A controversial New York Times opinion piece that brazenly speculated this week whether or not Taylor Swift is a closeted queer particular person has drawn the ire of the pop famous person’s associates, CNN has realized.
“Because of her massive success, in this moment there is a Taylor-shaped hole in people’s ethics,” an individual near the state of affairs, who requested anonymity to talk candidly, advised CNN. “
This article wouldn’t have been allowed to be written about Shawn Mendes or any male artist whose sexuality has been questioned by fans.”
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“There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is – all under the protective veil of an ‘opinion piece,'” the particular person added.
In the 5,000-word piece, written in The Times’ opinion part, editor Anna Marks strung collectively an extended checklist of LGBTQ references — some overt, some perceived — Swift has weaved into her songs and performances. Marks advised that Swift had, maybe, for years been making an attempt to sign that she identifies with the queer group.
“In isolation, a single dropped hairpin is perhaps meaningless or accidental, but considered together, they’re the unfurling of a ballerina bun after a long performance,” Marks wrote.
“Those dropped hairpins began to appear in Ms. Swift’s artistry long before queer identity was undeniably marketable to mainstream America. They suggest to queer people that she is one of us.”
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Swift has previously embraced the LGBTQ group, taking stands in help of her followers amid a report quantity of anti-gay payments launched across the nation, calling her concert events a “safe space” for LGBTQ individuals.
But she has denied that she is a member of the LGBTQ group. In a 2019 interview with Vogue journal, Swift stated she has merely aimed to be ally to the LGBTQ group as their rights come below assault.
“Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male,” Swift advised the journal. “I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of.”
Swift additionally wrote within the prologue to her re-recorded 1989 album, which was launched final yr, that she surrounded herself with feminine pals as a result of society speculated incessantly about whether or not she was romantically concerned with males she was publicly seen with.
“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,” she wrote.
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It is very uncommon for a good information group like The Times to publish an article speculating on an individual’s sexuality, not to mention a determine of immense cultural significance who has beforehand denied the insinuations.
Such items are extensively thought of to be inappropriate, and The Times acquired some criticism from readers for its resolution to publish its piece on Swift.
Marks, seemingly conscious of the article’s questionable assertions, preemptively addressed critics within the piece, writing, “I know that discussing the potential of a star’s queerness before a formal declaration of identity feels, to some, too salacious and gossip-fueled to be worthy of discussion.”
“I share many of these reservations,” Marks wrote. “But the stories that dominate our collective imagination shape what our culture permits artists and their audiences to say and be. Every time an artist signals queerness and that transmission falls on deaf ears, that signal dies. Recognizing the possibility of queerness — while being conscious of the difference between possibility and certainty — keeps that signal alive.”
A spokesperson for The Times declined to remark instantly on the criticism from Swift’s associates and pointed to what Marks wrote within the revealed essay in regards to the matter.
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