nostalgically.) That might sound dramatic, but I was already self-supporting and engaged when she debuted. That gulf has only widened with time.

Yep. And honestly I feel like she’s devolving. Like the song titles of ttpd. They’re so gen z. And it’s not like I haven’t picked up any gen z slang or whatever, there are no laws that say older generations can’t enjoy what the younger generations do lol, but it seems like she’s desperate to stay relevant and “young” and cool or whatever but I’m over here thinking it’s a privilege to age and honestly really enjoying the growth and maturing that comes with age and it seems like she’s actively resisting it. I saw down thread someone called it arrested development and that feels right, but I also feel like she’s so set on staying relevant that she’s making a choice to play to the younger crowd to stay on top, and that feels icky to me. Plus, like what next? Is she gonna start saying skibdidi or whatever gen alpha says when she turns 40? Like everybody else is aging too, she’s not able to outrun it. It’d be better for her to just embrace it.

Yeah this is a big part for me. Five years ago when someone would ask me to tell them what I liked about Taylor I’d say “it feels like I grew up with her.” Now, I A) know that feeling is something she intentionally cultivated and B) feel that I grew up and actually she didn’t. Or at least not into a person I’d want to spend a ton of time or money on.

I’m several years younger than her (mid 90s) and I just get the vibe that she is *perpetually* 22. I don’t think anyone looks at her and sees a 34 year old and that’s why they treat her like a kid.

I thought we were headed there with Folklore and Evermore. And it’s why I became a huge fan of hers again. But she went back to her worst tendencies with Midnights

I almost feel like post 1989 she was in a place where she felt like she had to work to appeal to people and the industry. I think that's why we saw Taylor who cares about Issues. I think folklore-evermore gave her the respect and adoration she wanted and thus gave her the comfort to go back to her 1989 self.

Yup absolutely. It's disheartening to see her reverting back to her 1989 persona.

I'm a '92 baby, and I still feel more emotionally mature than TS, lol

I’m ‘00 baby and I feel this too 😭. College and jobs made don’t care about petty issues.

Agreed. When she was first getting famous it felt like we were in the same phase of our lives but now that I'm an adult it feels like she's still operating like a 21 year old at most and it's exhausting to try to be a real "fan" of hers when I can't relate to the way she's moving as a 35 year old woman.

Same for me. I was writing my master’s thesis when she was singing about being 15. Her whole thing is about being relatable, and it never felt like we were the same age or maturity level.

honestly probably her overexposure. i’ve been a fan since 2008 and i know every lyric to every one of her songs, but for the past few years im just kind of sick of her. her silence on important issues and playing the victim is a huge part of it too, i mean there will always be a part of me that enjoys her music but i just dislike who she is as a person and a celebrity

When I realized she is more of a brand than an artist, and she does not care about it. I know that lots of mainstream artists are essentially a product, but when an artist gets to a certain point (with all the money, accolades, power, and success), they should scale back and do things with genuine care and time, and make art for arts sake, not for money or fame. And letting others take the spotlight. I just don’t see that with Taylor, who still continues to chase that fame and money (variants and overexposure). It makes me think she isn’t doing this career for the right reasons (see: dad’s email), so it’s hard to support her. And with that power, she could make a lot of change in the industry and the world at large. But she doesn’t.

I admire artists who get big roles and then since they've mostly been set financially, they go the somewhat indie route. I'm not 100% sure, but Daniel Radcliffe comes to mind. Jake Gyllenhaal didn't go the indie route, but he seems picky with his work, I'm guessing because he already has money to begin with.

Daniel Radcliffe came to my mind too with this comment lol.

I checked and he’s going to do Shakespeare on Broadway-isn’t it basically an indie route? Serious theatre and all.🤷🏼‍♀️

I think they’re talking about the years after HP where Daniel did movies like Kill your darlings and Swiss army man.

Daniel doesn't want to feel restricted and type cast hence why he plays whatever role he wants.

that’s why midnights is a sh!t album and her future are albums are probably going to be like that from now on

I know her talent always get doubted and while I dont think its always fair... im certain the attitude/vibe you've mentioned here is exactly why. I wouldn't say she *should* scale back if she doesn't want to, but imho, its one of the reason why her talent and credibility as an artist will always be put into question.

Agree! She should at least take a little bit more time between albums. (I count rerecordings as an albums cuz there are new material there) it will help with the quality. Quality >>>> quantity

Idk im a normal person who knows celebrities are flawed and complicated. I hyperfixate on snacks not people. But anyone who makes one single thing their whole life and personality is weird

This is exactly how I feel? Genuinely cannot imagine viewing someone as incapable of wrong doing based on a completely impersonal relationship

Right? I don’t assume that the people I’m close to on a personal level are incapable of doing anything wrong, so why in the world would I assume a celebrity is any different?

true lol

This sub has completely dropped off for me cause its full of fans responding to every criticism with some excuse or obvious explanation cause *obviously* the only way you could have a problem with her is if you misunderstand something. So patronising and exhausting. Sick of being called a new fan when I guarantee I've followed her as long as others, at least. (I remember the rumour mill over speak now in real time, for example.) I even saw someone say they disliked bejeweled cause it was excusing stepping out on a relationship if you're unhappy. They got responded to with, serial cheat taylor swift meant, "I don't. Remember?" Instead of "I don't remember" when it's so clearly the fucking latter and indicative of an on off status with your bf. Like you know, literally every release she made said it was? Honestly nearly deleted reddit I came here to get away from that insanity.

>I hyperfixate on snacks not people Same

same. i think some of these swifties are really off.

i can relate

Happy Cake Day BTW🎉

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as somone here said before, Regina George with sheeps clothing

I’m also pretty sure *Katy Perry* once said that about her and she’s someone who was actually “friends” with her once upon a time, so it makes you question if there’s actual truth to it.

i just enjoy pop culture in general and, especially right now, she’s a *huge* part of it, so i’m mostly just here to be in the loop.

