Whether she is conscious of it or not, Ms. Swift signals to queer people — in the language we use to communicate with one another — that she has some affinity for queer identity.
Taylor Swift has long been an artist whose work is eclipsed by her own mythos, memorializing and marketing. Like many celebrities reaching for the timelessness of superstardom, Swift has constructed a haze of mirror dust about her, designed to reflect the culture while clouding her inner world from view. To see through that haze, divine her intentions and assess the efficacy of her work ought to be the ambition of any keen listener, whether critic or fan. The problem is, just as Swift is bound by conventions of ambiguity, listeners, too, are bound by the conventions of our culture. One of those conventions is the way the artistry of pop music is so often reduced to a commercial product for the masses. Another is the way the culture so often considers women as little more than accessories to male desire. But there is also the way our culture views queer identity. Namely, we are saddled with the presumption that someone is straight until she declares herself otherwise. It takes neither a genius nor a radical to see the way queer imagery features in Swift's artistry. But figuring out how to talk about it before the star labels herself is another matter. In an essay for Times Opinion, I wanted examine what viewing her work through the prism of queerness could reveal about our culture, the American movement for L.G.B.T.Q. rights and ourselves. Queer identity is just one thread discernible in Swift's art. There are others worth examining. In an essay for The New York Times Magazine, my colleague Taffy Brodesser-Akner captured the way that Swift's work embodies the delirium of girlhood (and, eventually, womanhood). In Times Opinion, the psychiatrist Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell wrote charmingly about the way her psychiatric practice has been shaped by Swift's ubiquity. Essays upon essays — the artful, the milquetoast, the ham-fisted, the sublime — about Swift's celebrity litter the internet, a sign that she has become a monocultural force in a world that so often eschews common cause. So when confronted with Taylor Swift, it's worth questioning why you choose to tell the story about her that you do. Maybe, just maybe, in considering other possibilities, you might discover something new.
We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. Games Here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle and Spelling Bee. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here.
Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. If you have questions about your Times account, delivery problems or other issues, visit our Help Page or contact The Times.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Opinion Today: I see queerness in Taylor Swift’s work. Perhaps she does, too.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment