Travis and Taylor

[Anonymous]

In the spirit of College remedial English, here are some readings you can discuss.

https://www.vox.com/culture/24043045/politics-fandom-trump-fans-toxic-stan-culture-conspiracies

A quote from this article about fandom:

“When we’re emotionally invested not only in the narrative being bolstered by the truth-teller but in the chosen truth-teller themselves, it becomes even harder to extricate an “objective” version of reality from the version they’re dispensing because the stakes feel so high.“

Here is another:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/06/taylor-swift-donald-trump-fans-00119999

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: where are people getting that she’s gay or bi? Is it just that she appears to have zero chemistry with any of the famous guys she’s dated, or what?

People have speculated and she’s never denied it. But why would she? Her actions—dating men exclusively—prove she’s straight. Denying gay rumors in an interview implies there is something wrong with being gay and she needs to correct the record. That’s why she says nothing!

She has denied it - both in her behavior (dating only men) and in the 1989TV liner notes:

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle. Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me, it was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24, I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally ... and I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making “Red” had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my ears. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on “Red”? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see — in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming — the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian Era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called "1989," and we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it. In high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn’t know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure, and a sense of freedom I hadn’t tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to ... don’t say it ... don’t say it ... I’m sorry, I have to say it ... shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in “Blank Space” and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in “Welcome to New York.” You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.

This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of “1989.”

It’s been waiting for you.

This is PR crap, reading like it's a private letter to that one special person. "It's been waiting for you." She is using the neediness of teen girls and making stalkers out of her fans. Shameless PR. Shameless.

+1 gives me the creeps. She is grooming them, but doing it to make money rather than more nefarious purposes, so the behavior goes unnoticed to many. It is the same creep tactics though.

You mean the parasocial relationships?

Call it parasocial relationship, call it manipulation, but the idea that she, Taylor Swift an entertainer, is talking just to you (someone she doesn’t know, but may “pick up as a buddy” from her dedicated fans) makes me cringe and is a huge red flag. I was raised by a manipulative narcissist and my first relationship was with another one. I know this behavior, it is meant to manipulate the target into caring on a deep level for someone who doesn’t give a crap about you. And believe that the speaker gives a crap about you when really, they don’t know you or want to know you. They are using you for something.

In Taylor’s case, she is using her fans for money and power. Clearly enough women have never experienced this to know the signs, and good for them as a parasocial relationship with TS isn’t really going to hurt anything more than their spending money. BUT, it does worry me because TS is normalizing crappy tactics that can result in horrible relationship dynamics for a generation of young women with the way she grooms her fans.

I see major parallels with the way she runs her platform and the way Trump engages with his fans. They are on different sides of the political spectrum, but the tactics are the same.

Glad I have boys, so I don’t really have a vested interest in TS other than being an old Cassandra.

What the A F did I just read?? Taylor Swift is now going to be responsible for an entire generation of young women having poor relationships and she's similar to Trump? Are you drunk?

I actually like TS for the most part, but I definitely can see Trump parallels. She is a larger than life figure that vulnerable people worship. In Trump's case, it's uneducated people. In Taylor's, it's young women and girls.

But young women and girls have gone crazy over celebs for generations. This is nothing new. Most people can handle this within the context of their lives, but there are a few with other issues who become stalkers or become obsessed or make important life decisions based on intangible things in their mind. That’s always been the case to blame Taylor on that doesn’t make sense.

She courts it in a way that is not precedented. Especially this long. And more than any other artist I can think of, she encourages media and fan interest in her personal life in an overt way while simultaneously complaining about the intense scrutiny and criticism she gets for it. Like she went out of her way to "launch" (her words!) her relationship with Kelce on the public in as eye-catching a way as possible (very public dates when they could have been more private, publicly courting the high profile wives of other players, showing up to games with a rotating cast very high profile buddies) but then gets annoyed that people are interested in the relationship. It's weird.