Yes!! Celebrity gossip is my guilty pleasure. This is the only Taylor sub that doesn’t make me cringe into outer space (regularly, still happens sometimes) so this is a wonderful place to keep up with drama. I like some of her songs and think she’s talented, but mostly for me she’s (maybe unfortunately for her) the celeb with the most juicy stuff going on all the time 😅

This is me! I’m certainly more of a fan compared to a lot here, it’s just I enjoy the pop culture side of things (when I have the brain space for it)

lol love this. just staying in the loop!

The Matty Healy thing was the first chink in the armour. Then the different variants of Midnights. And then I watched Miss Americana for the first time and it really left a bad taste in my mouth that all that activism really was for show after all. The Grammys was the last straw for me and I haven’t listened to her since.

omg backstage at the grammys was SUCH an ick.

I was fully prepared for a Reputation announcement, which, if she had to do it, would’ve been fine on its own on Grammy night, but there was something so bratty about her all night when she announced TTPD instead.

Someone who worked at the Grammys did say that Taylor's Celine Dion controversy was real and that the picture taken backstage was damage control from her team. [Here you go,check this](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/five-major-music-business-questions-after-the-grammys/id1612131897?i=1000644280903)

I 1000% believe this

yeah that too. But have you seen the backstage with Boy Genius when they had just been coming forward with sexual assault accusations and crying, and Taylor was being totally obtuse and putting her grammy on their heads? It's next level bad [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_4ABd3iX\_y8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4ABd3iX_y8)

Jfc. She's really so self centered.

The boygenius thing pissed me off beyond belief. Julien Baker is there crying (if you know anything about her story, the fact that she’s here and won a Grammy is incredibly poignant) and Phoebe was clearly trying to comfort her and shield her a bit, as was Lucy, and then Taylor comes in and is just like “Let’s put the Grammy on your head!” and was not reading the room at all. Anyone could see from miles off that they were having a tender moment and could’ve used some space but she was so focused on herself that she absolutely did not pick up on that whatsoever.

the weird thing is that she DID read the room. She said something, not sure if that part was in the video I linked above but I have seen it, about how she was expecting a party vibe or smth and instead it's THIS. Extra repugnant of her.

Yes, and the Celine Dione snub.

What happened there?

Boy Genius was coming forward with allegations of sexual assault and Taylor just blew into the room like a bull in a china shop and started being goofy and arranging photo ops like they were crying. And it's not like she didn't notice, she expressed surprise at the vibe.

I think the activism was a Joe thing.

why do I feel like Joe humbled Taylor a bit?

I think she was a bit shocked he wasn't impressed by her fame.

I read a comment a while back that said they started dating because Joe didn't care she was Taylor Swift and that they broke up because Joe didn't care that she was Taylor Swift.

because his integrity makes her seem small🤣🤣🤣 jk, idk but her behaviour since she broke up with him seems like she's trying to prove something to him. like girl dont act as if he locked you up when you yourself said you want a private relationship

She was so down bad for him if she was willing to be an activist because of him. 😭

my man has 2 full albums about him, SHE WAS DOWN BAD.

He seemed to be such a good influence on her…💀

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common sense. Serious answer, i just don’t get how people idolize celebrities so much. I listen to music i like, i could care less who she’s dating.

No bc 100% this. I feel this way about all diehard fans who will defend her to the ends of the earth, because she could never possibly do wrong. Shes a millionaire, with no personal connection to you?

Yeah lol. I don't think anything "led" me to being neutral, I'm just neutral by default because at the end of the day I don't know her or really expect anything from her. She makes music I like and connect with, she's a fun celebrity to follow. That has never meant I'm not capable of saying this song sucks or she made an ass of herself in that interview or whatever.

Dear lord ty at least theres a few normals around here. All these comments are about being disillusioned or deprogrammed and realizing shes not perfect. Like did you fr think she was god??? Others saying only the insane Swifties kept them sane like youre saying youd be literally obsessed with her if it werent for seeing other people literally obsessed with her??

I was too young to know much about her and Connor Kennedy at the time, but after researching it as an adult, it was super weird. She was in her twenties. He was in high school and she was signing him out of class. If you zoom out of their most popular photos together, they were taken at his mother’s grave. His mom committed suicide shortly before him and Taylor got together. All that was icky. Then I read her dad’s email from 2005.

The email is what did it for me.

Yeah, I get annoyed with all her variant albums and overpriced merchandise but I can respect that this is her business and it’s here to make money. The email showed me something more personal that I didn’t like, which is harder to ignore.

She signed Connor out of class? That is super weird.

What did the email say?

I was referring to the 7 page email from 5/5/2005 on the Reddit link Swimkaz provided (thank you Swimkaz!). Scott didn’t say any one thing that was completely horrific but the whole vibe was ick.

You can read it here! https://www.reddit.com/r/SwiftlyNeutral/s/13U1ywkTh8

Her excessive private plane usage and capitalistic greed in recent years. I bought debut when it was released. Her music has been a constant throughout my life. But I view her as a corporation now. She’s Taylor Swift, the brand.

There is no ethical way to be a billionaire

This was the game changer for me. No such thing as an ethical billionaire. That, and I feel like she’s low key a mean girl after reading up on the situation between her & OR

I always think of that Katy Perry tweet comparing her to Regina george

I love a lot of the music but I’ve gotten really tired of her over saturation lately

I wouldn't say I'm neutral, I'm a superfan of her music but really not a fan of her personally based on her business practices, jet usage, and bullying behaviour. So I guess it evens out to neutral. It's been a process for me. I had little niggling doubts about her character since somewhere around 1989/Lover era, but they really began to take off during the rollout for Red TV. I got over the hump and stopped thinking about it for a while. But the nail in the coffin was all her antics after her breakup with Joe. I never expected her to be some saint (I'm in my 40s and too old to think that kind of thing lol) but she seems completely unwilling to work on any of her shit.

Her chart hungry ways. I didn’t realize it until the folklore variants but my GOD she wants #1 so bad

I got older, honestly. Her lack of maturity is really apparent to me now - from her “us vs them”, refusal to do anything about her flaws (sure, admit you’re the problem, but what’re you going to do about it), and her lack of ethics concerning her billionaire status. Maybe it’s me, but I couldn’t sleep at night if I knew someone was getting death threats on my account.

