Note: This post has been moved from Latest Picks due to length of extended updates.
With June being Pride Month to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots but with homophobic and transphobic hate crimes surging (theguardian.com) and almost daily in the media (theguardian.com) at least partly due to the normalisation of bigotry of opportune right-wing populism:
Taylor Swift’s new Pride-themed single causes an ‘influx’ of GLAAD donations after she name checks the organization in the song (dailymail.co.uk).
Sadly, The Mail and it’s demographic often finding it opportune to champion that right-wing populism, as a peek at the article‘s “No more TS” and “Princess Illuminati” comment section clearly shows.
Since the single’s debut Thursday, the LGBTQ advocacy group told NBC News that it has been receiving a plethora of donations for $13, which it believes to be a reference to Swift’s favorite number, 13.
Among the song’s lyrics are the lines ‘And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate/’Cause shade never made anybody less gay’ and ‘Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD?’
With the LGBTQ media monitoring organisation noting that Taytay had sent a handwritten note to the organization’s executive director along with a “very generous donation” at the start of the month as a way of honoring Pride Month and rallying against the “slate of hate” resulting in her recent petition of Tennessee legislature (Latest Picks 1st Jun. 2019) and director of talent engagement, Anthony Ramos saying that the fact that Swift “continues to use her platform and music to support the LGBTQ community … is a true sign of being an ally”, adding that that “‘You Need to Calm Down’ is the perfect Pride anthem” and happy to take advantage:
On Friday, GLAAD tweeted that it had created three limited edition stickers to go along with one time gift donations.
With it working for Taytay too, it could be said by those still ascribing to Taylor-is-manipulative memes, releasing the single continuing the snake-to-rainbow-coloured-butterfly transformation from revenge-filled Reputation seen in her pastel-coloured “Me” with Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie and for her next album Lover due out in August in an opportune newsworthy window:
Although Swift had kept a relatively low political profile for most of her career, she began actively speaking out about LGBTQ political advocacy during the 2018 midterm elections.
Since then, she is said to have donated $113,000—another reference to her favorite number—to the Tennessee Equality Project, which seeks to fight a series of anti-LGBTQ bills in her home state.
Updated 17th June 2019
Video updated, and seemingly finally pulling a pink shower curtain around her feud and bad blood with Katy Perry:
Taylor Swift and Katy Perry have finally put their six-year feud to bed as they hug and make up in the brand new video for You Need To Calm Down.
The pop princess, 29, delighted fans by dropping her latest offering on Monday, making peace with her former enemy Katy, 34, who pops up dressed as a giant burger in a food fight scene towards the end of the fun-filled clip.
With Tay as a packet of fries in their awkward forgiveness meetup at the end of the video, but perhaps leaving some still musing whether as well as a “a giant burger” outtakes will picture Tay and the host of celebrity cameos from those with LGBT credentials, including RuPaul and the Queer Eye cast seemingly forming her new squad, having Katy dress up as a ketchup-covered hotdog and a buttered muffin too.
Unsurprisingly, the possibility of her opportune “Pride Month’s commodification” taking some flack too:
But when a major celebrity like Swift decides to take on social causes, she is also able to monetize them. This isn’t a coincidence; Swift is our most business-driven pop star. She took an artistic risk by going edgy for her last album, Reputation, but immediately returned to her hyperfeminine princess aesthetic when that failed to translate into early sold-out stadiums or match her previous blockbuster record sales; she does not do anything that is unlikely to turn a profit. And right now, during Pride Month in the year 2019, is a very good time to make money by aligning oneself with queer causes.
That “commodification” perhaps accounting for why LGBTQIA+ representations in the video are all stereotypically hyper eccentric and exceeding camp, reinforcing an us and them buffer perhaps still required by some heterosexuals no matter how much expressing their appreciation of entertainingly highly strung “gay men throwing shade at each other”: Why I hate RuPaul’s Drag Race (gaystarnews.com, Feb. 2016).
With even the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s Met Gala ascribing to this commodification of the camp stereotype with its theme this year:
Gay stereotypes and the pressures that LGBTQ+ people can feel to either accept or rebel (inews.co.uk, Jun. 2019).
When the Met Gala rolled out its annual red-carpet fashion show in New York last month, the theme was “camp”—that elusive quality of exaggeration or theatricality that has, since Oscar Wilde’s day if not before, been associated with homosexuality. Arguments raged among stylists and the gay community over whether the Kardashians were dressed in full camp regalia (note: Kris Jenner was camp already), along with Jared Leto and Harry Styles.
Which much worry that camp has been appropriated and has become an entertainment label to be hung pink albatross-like about the neck of those in sex relationships.
Updated 27th August 2019
With the video collecting both the converted Video of the Year and Video for Good awards at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards and allowing TayTay to double down on her finally publicly declared opposition to unfortunate oppressive face and fair of America, Orange Don (Blog 8th Oct. 2018) during her performance of “You Need to Calm Down” and “Lover”:
Taylor Swift calls out white house during video of the year acceptance speech at MTV VMAs (hollywoodreporter.com).
Swift shared that the music video concluded with her encouraging fans to sign the Equality Act petition. “Which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law,” she said of the legislation as she continued to encourage viewers to sign the petition.
“I want to thank everyone that signed that petition because it now has half a million signatures, which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House,” Swift said. She then looked at an imaginary watch on her wrist as she implied that the Trump administration should address the petition.
With comedy provided by John Travolta demonstrating some apt confusion:
John Travolta Mistakes Drag Race Star for Taylor Swift at the MTV VMAs (mirror.co.uk).
The oblivious Grease great nearly gave the VMA for the Video of the Year to [Ru Paul’s Drag Race star] Jade Jolie, who does have a slight resemblance to the super star singer, instead of the 29-year-old.
Taylor finally got her hands on the prize for You Need To Calm Down after the actor eventually released his mistake.
Recent/related stories
- Taylor Swift pens letter to Republican senator urging him to back LGBTQ rights (Latest Picks 1st June 2019)
- ‘Girls’ track backlash forced Rita Ora to reveal bisexuality (Latest Picks 1st June 2018)
Page: prev. | 1 | next