Also, I know this is a bit of a pop star thing, but Taylor does not seem to have an "incognito" mode that most celebs can revert to when they want to do normal person things in public without attracting a ton of attention. Like lots and lots of celebrities attend professional sporting events or go out to dinner or drinks with friends, wearing low key outfits, minimal makeup, and a baseball cap or something. I'm not saying Taylor HAS to do that, but I'm just pointing gout that this is a very normal thing celebs do to kind of downplay their fame when they are off duty. I watch a ton of professional sports and you see celebrities at these games all the time, and OFTEN they dress to blend in with other fans or at least not draw extra attention to themselves.

Taylor can, of course, attend her boyfriend's football games wearing thigh high stiletto boots, custom jackets made out of his jersey, her standard "face" of bright red lipstick and full eye makeup. She can do what she wants. But also when she chooses to dress this way, when she chooses to join Kelce in the parts of the stadium where press lineup specifically to catch photos of athletes after the game, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that this results in her face being plastered everywhere regarding her appearance at the game, and drives up speculation about her relationship.

If Taylor showed up to today's game wearing a KC hat and a puffer jacket, a normal person amount of makeup (instead of a pop star amount) and laid low a bit, I can guarantee you that you'd see less coverage of her. Her appearance and behavior is designed to attract attention, and does. News at 11.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: where are people getting that she’s gay or bi? Is it just that she appears to have zero chemistry with any of the famous guys she’s dated, or what?

People have speculated and she’s never denied it. But why would she? Her actions—dating men exclusively—prove she’s straight. Denying gay rumors in an interview implies there is something wrong with being gay and she needs to correct the record. That’s why she says nothing!

She has denied it - both in her behavior (dating only men) and in the 1989TV liner notes:

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle. Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me, it was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24, I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally ... and I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making “Red” had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my ears. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on “Red”? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see — in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming — the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian Era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called "1989," and we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it. In high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn’t know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure, and a sense of freedom I hadn’t tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to ... don’t say it ... don’t say it ... I’m sorry, I have to say it ... shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in “Blank Space” and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in “Welcome to New York.” You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.

This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of “1989.”

It’s been waiting for you.

This is PR crap, reading like it's a private letter to that one special person. "It's been waiting for you." She is using the neediness of teen girls and making stalkers out of her fans. Shameless PR. Shameless.

+1 gives me the creeps. She is grooming them, but doing it to make money rather than more nefarious purposes, so the behavior goes unnoticed to many. It is the same creep tactics though.

You mean the parasocial relationships?

Call it parasocial relationship, call it manipulation, but the idea that she, Taylor Swift an entertainer, is talking just to you (someone she doesn’t know, but may “pick up as a buddy” from her dedicated fans) makes me cringe and is a huge red flag. I was raised by a manipulative narcissist and my first relationship was with another one. I know this behavior, it is meant to manipulate the target into caring on a deep level for someone who doesn’t give a crap about you. And believe that the speaker gives a crap about you when really, they don’t know you or want to know you. They are using you for something.

In Taylor’s case, she is using her fans for money and power. Clearly enough women have never experienced this to know the signs, and good for them as a parasocial relationship with TS isn’t really going to hurt anything more than their spending money. BUT, it does worry me because TS is normalizing crappy tactics that can result in horrible relationship dynamics for a generation of young women with the way she grooms her fans.

I see major parallels with the way she runs her platform and the way Trump engages with his fans. They are on different sides of the political spectrum, but the tactics are the same.

Glad I have boys, so I don’t really have a vested interest in TS other than being an old Cassandra.

What the A F did I just read?? Taylor Swift is now going to be responsible for an entire generation of young women having poor relationships and she's similar to Trump? Are you drunk?

I actually like TS for the most part, but I definitely can see Trump parallels. She is a larger than life figure that vulnerable people worship. In Trump's case, it's uneducated people. In Taylor's, it's young women and girls.

But young women and girls have gone crazy over celebs for generations. This is nothing new. Most people can handle this within the context of their lives, but there are a few with other issues who become stalkers or become obsessed or make important life decisions based on intangible things in their mind. That’s always been the case to blame Taylor on that doesn’t make sense.