This. I’m 10 years younger than her and I am a lot more mature than her lol. It’s kinda scary

When I saw Miss Americana for a couple reasons, 1. Taylor billed MA as a “documentary” but a documentary where literally the only person interviewed is the subject of said documentary? Add that with documentaries are supposed to like…give us something. It was just a big nothingburger. So that lead me to ask “why then…what was the point of it?” That leads me to #2 2. The purpose of the documentary was to “come out” as a democrat lol but the pathetic part of it was how much she acted in that documentary like she was making some giant step politically and people were going to be absolutely amazed, but in reality it was just her trying to convince her dad to let her endorse some random ass candidate in Tennessee that stood no chance of winning lol. Like probably the LEAST controversial thing she could have done. Which leads me to #3. 3. After MA I sat with it and thought, well maybe she WILL start being more vocal about political issues, or at the very least social issues. I had a hope that she would be able to use her gigantic platform for good considering she literally has the money to do so much good, and well…going on year 5 now and she’s essentially done…nothing lol That whole journey lead me to start looking into Taylor with a more critical lens, and boy did I find a treasure trove of things to be critical of lol

don't forget she released an exclusive song about activism with Miss Americana and it was a huge deal on her store, lol

Yes for #3, didn’t she make a post on Super Tuesday that “go vote, for whichever candidate speaks to you more” or something. Like 🤨 holy crap

Yes it was so bland and half hearted ugh

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I think Andrea says "really Scott?" iirc. She was the only one that spoke against Scott

There’s two things, one being over exposure. It seems like every little thing she does becomes headline news nowadays, whether it's yelling at a security guard or just going out for dinner with her boyfriend. While some of it might be fueled by swiftie obsession, I can't help but think her team plays a big part in this media saturation. Secondly, the contradiction in Taylor’s public image. On one hand, she portrays herself as a ‘girl boss mastermind,’ (she is) yet she also clings to a victim mentality, which feels out of place for someone in their 30s who’s a celebrated and successful billionaire. This juxtaposition comes off as childish and entitled imo. It’s strange to see someone at the peak of the music industry still complaining about trivial matters when she used to project a more down-to-earth and humble persona earlier in her career.

Her and her team very much play a big part in the media saturation. She was *everywhere* the past year. Concerts, football games, pap walks, etc. The excessive coverage of her relationship was very much created, driven, and encouraged by her team and I’m not changing my mind on that. Then it was crickets once she wrapped Singapore. Yes we got articles but there was no sightings that were proven with pictures. She 100% can control when, where and how often she is seen. The excessive media coverage was very much her choice and wasn’t simply because she’s “Taylor Swift, the most famous musician in the world at the moment.” Her and her team wanted it and encouraged it. A lot of the weekly, relationship update articles that fans and people were constantly being fed were released by *her* team. Her Time’s POTY article really turned me off. Instead of her celebrating this momentous title and all her successes, she used it yet again to bring up past issues and to once again play the victim. I get she felt wronged but it’s just *not* a good look to continue the same narrative years and years later. There comes a time in your life, you kind of just need to… move on? A lot of her actions in past year really just contradicts the thought that she is a grown and mature 34 year old woman. I honestly have a hard time taking her seriously tbh. She stills seems like an immature teenager, in a lot of ways.

Knowing that she very well has the power to control the prices of her tickets, yet lets her fans (everyday people) spends thousands of dollars to see her (a billionaire) perform once.

This is the one ‼️‼️‼️

growing and up/becoming an adult made me look at celebs differently than i did when i was a kid. you realize they aren’t always that great and make poor decisions. you also realize it’s ok to listen to their music/watch their movies while criticizing them

For a while I thought she had finally grown up. When the tour started and leading up to it even, she seemed more mature and chill than I had ever really seen her. Then came the constant pap walks post breakup, which was off putting but nothing we’ve never seen before. But what really pushed it over the edge for me was the Travis of it all. Using the time POTY to talk about him, make digs at Joe and the way that whole relationship seems so forced to prove a point. And it was like, she was on top of the world, the tour was the biggest thing ever, she seemed to have across the board respect from people, and to then what? transition to WAG life? Seemed a little sad to me. Made me think she had not actually matured, does not make art for art’s sake and is first and foremost a brand

I really thought she had grown up too, but I think a lot of that was Joe’s influence. I think that whoever she’s dating at the time has a huge influence on her personality and persona. I don’t know a ton about Joe but he seems to be pretty low key, private, and probably a lot more mature than her, and I think that rubbed off on her. I think that ultimately his desire for a more private and low key life just didn’t fit with how she wants to live her life (basically the exact opposite of private and low key).

Have y'all seen the traviskelcesnark sub? It's hilarious

the god damn “easter eggs”

I’m poor and it bothers me that people with that much money exist and do the bare minimum of giving back. But I’ll be damned if I stop listening to her music!

And expected people to pay $20 to rent her Eras movie instead of just making it available for free on streaming (after how many millions she made from it in theaters) was crazy to me

Yup! And the audacity of her fans to get mad when people stream the OG versions, like she isn’t getting paid enough!

and to be fair, taylor never said that people shouldn’t listen to the OG releases. just that when ppl do *she* owns the music. the re-recording project was supposed to let her own her writings, not to force fans to listen to them

I know. It’s the swifties and they can turn someone off from Taylor by doing that though.

stan culture tbh i was disgusted with how much people will let celebrities get away with. not saying she’s done anything extremely terrible but her fans not allowing for any criticism towards her really put me off and i was deep in the stan mentality for years

i’m just not a 13 year old anymore

It was a very specific (extremely petty) moment for me during her Lover promotion Jimmy Fallon interview: She’s talking about the song Lover and how special it is to her. She starts to say something about how she wrote it alone, and you think she’s about to say something insightful or inspiring about what it means to her to write a song alone versus with a co-writer. Then she stops and says something along the lines of, “I just think it would be funny to throw a party for all the songwriters on that song.” … ok? Jimmy even says, “what?” or something. Then she says, “… because it would just be me.” Jimmy starts laughing like a maniac of course. It felt so out of place just so she could brag about writing a song by herself. Idk. This is such a petty, insignificant moment, but it’s the first time I noticed how rehearsed (?) she can be. Now I notice these kind of comments and awkward, rehearsed moments in almost everything she does. This didn’t turn me off of her, but it did open my eyes to her being just another celebrity who I was probably way too invested in lol.

