Highsnobiety

If you've missed that Taylor Swift released a short film last weekend, where the hell have you been?

I'm not expecting the majority of Highsnobiety readers to identify as a Swiftie, but for some reason, you all really seem to hate the woman.

We have nothing against Jake, the man can really put together a fit, but we thought it would be entertaining. But instead, it really lit a fire:

"Did a woman write this caption because it seems a little pressed that Jake Gylly hurt Taylor."

"Whoever wrote this got to be 15."

"Taylor Swift moving like a sour bitch."

These are only a selection, plenty are a lot worse.

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I've never been a huge Taylor Swift fan. Sure, I've bopped to "We Are Never Getting Back Together," and I've definitely quoted "22" on Instagram, but I never knew much about her career until her documentary came out, and when her fight to regain the rights to her music.

For those unfamiliar, Taylor Swift has spent the past years re-recording a handful of her albums. In 2018, the singer left Big Machine Records for a new deal with Universal's Republic Records, where they retained the right to Swift's masters. When Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Records in 2019, Swift entered negotiations to buy back her masters but didn't succeed. Basically, Braun sold them to another party, and continued to profit off of Taylor's recordings.

"All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years… Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it. This is my worst-case scenario,” Swift wrote in a Tumblr post following the acquisition.

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Because of this, Swift has re-recorded her music, and has now released Red (Taylor's Version), taking on her fourth studio album. The album includes popular tracks such as "22" and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," as well as "All Too Well," the latter with a video that went viral on the internet.

"All Too Well" is famously about Taylor's relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal, which happened when she was 20 and he was 29. The video stars Dylan O'Brien as Gyllenhaal, and Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink as Taylor (Sadie is 19, O'Brien 30), and the video documents a toxic relationship that involves gaslighting, arguments, and situations that a lot of women (sadly) can relate to.

Most women I've spoken to have admitted that the video made them emotional, and reminded them of past relationships or bad situations (most often involving men), which is why it is important. For those saying that she's just taking the opportunity to shit on Gyllenhaal, they're missing the point. She's telling her story, not to blame anyone, but to help her fans when they're in a similar situation.

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I also need to bring up her other new video, directed by Blake Lively. Called "I Bet You Think About Me," the video features a couple getting married, and Taylor as the ex that the man in question "still thinks about." For some reason, it left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths.

Yes, the video might allude to cheating or whatever, which no one is condoning nor supporting. But why are we so pressed when a woman sings about it? We've listened to Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me" a billion times, and Kanye West literally sings "Here I go with a new chick/And I know what the truth is/ Still playin' after two kids," in "Hurricane," implying that he cheated on Kim Kardashian. No questions asked. Zero accountability or criticism.

So really, why do you all hate her so much? She's been in the industry since she was just a teen, and she was only 17 when Kanye West stole her spotlight and ran up on the MTV VMA stage and delivered his infamous "Beyoncé should have won" speech.

Throughout the past decade, she's been scrutinized for dating multiple guys, with plenty of people disliking her as a result. "Taylor must be the problem, she can't keep a man," is a frequent conclusion. She's been fighting plenty of battles, and as a woman, I support her wholeheartedly.

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But why is there such a double standard? I've never seen anyone criticize Pete Davidson for dating multiple different women in a year. Instead, he gets called a "GOAT" and a "Legend," and people are trying to figure out why so many women want to date him. Why aren't we looking at Swift in the same way?

The truth is, some of you just don't like women. Especially not when women are doing well.

As our own Highsnobiety editor Alex Pauly put it, "men hate Taylor Swift because she sings about men the way men sing about women."

Of course, Taylor uses her own experiences to write her music – most artists do. How many times haven't we heard rappers rap about their "bitches" and their "hoes," starting beef by directly mentioning one another, and singing about their relationships?

I'm not saying you need to love her music, you don't even need to like it. But if you really hate Taylor Swift, take a second to reflect. Do you really hate her? Or do you just hate to see strong and successful women win after going through shitstorm after shitstorm?

Makes you think, doesn't it?

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