She courts it in a way that is not precedented. Especially this long. And more than any other artist I can think of, she encourages media and fan interest in her personal life in an overt way while simultaneously complaining about the intense scrutiny and criticism she gets for it. Like she went out of her way to "launch" (her words!) her relationship with Kelce on the public in as eye-catching a way as possible (very public dates when they could have been more private, publicly courting the high profile wives of other players, showing up to games with a rotating cast very high profile buddies) but then gets annoyed that people are interested in the relationship. It's weird.

Also, I know this is a bit of a pop star thing, but Taylor does not seem to have an "incognito" mode that most celebs can revert to when they want to do normal person things in public without attracting a ton of attention. Like lots and lots of celebrities attend professional sporting events or go out to dinner or drinks with friends, wearing low key outfits, minimal makeup, and a baseball cap or something. I'm not saying Taylor HAS to do that, but I'm just pointing gout that this is a very normal thing celebs do to kind of downplay their fame when they are off duty. I watch a ton of professional sports and you see celebrities at these games all the time, and OFTEN they dress to blend in with other fans or at least not draw extra attention to themselves.

Taylor can, of course, attend her boyfriend's football games wearing thigh high stiletto boots, custom jackets made out of his jersey, her standard "face" of bright red lipstick and full eye makeup. She can do what she wants. But also when she chooses to dress this way, when she chooses to join Kelce in the parts of the stadium where press lineup specifically to catch photos of athletes after the game, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that this results in her face being plastered everywhere regarding her appearance at the game, and drives up speculation about her relationship.

If Taylor showed up to today's game wearing a KC hat and a puffer jacket, a normal person amount of makeup (instead of a pop star amount) and laid low a bit, I can guarantee you that you'd see less coverage of her. Her appearance and behavior is designed to attract attention, and does. News at 11.

Elvis.

[Anonymous]

Enough of Taylor. And Travis. Go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy F@ck - you guys are mental.

I can’t even believe people like you exist but here you are.

It’s utterly mind boggling. Someone who only dates men is secretly gay and in a relationship with someone who is happily married to a man but she must be gay because a lot of her opening acts are gay and she hugs her friends, and she’s Trump like in her platform because …. Hell if I know I can’t even follow that crap.

You all are nuts.

These are celebrities, not "someone." If you don't think celebrities manipulate every aspect of their lives for the public, then you are terribly naive. Like any other teenage TS fan.

NP. Are you the person who posted the comment implying Brittany Mahomes is also gay

NP. Brittany Mahomes is not gay, but tell me she isn't dazzled by Taylor Swift and by being allowed into TS's private world and being privy to TS's personal thoughts and friendship? It's similar to the way her fans believe they have access to TS through her music, videos, concerts, and fellow fans. She is both a superstar and a confidante telling you about how her boyfriend is a drag and how her BFFs give her life. She feels safe.

People shouldn't criticize Taylor Swift for playing the game of celebrity business moreso than Beyonce or Harry Styles. Her image is just as curated, but her fans see it as TS being transparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: where are people getting that she’s gay or bi? Is it just that she appears to have zero chemistry with any of the famous guys she’s dated, or what?

People have speculated and she’s never denied it. But why would she? Her actions—dating men exclusively—prove she’s straight. Denying gay rumors in an interview implies there is something wrong with being gay and she needs to correct the record. That’s why she says nothing!

She has denied it - both in her behavior (dating only men) and in the 1989TV liner notes:

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle. Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me, it was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24, I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally ... and I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making “Red” had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my ears. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on “Red”? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see — in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming — the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian Era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called "1989," and we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it. In high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn’t know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure, and a sense of freedom I hadn’t tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to ... don’t say it ... don’t say it ... I’m sorry, I have to say it ... shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in “Blank Space” and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in “Welcome to New York.” You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.

This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of “1989.”

It’s been waiting for you.

This is PR crap, reading like it's a private letter to that one special person. "It's been waiting for you." She is using the neediness of teen girls and making stalkers out of her fans. Shameless PR. Shameless.

+1 gives me the creeps. She is grooming them, but doing it to make money rather than more nefarious purposes, so the behavior goes unnoticed to many. It is the same creep tactics though.

You mean the parasocial relationships?