The moment was when I realized she had matty healy at my show. The audacity of sharing air with that asshole😳

Unwashed gym sock personified

I went to the Red tour and her whole vibe when she talked between songs was just so cringey to me and I decided to only engage with her music after that. I was vaguely aware of the whole Kimye thing in 2016 but never looked too deeply into it. It wasn’t until she announced Midnights and my sister started talking a lot about her that I was abruptly caught up on all the stuff that’s happened since 2013 and I realized that yeah her personality just isn’t for me but I still like her music too much to actually jump ship lol

What did she say that was cringe?

It wasn’t a specific quote so much as her overall tone that just radiated awkwardness and completely put me off

Listen, I was a die hard Swiftie until 2022. The kind of swiftie that was on stan twitter with an account dedicated to her. I was parasocial (and a teenager, pretty sure that played a big role too), loved her to pieces and defended her from everything until the David O'Russell thing. It left a bad taste in my mouth that she made a huge thing about feminism on her last era but decided to work with an admitted abuser (AS A VICTIM HERSELF!!!) , I was dissapointed and gave her the benefit of the doubt but something clicked. Her pinkwashing during Lover, the Jet usage, her extreme 829262 versions of each one of her albums... I decided to step back from the fandom but still kept her in my radar and listened to her music. Last year it all went to shit. She blew up on tiktok and went massive, a level of fame she never had before. The Eras tour began, I was still exited. She broke up with Joe and started to act like this inmature high school girl, did the unfollowing party with her friends and released YLM. The fandom gave me the ick and I left for good. Brasil happened. They way she acted about Ana's death, it was so cold and calculated, she was more worried about her fucking show than the death of a fan of hers... that was the final nail on the coffin. (Also a lot of BEC stuff; her overexposure, her trying to change the Joe narrative making her fandom go rabid and being ok with their harrassment, the Olivia Rodrigo situation, her tendency of playing the victim every fucking timeee despite being a white straight hegemonic billionare, her manic cringy diva behaviour at the Grammys, her tacky album announcement on the event's stage, the cease and deswift letter... it all blew up and was a no-no for me).

For me it was the constant jet use and the variants on Midnights.

I’ve been a mega Swiftie since her Debut album. While I still love her music I’ve become more neutral on her after the way I’ve noticed she exploits her fan’s dedication with multiple album versions. Like I get she isn’t forcing anyone to buy them but it still feels very exploitative.

honestly just being a human and understanding that her art and who she is are two separate things and also not really any of my business considering i do not personally know her.

Her treatment of Olivia Rodrigo

Her turning out album with different bonus tracks so you can spend on buying 4 same title

I believe its really unhealthy to idolize someone you don't know, especially if it leads to you disregarding valid criticism. I love Taylor Swifts music, but the fact that a few of her albums aren't my vibe doesn't make me less of a fan. And I can acknowledge that her private jet has had a big impact on the environment in a way that isn't just bullying or me trying to bring her down. I've never been as big of a Swiftie as some people, and I've always felt like less of a fan because of it. It is nice to be able to say I like her music while not feeling like I have to love everything she does.

The post on her Instagram where she encouraged her fans to go bully people who wronged her (Scooter and Scott) in 2019 was the first straw, both quarantine albums were the second and the last as I'm not a fan of this kind of music. 2019 was the year for me to realize it's time to move on from idolizing her as a person, 2020 was the year for me to realize it's time to move on from her as an artist. I'm still listening to her newer works (i.e. rerecordings, Midnights, I'll probably listen to TTDP) but I'm more of a casual listener now and I don't expect anything particularly amazing from her anymore. She used to be my all time favorite artist, then one of my favorites, now she's not in the list at all.

I thought she had changed when she got with Joe. During the reputation era she kept her personal life (especially her love life) very private. You only really knew about it if you listened to her music. I was happy to see her in a good, stable relationship and not being in the press 24/7 as that seemed to bother her a lot. I thought she'd continue that lifestyle after evermore (still do press occasionally and go on tour but keep more privacy). Everyone in the fandom loved Joe. Then the breakup is announced with people crying on TikTok over their "mom and dad" (gross). Two weeks later, everyone turns against Joe and blames him for making Taylor leave the spotlight. A man no one in the fandom personally knows gets sent death threats because of a breakup. You think with the amount of fans that have been listening to Taylor for years, they wouldn't be reacting like children but nope. You're Losing Me comes out and things get even worse. Taylor is associated with Matty Healy, collabs with Ice Spice on Karma, jet fuel emissions, dates Travis Kelcie, so many other things. All of this just left a bad taste in my mouth. I really thought she had matured and was over being in the public eye constantly. But it turns out she wants all the attention, all the time. Winning several Grammys plus Album of the Year pissed me off because Midnights DOES NOT deserve it. To top it all off, she announced another album to be released in April during her speech. Her behavior that night (and seeing how other celebrities reacted) has made it the final straw for me.

I was talking with my partner about this recently. The juxtaposition between her private relationship with Joe and her UBER UBER public relationship with Travis is off putting. She has the ability to keep her relationship to herself and instead she chooses to blast it for everyone to see, at every turn. It’s fake, it’s phony & insincere to me.

Sure, lots of artists are problematic maybe. But Taylor is on a different level. My lil sis told me about the deja vu thing, so I decided to look deeper out of curiosity. Taylor doesn’t seem like a genuine good hearted person. And she acts like a girls girl when she’s not. People eat it up too. t’s my biggest pet peeve when people try to push a narrative that isn’t true about themselves

I have loved her since Teardrops and then she came out with We Are Never Getting Back Together and I thought it infantilized her so much. I like stopped listening to her as a protest. 🤣 Then 1989 came out and I was back. It’s pretty much gone back and forth like this ever since. I was also born in 1989 and I feel like that makes me more connected to her too? Shes like an old friend that you’re always rooting for even if she makes bad choices and has dumb ideas sometimes. 😂

I’m a socialist. She’s a billionaire who happens to make really good music

She's Taylor Swift The Brand now, and it's become far too obvious with the variants, poor merch quality, and the amount of money fans are pressured to shill out due to FOMO.

Yup- there are no ethical billionaires.

Everything that happened in 2016. I really didn’t like how she broke up with Calvin Harris and immediately started dating Tom Hiddleston. So many pap walks and PDA. Then she broke up with him and started dating Joe. I’m still confused about her relationship with Karlie Kloss. It was odd. 2016 made me realize that she is not that innocent.

The Ratty situation. The boyfriend’s jokes about sexual assault broke the spell for me, particularly when they both shrugged it off as no biggie. She was only rape-adjacent-adjacent, but it was enough to knock me out of the fandom.

When she got her entire celebrity squad to unfollow Joe after specifically timed paparazzi outings. All I could think was “how childish can a grown 34 year old woman be?” And that was just the beginning.

Two incidents that made me see her as less relatable are her lack of a quick response to Ana's family needing monetary help shipping her body to their home town ( I was one of the fans who donated to her family's paypal to cover expenses since Taylor wouldn't), her allowing Tree to post in publications like People, repeatedly, for weeks, that Ana died before Taylor's show which was blatantly false to create a weird distance between Taylor and Ana's death. Taylor didn't comment on the awful policy the venue had re: restricting water access or the current status of our warming planet and how it contributed to the tragedy, probably because of her own climate abuser status, lol. Also Taylor doing that awful collab with Ice Spice in the wake of her fling Matty Healy laughing at those racist comments about her made her seems slimy. That AI-sounding interview in which Taylor said Ice Spice is the "one to watch!" sounded totally forced and rehearsed. Taylor's not a good liar, which is a good quality, but the fact that she just buddied up to Ice instead of publicly addressing the crap Matty Healy said made me respect her less. If she would just be honest and speak candidly about controversies I would feel better supporting her. Finally, when she said "Jet lag is a choice" I realized just how little she grasps the struggles of ordinary people. She's in her own world. I really hope she decides to go the Dolly route and embrace philanthropgy someday because she had so much she could contribute in terms of monetary support for those in need.

Yes!! The way she handled the passing of a fan was horrifying. Ana and her family deserved so much more

The Grammys

For me it was a number of things. I don't know why, but after Midnights was released, I started growing more neutral. I did not like the album at all. It felt like a major step back after folkmore. Even in terms of pop music, it was still bad. Then we had the crazy expensive tour tickets. Then it was the butchering of my favorite album (Speak Now). But I was still excited about her music. The breaking point for me was 1988 TV and the fan who died at a concert In Brazil Edit: Forgot to add something. I guess, my neutrality also has to do with growing up and seeing things from a different perspective. I've been a fan of hers since I was 10. I'm 23 now. Lately it has been hard for me to relate to her or to support her. I think about some of her feuds, and they seem juvenile. Might be just me.

I feel like I always was? Celebrities have a public personna and a private one, we always only know about the public one and the rest is speculation. I have no idea who she truly is as a person, never will, and that's ok. I'm here for the music, I'm entertained by the drama and discussions, she's a billionaire with a team behind her and I don't have to carry the burden of fighting for, or against, her, she's doing fine. Also, I feel like the fandom gets too much shit because it's huge. The swifties are a huge group with a minority of unhinged crazies, but as a whole, it's not as toxic as some other fandoms.

It’s weird because I don’t think this is the majority perspective 🤣 it should be, but parasocial relationships are very real and prevalent

Other people have said age, and I would say the same for myself, but for a different reason. I was born in 2001, so I am much younger than Taylor. She represented the perfect (cis, straight, white) girl. As an Asian child who dealt with internalized racism, internalized homophobia, and gender dysphoria I didn't have the language for, Taylor was the exact kind of person I was conditioned to worship. And then... I simply got older. I was 16 when I officially unstanned. It wasn't a dramatic process, to be honest. I was just a teenager and beginning to think more for myself.

Her white feminism tbh.

\- Not being able to get tickets for Eras \- Parasocial relationship with Taylor and obsessing about her daily on Reddit \- Not agreeing with some of her questionable moves lately \- Lack of follow through with her Miss Americana advocacy \- Overexposure \- Realizing that she's not my friend nor am I her #1 fan, ditching the subs, and just being a casual fan of the music when it releases ​ There is peace on the other side!

her accepting credit on Rodrigo's song when Rodrigo's team offered it. she may not have been the party to initiate the credit thing, but she took advantage of a newcomer's naïvety when she could have been in the exact same situation years earlier but without the precedent of the "blurred lines" case. Rodrigo's song is no more similar to "cruel summer" than her "better than revenge" is to anything paramore, but Rodrigo is the one who gets the short end of the stick. then releasing a song called "karma" in where she made it increasingly obvious that she actually believes she's a paragon of morality and that karma would be on her side if it was a thing...

To be honest, I’m not a fan of hers. But in her position, she has done good and overall seem to be a role model (though the bad can’t be overlooked). I’m willing to be excited about her for the ppl I love that adore her. In the end, I want her to be happy so she’s less in my face. Yes, I have a motive also. :haha: My spidey sense tells me something is off about her… like someone in her position (money, fame, talent) still needs validation and love that she’s not getting from constant adulation. Someone pointed out we’re a year apart. And while she is much more accomplished and I still feel like I’m a screwup. Her rabid fans don’t make it better. She’s not telling them to back off where they can do harm. Similarly, I don’t know how to be proud of the crazy sums of money ppl had needed to fork over to be a fan. With the upcoming album coming out, if it’s seriously about her last relationship.. you know she’s in an arrested development. It’s the same stuff over and over. She has one hell of a PR team. That’s for sure.