Call it parasocial relationship, call it manipulation, but the idea that she, Taylor Swift an entertainer, is talking just to you (someone she doesn’t know, but may “pick up as a buddy” from her dedicated fans) makes me cringe and is a huge red flag. I was raised by a manipulative narcissist and my first relationship was with another one. I know this behavior, it is meant to manipulate the target into caring on a deep level for someone who doesn’t give a crap about you. And believe that the speaker gives a crap about you when really, they don’t know you or want to know you. They are using you for something.

In Taylor’s case, she is using her fans for money and power. Clearly enough women have never experienced this to know the signs, and good for them as a parasocial relationship with TS isn’t really going to hurt anything more than their spending money. BUT, it does worry me because TS is normalizing crappy tactics that can result in horrible relationship dynamics for a generation of young women with the way she grooms her fans.

I see major parallels with the way she runs her platform and the way Trump engages with his fans. They are on different sides of the political spectrum, but the tactics are the same.

Glad I have boys, so I don’t really have a vested interest in TS other than being an old Cassandra.

What the A F did I just read?? Taylor Swift is now going to be responsible for an entire generation of young women having poor relationships and she's similar to Trump? Are you drunk?

I actually like TS for the most part, but I definitely can see Trump parallels. She is a larger than life figure that vulnerable people worship. In Trump's case, it's uneducated people. In Taylor's, it's young women and girls.

But young women and girls have gone crazy over celebs for generations. This is nothing new. Most people can handle this within the context of their lives, but there are a few with other issues who become stalkers or become obsessed or make important life decisions based on intangible things in their mind. That’s always been the case to blame Taylor on that doesn’t make sense.

She courts it in a way that is not precedented. Especially this long. And more than any other artist I can think of, she encourages media and fan interest in her personal life in an overt way while simultaneously complaining about the intense scrutiny and criticism she gets for it. Like she went out of her way to "launch" (her words!) her relationship with Kelce on the public in as eye-catching a way as possible (very public dates when they could have been more private, publicly courting the high profile wives of other players, showing up to games with a rotating cast very high profile buddies) but then gets annoyed that people are interested in the relationship. It's weird.

Also, I know this is a bit of a pop star thing, but Taylor does not seem to have an "incognito" mode that most celebs can revert to when they want to do normal person things in public without attracting a ton of attention. Like lots and lots of celebrities attend professional sporting events or go out to dinner or drinks with friends, wearing low key outfits, minimal makeup, and a baseball cap or something. I'm not saying Taylor HAS to do that, but I'm just pointing gout that this is a very normal thing celebs do to kind of downplay their fame when they are off duty. I watch a ton of professional sports and you see celebrities at these games all the time, and OFTEN they dress to blend in with other fans or at least not draw extra attention to themselves.

Taylor can, of course, attend her boyfriend's football games wearing thigh high stiletto boots, custom jackets made out of his jersey, her standard "face" of bright red lipstick and full eye makeup. She can do what she wants. But also when she chooses to dress this way, when she chooses to join Kelce in the parts of the stadium where press lineup specifically to catch photos of athletes after the game, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that this results in her face being plastered everywhere regarding her appearance at the game, and drives up speculation about her relationship.

If Taylor showed up to today's game wearing a KC hat and a puffer jacket, a normal person amount of makeup (instead of a pop star amount) and laid low a bit, I can guarantee you that you'd see less coverage of her. Her appearance and behavior is designed to attract attention, and does. News at 11.

Elvis.

Not Elvis, times are different.

“These fan connections, always potent, are becoming even more so, thanks to technological shifts that make it easier to connect and a post-pandemic craving for togetherness. It all adds up to a culture that sustains and supercharges not only cultural icons like Swift, but political figures like Trump.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: where are people getting that she’s gay or bi? Is it just that she appears to have zero chemistry with any of the famous guys she’s dated, or what?

People have speculated and she’s never denied it. But why would she? Her actions—dating men exclusively—prove she’s straight. Denying gay rumors in an interview implies there is something wrong with being gay and she needs to correct the record. That’s why she says nothing!

She has denied it - both in her behavior (dating only men) and in the 1989TV liner notes:

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle. Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me, it was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24, I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally ... and I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making “Red” had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my ears. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on “Red”? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see — in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming — the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian Era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called "1989," and we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it. In high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn’t know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure, and a sense of freedom I hadn’t tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to ... don’t say it ... don’t say it ... I’m sorry, I have to say it ... shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in “Blank Space” and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in “Welcome to New York.” You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.

This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of “1989.”

It’s been waiting for you.

This is PR crap, reading like it's a private letter to that one special person. "It's been waiting for you." She is using the neediness of teen girls and making stalkers out of her fans. Shameless PR. Shameless.

+1 gives me the creeps. She is grooming them, but doing it to make money rather than more nefarious purposes, so the behavior goes unnoticed to many. It is the same creep tactics though.

You mean the parasocial relationships?

Call it parasocial relationship, call it manipulation, but the idea that she, Taylor Swift an entertainer, is talking just to you (someone she doesn’t know, but may “pick up as a buddy” from her dedicated fans) makes me cringe and is a huge red flag. I was raised by a manipulative narcissist and my first relationship was with another one. I know this behavior, it is meant to manipulate the target into caring on a deep level for someone who doesn’t give a crap about you. And believe that the speaker gives a crap about you when really, they don’t know you or want to know you. They are using you for something.

In Taylor’s case, she is using her fans for money and power. Clearly enough women have never experienced this to know the signs, and good for them as a parasocial relationship with TS isn’t really going to hurt anything more than their spending money. BUT, it does worry me because TS is normalizing crappy tactics that can result in horrible relationship dynamics for a generation of young women with the way she grooms her fans.

I see major parallels with the way she runs her platform and the way Trump engages with his fans. They are on different sides of the political spectrum, but the tactics are the same.

Glad I have boys, so I don’t really have a vested interest in TS other than being an old Cassandra.

What the A F did I just read?? Taylor Swift is now going to be responsible for an entire generation of young women having poor relationships and she's similar to Trump? Are you drunk?

I actually like TS for the most part, but I definitely can see Trump parallels. She is a larger than life figure that vulnerable people worship. In Trump's case, it's uneducated people. In Taylor's, it's young women and girls.

But young women and girls have gone crazy over celebs for generations. This is nothing new. Most people can handle this within the context of their lives, but there are a few with other issues who become stalkers or become obsessed or make important life decisions based on intangible things in their mind. That’s always been the case to blame Taylor on that doesn’t make sense.

She courts it in a way that is not precedented. Especially this long. And more than any other artist I can think of, she encourages media and fan interest in her personal life in an overt way while simultaneously complaining about the intense scrutiny and criticism she gets for it. Like she went out of her way to "launch" (her words!) her relationship with Kelce on the public in as eye-catching a way as possible (very public dates when they could have been more private, publicly courting the high profile wives of other players, showing up to games with a rotating cast very high profile buddies) but then gets annoyed that people are interested in the relationship. It's weird.

Also, I know this is a bit of a pop star thing, but Taylor does not seem to have an "incognito" mode that most celebs can revert to when they want to do normal person things in public without attracting a ton of attention. Like lots and lots of celebrities attend professional sporting events or go out to dinner or drinks with friends, wearing low key outfits, minimal makeup, and a baseball cap or something. I'm not saying Taylor HAS to do that, but I'm just pointing gout that this is a very normal thing celebs do to kind of downplay their fame when they are off duty. I watch a ton of professional sports and you see celebrities at these games all the time, and OFTEN they dress to blend in with other fans or at least not draw extra attention to themselves.

Taylor can, of course, attend her boyfriend's football games wearing thigh high stiletto boots, custom jackets made out of his jersey, her standard "face" of bright red lipstick and full eye makeup. She can do what she wants. But also when she chooses to dress this way, when she chooses to join Kelce in the parts of the stadium where press lineup specifically to catch photos of athletes after the game, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that this results in her face being plastered everywhere regarding her appearance at the game, and drives up speculation about her relationship.

If Taylor showed up to today's game wearing a KC hat and a puffer jacket, a normal person amount of makeup (instead of a pop star amount) and laid low a bit, I can guarantee you that you'd see less coverage of her. Her appearance and behavior is designed to attract attention, and does. News at 11.