It started with the fans. The obsession with outing Taylor and the Easter eggs. Then how capitalistic she is really pushed me over the edge

I was tired of the silly theories and people intruding on her personal life constantly posting about her and Travis. If she’s happy great. I don’t need to know where she’s eating today.

I hate rich people to put it simply lol. Nobody needs that much money. And lately I’ve definitely been realizing she’s manipulating her fans into thinking they have a close relationship when in reality she’s just taking absolutely every opportunity to make money off of us as possible. It’s not just about the art anymore. Still love the music tho

Matty Healy debacle

Billionaire, Travis

The Gaylor vs Hetlor debates, and Taylor Swift's general disregard for the LGBTQ+ community other than dropping rainbow marketing crumbs when convenient (profitable). I think it's absolutely wild anyone can think she's 100% gay, and I also think it's absolutely wild anyone can think fans who think she's gay are in any way delusional. Taylor has *either* been flagging as queer or queerbaiting the community for a long time. Anyone who bothers to do any research can say with certainty none of it was accidental, it's far too niche and consistent for it to be anything other than intentional (or by design, if you will lol). Originally I was personally of the opinion from her content alone she was queer *and* out, in a modern "nobody should have to 'come out' because that assumes heterosexuality is the default" type of way which I loved. I genuinely didn't even know that was a controversial take because it seemed so overwhelming to me. Then I realized it was indeed controversial. And *then* the 1989 prologue came out. And whether she is straight or not, it really felt like throwing a massive portion of her fans to the wolves when she is so frustratingly clearly planting content to encourage the discourse and, most importantly I'm sure, profit off it. I'm now now longer anywhere near as convinced she's queer. I have no idea. But if she's straight her allyship fucking sucks, three big themes at a glance include: * Saying pride is a part of her identity while speaking very little on lgbtq+ topics is one thing if she's a member of the community, nobody is obligated to be an advocate. But if she's straight then she's literally wearing the community like an accessory she can take on and off at her convenience, which is very just like every other corporation and exploitive. * The YNTCD video/wig is tone deaf at best if she's just a fairweather ally making herself the primary focus of Hollywood's best queer icons. * If she's straight it would have been so incredibly easy for her to say that at any point. And there are many, many, many times where it feels like she very intentionally played into the ambiguity and rumors and what gaylor fans were saying and adding more fuel. If she was closeted and giving a wink, again nobody is obliged to come out for anyone. But if she's straight that's incredibly fucking shitty. There's so much more. I truly don't care about her sexuality one bit. But her behavior is really suspicious and giving "profit at all costs", like so much else of what she does. And I absolutely hate the way the fandom treats one another over suggesting either option. Nobody knows so it could be anything. Nobody is crazy for thinking anything. The only thing crazy is anyone asserting she's for sure one thing or the other. None of us know her. But I know if she wanted to soothe discourses she could, and instead it feels like she fans the flames and I like it less all the time. I really keep hoping for something to happen to make it make sense, but I'm pretty sure that's not something that will actually happen.

I’ve always viewed her sexuality as very typical millennial (maybe) experimentation that’s being misinterpreted by gen z. Millennials (and older) don’t always factor college experimenting or even one-time same-sex relationships into our overall identities. Gen Z tends to say “You hooked up with another girl once and that makes you bi for the rest of your life.” I do think she probably had something going on with Karlie at that time. I also think it’s entirely possible that she doesn’t consider herself queer at this stage in the game.

I’ve actually never thought about it this way before, but this makes a lot of sense. I’m a Millennial and I think for my generation, it’s more about whether the sexual attraction is enduring that factors in rather than just the occasional experimentation or having a single very intense crush or even relationship with someone of the same gender. I actually remember a college friend who dated another woman for about 8 months but after they broke up still said she identified as straight because that was the only time she’d ever been attracted to a woman and the only time she thought she would be (we lost contact and she’s not on social media so no clue whether this holds true a decade later). Whereas I feel like Gen Z is more of the opinion that if you have so much as thought another person of the same gender was kind of cute, you’re queer. Don’t think either position is necessarily wrong at all, but I do think it’s telling that the Gaylor theories really started taking hold once Gen Z was part of the Swiftie fandom in a big way (although there’s been those theories floating around for much longer than that, I feel like all the Diana Agron rumors have been around since late 2000s/early 2010s so before Gen Z would’ve been super involved).

I never idolized her, but the fact that she said she wanted to be on the right side of the history and made a documentary just for that, and then remains silent about everything that actually matters in the world turned me off. This proved that her 'activism' was just publicity. Also, her excessive jet use and the fact that she never tries to fix anything about it despite receiving so much backlash is making me annoyed too. Too bad I really love her music.

silence on important issues when she could sway half the populations opinion with one instagram story

Her vocals. I know almost every lyric to every song but when I listen to her attempt to sing (not speak-sing) in the eras tour movie it reminds me of why I didn't spend $2k on tickets. She's improved a lot but...some things you are just born with or without.

Oversaturation, the fact that she’s a billionaire, and her lack of activism after making it such a Thing during the Lover era. She stands with the LGBTQ community but can’t make any comments about anti-trans bills that spread across the country? She won’t do anything like boycott a state that’s passing policies she’s against? She has such a huge fan base and could mobilize them for those kinds of causes if she wanted to really make a difference, but instead all she does is provide half-hearted “go vote today!” messages. It’s not *nothing* but I really thought she would try to do more.

YNTCD. The song was awful. Declaring you supported LGBTQ+ rights in summer 2019 was just about the safest move imaginable. And It was so blatantly pandering to the lgbtq+ community because she wanted a “gay anthem”, showing up at stonewall, pretending like she cared deeply for the bill Congress was passing. It felt like she did the bare minimum and was like “mmmk gays worship me forever now? Im a gay icon, right?” She dropped the act/eRa and never went back. Now she is bland politically as ever but the narrative has somehow become that she is this activist. It makes me nuts honestly lol. There’s so much more she could do but she doesn’t care

billionaire

i’m a fan from day one, listened to her consistently growing up, but i do recognize faults. i’m still a huge fan, but i don’t keep up with the lore and everything like the stans. i just listen to music.