Elvis.

Not Elvis, times are different.

“These fan connections, always potent, are becoming even more so, thanks to technological shifts that make it easier to connect and a post-pandemic craving for togetherness. It all adds up to a culture that sustains and supercharges not only cultural icons like Swift, but political figures like Trump.”

He's been dead for 50 years and you know who I was talking about with a single word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy F@ck - you guys are mental.

I can’t even believe people like you exist but here you are.

It’s utterly mind boggling. Someone who only dates men is secretly gay and in a relationship with someone who is happily married to a man but she must be gay because a lot of her opening acts are gay and she hugs her friends, and she’s Trump like in her platform because …. Hell if I know I can’t even follow that crap.

You all are nuts.

These are celebrities, not "someone." If you don't think celebrities manipulate every aspect of their lives for the public, then you are terribly naive. Like any other teenage TS fan.

NP. Are you the person who posted the comment implying Brittany Mahomes is also gay

NP. Brittany Mahomes is not gay, but tell me she isn't dazzled by Taylor Swift and by being allowed into TS's private world and being privy to TS's personal thoughts and friendship? It's similar to the way her fans believe they have access to TS through her music, videos, concerts, and fellow fans. She is both a superstar and a confidante telling you about how her boyfriend is a drag and how her BFFs give her life. She feels safe.

People shouldn't criticize Taylor Swift for playing the game of celebrity business moreso than Beyonce or Harry Styles. Her image is just as curated, but her fans see it as TS being transparent.

Or maybe Brittany Mahomes, who has been relentlessly attacked most of her adult life with every misogynistic trope possible, sees Taylor as a kindred spirit and mentor in how to navigate our current toxic celebrity culture.

As for most of the rest of the posts for last few pages....wow.

Go Chiefs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy F@ck - you guys are mental.

I can’t even believe people like you exist but here you are.

It’s utterly mind boggling. Someone who only dates men is secretly gay and in a relationship with someone who is happily married to a man but she must be gay because a lot of her opening acts are gay and she hugs her friends, and she’s Trump like in her platform because …. Hell if I know I can’t even follow that crap.

You all are nuts.

These are celebrities, not "someone." If you don't think celebrities manipulate every aspect of their lives for the public, then you are terribly naive. Like any other teenage TS fan.

Of course I get that. But there is zero evidence here, leaving people like you trying to pound a very square peg into a very round hole. For what exactly? She addressed it in the way she does, in those liner notes, but I don’t think she’d ever go further because like another PP said, to deny it further suggests there is something wrong with it and she’s a fierce advocate.

I hope that is a pun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she is gay, she could do a lot better than this ugly dummy as a sperm donor. Tell Harry Styles to name his price!

Harry Styles would never willingly tie himself to her like that. But I agree there is definitely better sperm to be bad.

Harry Styles is in a relationship with a biracial actress as are two other ex British boyfriends of hers. Joe will probably be next to go the biracial route as he seemed enamored by Harry’s girlfriend at Paris Fashion Week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: where are people getting that she’s gay or bi? Is it just that she appears to have zero chemistry with any of the famous guys she’s dated, or what?

People have speculated and she’s never denied it. But why would she? Her actions—dating men exclusively—prove she’s straight. Denying gay rumors in an interview implies there is something wrong with being gay and she needs to correct the record. That’s why she says nothing!

She has denied it - both in her behavior (dating only men) and in the 1989TV liner notes:

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle. Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me, it was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24, I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally ... and I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making “Red” had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my ears. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on “Red”? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see — in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming — the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian Era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called "1989," and we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it. In high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn’t know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure, and a sense of freedom I hadn’t tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to ... don’t say it ... don’t say it ... I’m sorry, I have to say it ... shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in “Blank Space” and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in “Welcome to New York.” You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.

This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of “1989.”

It’s been waiting for you.

This is PR crap, reading like it's a private letter to that one special person. "It's been waiting for you." She is using the neediness of teen girls and making stalkers out of her fans. Shameless PR. Shameless.

+1 gives me the creeps. She is grooming them, but doing it to make money rather than more nefarious purposes, so the behavior goes unnoticed to many. It is the same creep tactics though.

You mean the parasocial relationships?

Call it parasocial relationship, call it manipulation, but the idea that she, Taylor Swift an entertainer, is talking just to you (someone she doesn’t know, but may “pick up as a buddy” from her dedicated fans) makes me cringe and is a huge red flag. I was raised by a manipulative narcissist and my first relationship was with another one. I know this behavior, it is meant to manipulate the target into caring on a deep level for someone who doesn’t give a crap about you. And believe that the speaker gives a crap about you when really, they don’t know you or want to know you. They are using you for something.

In Taylor’s case, she is using her fans for money and power. Clearly enough women have never experienced this to know the signs, and good for them as a parasocial relationship with TS isn’t really going to hurt anything more than their spending money. BUT, it does worry me because TS is normalizing crappy tactics that can result in horrible relationship dynamics for a generation of young women with the way she grooms her fans.

I see major parallels with the way she runs her platform and the way Trump engages with his fans. They are on different sides of the political spectrum, but the tactics are the same.

Glad I have boys, so I don’t really have a vested interest in TS other than being an old Cassandra.

What the A F did I just read?? Taylor Swift is now going to be responsible for an entire generation of young women having poor relationships and she's similar to Trump? Are you drunk?

DP

Parasocial relationships are gross.

In one video a girl tells Taylor, “I spent all my money on your stuff.” Taylor replies, “I’m sorry that happened!”

Her way of talking to her fans like they are her best friends makes her a lot of money and creates a rabid fan base.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy F@ck - you guys are mental.

I can’t even believe people like you exist but here you are.

It’s utterly mind boggling. Someone who only dates men is secretly gay and in a relationship with someone who is happily married to a man but she must be gay because a lot of her opening acts are gay and she hugs her friends, and she’s Trump like in her platform because …. Hell if I know I can’t even follow that crap.

You all are nuts.

These are celebrities, not "someone." If you don't think celebrities manipulate every aspect of their lives for the public, then you are terribly naive. Like any other teenage TS fan.

NP. Are you the person who posted the comment implying Brittany Mahomes is also gay

NP. Brittany Mahomes is not gay, but tell me she isn't dazzled by Taylor Swift and by being allowed into TS's private world and being privy to TS's personal thoughts and friendship? It's similar to the way her fans believe they have access to TS through her music, videos, concerts, and fellow fans. She is both a superstar and a confidante telling you about how her boyfriend is a drag and how her BFFs give her life. She feels safe.

People shouldn't criticize Taylor Swift for playing the game of celebrity business moreso than Beyonce or Harry Styles. Her image is just as curated, but her fans see it as TS being transparent.

Or maybe Brittany Mahomes, who has been relentlessly attacked most of her adult life with every misogynistic trope possible, sees Taylor as a kindred spirit and mentor in how to navigate our current toxic celebrity culture.

As for most of the rest of the posts for last few pages....wow.

You and I are describing the same dynamic between Taylor and Brittany Mahomes/others.
"Mentor" (role model with power) and "kindred spirit"

"Superstar" (role model with power) and "confidante"

The difference is Brittany made it into Taylor's luxury box with coordinating Chiefs outfit, and TS's fans are still outside peeking in, identifying with the person who got Taylor's scarf.

[Anonymous]

If the Chiefs lose tonight I can see TK’s and TS’s situationship ending soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: where are people getting that she’s gay or bi? Is it just that she appears to have zero chemistry with any of the famous guys she’s dated, or what?

People have speculated and she’s never denied it. But why would she? Her actions—dating men exclusively—prove she’s straight. Denying gay rumors in an interview implies there is something wrong with being gay and she needs to correct the record. That’s why she says nothing!

She has denied it - both in her behavior (dating only men) and in the 1989TV liner notes:

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle. Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me, it was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24, I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally ... and I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making “Red” had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my ears. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on “Red”? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see — in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming — the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian Era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called "1989," and we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it. In high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn’t know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure, and a sense of freedom I hadn’t tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to ... don’t say it ... don’t say it ... I’m sorry, I have to say it ... shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in “Blank Space” and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in “Welcome to New York.” You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.