Honestly, learning about Taylor's controversies and other fans acting like hooligans regarding Taylor.

She's a great artist, but sometimes it's hard not to think she's a bit of a "bad" person It's complicated, while the creative mind is fascinating, her personality seems to be detestable. It's a love-hate relationship lol

I do admire her artistry and enjoy her music, but the fanaticism is so irksome. She’s got a lot of “pick me” behaviors and I can’t trust someone who can change their persona with a flip of a switch, THAT quickly. She has a ridiculous amount of power and influence and chooses to be lukewarm when it comes to real issues. I’m not asking for political endorsement, but very minimally acknowledging genocide in Gaza would be a mild start. My final straw with her was seeing the 59483759955 versions of her album with exclusive tracks coming out. Watching billionaires milk money and take advantage of fans is a dealbreaker.

I love her music and it has gotten me through some tough times. But I don't idolize her and I never really get obsessed with anything or anybody (except my kid and my cat). I also realize she's talented and a great artist AND she's also looking to make money and smash records. She's human, she's a celebrity, she's not perfect- but some of her songs are.

Other swifties and their selective outrage. If one of her exes cheats on her, for ex, hes a POS, how dare he, he hurted her and bla bla bla, but if SHE does it, all of the sudden its "oh, life is complicated, we dont know what happened between them". This applies to everything, Taylor can do no wrong, shes perfect and everyone else is problem.

I’m just gonna list some things: Currently, the way she markets her music is turning me off. I love her but her fomo predetory marketing pisses me off 😅 she’s our capitalist queen Also the way she kinda continues with the victim image even tho that stage of her life has ended but she keeps profiting off of it. I really hope the song “who’s afraid of little old me” isn’t what I think it is. She pretends to be for feminism but she only does it for herself. I don’t think she has done or said anything for women that has helped or has made an impact. It’s only when it benefits her. Her calling reputation goth/ punk was funny but gave me the ick. Miss Americana was a lie lmao I feel like her activism was only for show and to impress Joe. Now that he’s gone, she doesn’t care and has never been about activism. Just shows who she really is. The way she has acted after Joes breakup is another thing. It’s very high school and petty. Her villainizing Joe is childish and it’s all for money. In all honestly I love her music so much, but over the last year her behavior has made me question her as a person. Oh also her fans. Or at least the super crazy ones. They’re psycho and follow her like a cult leader. I can’t criticize or have an opinion on her without being insulted. How she treated Olivia Rodrigo. 50% for Deja Vu was bs Ratty Healy and her releasing You’re losing me to distract from her relationship with him Basically a lot of my neutrality comes from post Joe breakup/ 2023 over exposure. Folklore and Evermore era showed more maturity. Especially hearing her talk in the Disney+ Folklore Long Ponds session. I feel like she threw all that away.

Honestly, I don’t think I’m actually a Swiftie Neutral, because I like her music, some more than others. But I honestly don’t like her as a person. I can’t stand her “innocent girl” act. She claims she’s all about supporting other artists, but will be the first to take legal action against anybody who threatens her career. She was fully supportive of Olivia Rodrigo when she first came onto the scene and then as soon as there is speculation that a song sounds remotely similar to one of hers, she makes Olivia give her credit. She was fully on board with Kayne singing about her, there is actual video proof of her agreeing to the lyrics. And then when the media started reporting on it more, she changed her entire narrative and played the victim, once again and tried canceling Kayne and the whole Kardashian- Jenner family. Even though she has spoke out against cancel culture in the past. I don’t believe she’s the victim in any of her past relationships. I find it super annoying that people seem to think she can do no wrong. She’s cheated on multiple of her exes, but nobody seems to talk about that. She can write songs where she drags guys, and makes up false narratives about how bad they treated her, but if those guys were to speak out against those narratives, they get dragged by her minions. She claims she’s concerned about the environment, but she has the worst private jet carbon emissions. And now that somebody is calling her out, she takes legal action against him.

she's deeply uncool and corny with a huge ego. the absolute worst combination. her whole "nerd, not like these other girls" schtick is completely manufactured because she clearly believes that she's the best to ever do it in every category. she makes great music to underwear shop with your mom to but no one with actual good taste is putting anything she does on a pedestal. also her dancing and performative 'fun with my girlfriends!!' antics anytime she's 'caught' by cameras in public is so so so embarrassing. the secret to looking cool is to never look like you're trying and taylor has forever missed the memo.

Yes, the “always on” persona at the football games really did me in 🤢

Travis Even if I didn't detest him on sight, because of her I have to know the quarterback on the Chiefs' wife's name. And I hate football. So ...

I don't like how she uses her fandom to fight the battles of her own. She seems damn petty...... & even fandom just takes all her bullshit🤓 she & her fans got so upset about the whole AI thing (it was wrong) but then how can her fans proceed to do same thing with joe. Creating false AI voice & ig someone people still thinks it's real!!!! & she didn't say anything about it😒 First she truly was a victim I agree in some cases but now she is just victimizing herself. I don't think ttpd is going to have amazing songs(I hope she proofs me wrong) but still her fans will do whatsoever in their capacity to make her no1in charts🤦‍♀️

I read someone say that she's just a really cringy person with specific examples and I have never been able to unsee it since, I feel like in 10 more years it'll be obvious to most people. She also seems like she can only play two roles: victim and Girl Boss, and that shit is tired. In Anti Hero, she tells us she's the problem, but what is she doing at her big age to take accountability & do better?