This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of “1989.”

It’s been waiting for you.

This is PR crap, reading like it's a private letter to that one special person. "It's been waiting for you." She is using the neediness of teen girls and making stalkers out of her fans. Shameless PR. Shameless.

+1 gives me the creeps. She is grooming them, but doing it to make money rather than more nefarious purposes, so the behavior goes unnoticed to many. It is the same creep tactics though.

You mean the parasocial relationships?

Call it parasocial relationship, call it manipulation, but the idea that she, Taylor Swift an entertainer, is talking just to you (someone she doesn’t know, but may “pick up as a buddy” from her dedicated fans) makes me cringe and is a huge red flag. I was raised by a manipulative narcissist and my first relationship was with another one. I know this behavior, it is meant to manipulate the target into caring on a deep level for someone who doesn’t give a crap about you. And believe that the speaker gives a crap about you when really, they don’t know you or want to know you. They are using you for something.

In Taylor’s case, she is using her fans for money and power. Clearly enough women have never experienced this to know the signs, and good for them as a parasocial relationship with TS isn’t really going to hurt anything more than their spending money. BUT, it does worry me because TS is normalizing crappy tactics that can result in horrible relationship dynamics for a generation of young women with the way she grooms her fans.

I see major parallels with the way she runs her platform and the way Trump engages with his fans. They are on different sides of the political spectrum, but the tactics are the same.

Glad I have boys, so I don’t really have a vested interest in TS other than being an old Cassandra.

What the A F did I just read?? Taylor Swift is now going to be responsible for an entire generation of young women having poor relationships and she's similar to Trump? Are you drunk?

I actually like TS for the most part, but I definitely can see Trump parallels. She is a larger than life figure that vulnerable people worship. In Trump's case, it's uneducated people. In Taylor's, it's young women and girls.

But young women and girls have gone crazy over celebs for generations. This is nothing new. Most people can handle this within the context of their lives, but there are a few with other issues who become stalkers or become obsessed or make important life decisions based on intangible things in their mind. That’s always been the case to blame Taylor on that doesn’t make sense.

She courts it in a way that is not precedented. Especially this long. And more than any other artist I can think of, she encourages media and fan interest in her personal life in an overt way while simultaneously complaining about the intense scrutiny and criticism she gets for it. Like she went out of her way to "launch" (her words!) her relationship with Kelce on the public in as eye-catching a way as possible (very public dates when they could have been more private, publicly courting the high profile wives of other players, showing up to games with a rotating cast very high profile buddies) but then gets annoyed that people are interested in the relationship. It's weird.

Also, I know this is a bit of a pop star thing, but Taylor does not seem to have an "incognito" mode that most celebs can revert to when they want to do normal person things in public without attracting a ton of attention. Like lots and lots of celebrities attend professional sporting events or go out to dinner or drinks with friends, wearing low key outfits, minimal makeup, and a baseball cap or something. I'm not saying Taylor HAS to do that, but I'm just pointing gout that this is a very normal thing celebs do to kind of downplay their fame when they are off duty. I watch a ton of professional sports and you see celebrities at these games all the time, and OFTEN they dress to blend in with other fans or at least not draw extra attention to themselves.

Taylor can, of course, attend her boyfriend's football games wearing thigh high stiletto boots, custom jackets made out of his jersey, her standard "face" of bright red lipstick and full eye makeup. She can do what she wants. But also when she chooses to dress this way, when she chooses to join Kelce in the parts of the stadium where press lineup specifically to catch photos of athletes after the game, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that this results in her face being plastered everywhere regarding her appearance at the game, and drives up speculation about her relationship.

If Taylor showed up to today's game wearing a KC hat and a puffer jacket, a normal person amount of makeup (instead of a pop star amount) and laid low a bit, I can guarantee you that you'd see less coverage of her. Her appearance and behavior is designed to attract attention, and does. News at 11.

Her makeup looks clownish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the Chiefs lose tonight I can see TK’s and TS’s situationship ending soon.

Fingers crossed.