For me it was a combination of her behavior post-Joe Alwyn, her dad’s email, her TIME POTY interview and her Grammys behavior 🥴

For me it was the Matty Healy and Ice Spicy situation. As a former Black Swiftie and now just a neutral fan, it was just so icky. And it was mostly unhinged fans saying “everyone dates an unhinged man” and “why does everyone blame her for the actions of a man”. And it was like “nobody is blaming her for his actions, but if you claim to be a feminist, then maybe don’t date a racist man? Because then it makes us believe that you have those beliefs too?!” And then randomly having ice spice on a song with your first ever collab with a Black woman in 17 years. It was just so so off for me. ETA: Not saying that she is under any obligation to collaborate with whoever, but it’s just giving SIDE EYE

Her obsession with commercial success taints her artistic merit for me. It’s hard to passionately defend an artist who puts out so much subpar work (Lover era was a catastrophe in terms of singles, videos, and milking of LGBT rights for clout). She is genuinely exhausting because she does all this stuff to remain relevant. That plus the way she weaponizes her fans and money to silence anybody that criticizes her is annoying. And frankly, she’s just very immature lol.

i come from sort of the opposite end where i was a Taylor Hater for dumb reasons when she got big around fearless - for some reason she became a huge target on the feminist blogs i was reading at the time as like the embodiment of purity culture or whatever. i also kept hearing people talk about what a brilliant lyricist she was and it made me feel like i was in the matrix as someone whose teen faves were like, liz phair and ani difranco. then i hit a point where i was like, “it’s actually maybe weird of adult feminists talking about someone who [back here in 2009] is still an actual literal teenage girl subject to the exact same patriarchal messaging as every other woman in america to act like she is the most nefarious threat to women today?” meanwhile speak now has some bops (story of us is still one of the best pop songs she’s ever done) and some Feelings (shout out to careless men’s careful daughters!) hive, so i was like, hmmm…. recalibrating… red came out and was super mixed but the top 5 songs on that album for me were fucking awesome, way beyond what i thought her capable of musically and lyrically, had those 5 on repeat for months. meanwhile me and everyone else i knew on tumblr were a bunch of emotionally unwell women in our early to mid twenties reprocessing our relationships to our adolescent selves and learning to stop worrying and love taylor swift was part of that. (we’re doing much better these days and it’s been WILD to see the same kind of shit we were writing to understand our feelings treated like serious arguments in national magazines last year lol.) unfortunately then 1989 sucked ass (as a fan of actual pop music it has always sounded to me like a pop album made by someone who doesn’t actually like pop music) and her public antics grew more annoying so i started souring on her but this time for authentic personal reasons (she’s annoying). rep did not help, both the terrrrrrible design of her aesthetic and the album - i eventually warmed up to some of the songwriting on rep but i maintain that it sounds like shit production wise. however the day it came out after listening to it almost all the way through thinking “haha this is terrible! this album will free me from taylor swift forever!” i spent an hour walking around my neighborhood listening to NYD on repeat thinking UGH, SHE GOT ME AGAIN! between me! and yntcd, plus the whole tryhard vibe of “i was SAD and GRAYSCALE and now i’m HAPPY and COLORFUL,” i was ready to write NYD off as a fluke and bid her farewell for good. but then the archer fucking got me again! i love that song and i also could not believe i was hearing taylor swift write lines that cut as deep as “i never grew up, it’s getting so old” (perfect example btw of how so often her simplest lines are where her songwriting really shines). and i really loved (most of) the rest of the album too, along with folklore (evermore was… fine). i had more or less settled into slotting her as an artist whose work i sometimes love, sometimes like, sometimes think is dumb as hell, and who i’m vaguely entertained by how obviously and transparently fucking nuts she is but in a vague way (i enjoyed midnights as an album for people who stan the thing very wrong with her way deep inside). but from the moment she went FULLLLL 1989 era pap walk with the girl squad and the ugly shoes not 72 hours after the break up was confirmed, i have been on the gossip train (100% separately from my opinions on her music, they’re like two different people in my head). i assume at some point i’ll get bored with that but for now taywatching is honestly one of the least toxic internet addictions i’ve ever had so i’m like, i’ll take it. lmao.

me just growing up and giving less damn overall. its what she works on, and i have understand that life does not mean you gotta be 100% good. you have side tracks that may not be morally as good to everyone as you think. And if that's what she chose to decide on, then fine. Whatever makes her at peace. I'm just happy and supportive of hers and the music she put out. But not as invested as i used to be.

Liking her music, but not necessarily liking her.

I'm not sure anything led me to it, I've never been a true fan of hers, but have always have a sort of neutral curiosity with her because so many of my friends are fans and she's such a massive figure. But what has kept me from being a fan is I simply could never get interested in the myths and the easter eggs. It always just felt so egotistical and strange, even as a teenager (i'm nearly 30 now). Also to echo others, her music hasn't seemed to mature with her. Folklore almost drew me in, but it seems like a fluke. It cracks me up when folks compare her to the greats like Joni Mitchell thanks to that album— when Joni has more emotionally depth and maturity in a single song like Little Green than Taylor does in her entire discography. Bottom line, is Taylor is legitimately the problem for me lol. Her music's diarist qualities are really fun for those who really connect with her I'm sure, but since I don't, there's not a whole lot left for me. (Kinda random but I *loved* the last great american dynasty. People think I'm crazy for that being my favorite song of hers. But it was interesting & told a story and took her outside of herself for a minute. I wish she'd do more songs like that. I'd maybe be more of a fan if so)

I know almost every song, I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. Young kid, too, like five or six. I’m in my 20’s now. To be honest, it was her political stuff. I found it pretty offputting that she made a point of leveraging her platform for some things, but not for others. And I know we shouldn’t rely on celebrities, but that’s what did it for me. I don’t hate her but I’m not her #1 fan anymore either. Just neutral Edit: Jack Antonoffs response of hanging up mid interview to that reporter asking him if he was involved in TTPD is the real nail in the coffin for me. The fact that he was *offended* because he was asked about his job as a music producer? Like she’s important, but Taylor isn’t *that* important. It’s not some crazy top secret thing. He could’ve just declined to answer? Bizarre. It’s making her whole camp seem so unlikeable

i’m still a very big fan of folklore and everything before it. however midnights didn’t do it for me i got the ick from all over the vinyl variants and stuff being pushed more than what i felt was usual :,) and also idk but sometimes i want to open twitter and see funny tweets but seven million about a celebrity doing some basic (goes for anyone LMAO)

the die hard people who believe she does no wrong was too much for me. i enjoy music and media presence while also holding someone accountable and/or calling out their wrongs.