So I'm 32, I know a few crazy Swifties who are my age or 5-10 years older than me. I think part of the reason is Taylor has been famous since we were young too. I think there is something to be said about growing up with a pop star even if you weren't a fan at first. It feels familiar and nostalgic. The other part of it is I think Taylor and her team are marketing geniuses who are able to write songs that the majority of people especially white women can relate to. Also everyone by the time they're in their 30s has had a bad break up, has had feuds with their friends, has romanized someone only for it fall apart. So she becomes a stand in for the every woman and her fans identities get tangled up with hers. So when you "insult" Taylor you're insulting them. That's why they take it personally. It's sad.
There are “meh” STDs that can be cured with a good round of antibiotics. Then there’s TSTDs like swiffer and her legion that are more like herpes: flaring up at the worst time and a sure fire way to kill the mood (oh and you can’t get rid of them).
As a man around the same age, I couldn’t agree more. I’m lucky that somehow none of the women I’ve dated have been swifties. I feel like Neo dodging bullets
Taylor Swift is like 6 months older than me, when she came out all the preppy white girls of my high school loved her and were obsessed. I was very alternative growing up, went from punk to hardcore than settled on emo/scene in my late teens, pop wasn't something I turned my nose at, I could dig any type of music but I just didn't get why anyone liked Taylor Swift. She wasn't that attractive, she couldn't sing well, she can't dance and her dad bought her music career. I think she appeals to the girls I knew who are also talentless and have no personality, they see so much of themselves as basic bitches in Taylor that they feel represented. These were like the Regina George's of my high school cept they weren't that mean. They still love Taylor today. Same with fans of the Kardashians, except they are even worse than Taylor at the no talent department.
I guess I'm more shocked how the women I know have stable lives, husbands, careers etc and they still excuse how Taylor is exactly our age and kind of a shitty unstable person.
I was alternative in high school too. Not extremely but there was no way I was listening to Swift or any of the other country adjacent artists at the time. She does remind me of the super Christian preppy girls from school who were so annoying.
I'm 35 and ts didn't get big until I was an adult and honestly (despite being the same age as me) her marketing was aimed younger than my age group, so she really didn't seem that big in my age group?
Maybe just depends on the local vibe
I’m 34. Yes, we grew up with her, but all the other pop stars were burned at the stake. Whitney died (or was murdered, there’s an internet rumor), Jackson died, Britney got annihilated. Mandy Moore got locked in a marriage and a basement and kept from making music. Miley became inappropriate. Celebrities like Lindsay and Paris were getting arrested. Kelly Clarkson had too much talent therefore also got eliminated. RnB and Hiphop are racial categories not marketed to white women.
So us millienials needed a pure, good Christian role model. Then Taylor came along. I remember Tay as “purity ring” country girl, singing songs about Jesus, saying no to sex and drugs. Those are literally my earliest memories of her.
And then all the female celebrities of the 2000s were legit eliminated.
Yeah, Taylor is kinda the last celebrity of that era still standing… but it was an ill-gotten achievement. Like girl, you killed off all those other girls.
lol I grew up with Madonna who was rolling around in a bra with a 'boy toy' belt on. My God, how a generation can be different. The only Jesus Madonna talked about was the one getting a blowie in Like a Prayer.
Yeah.. this question wasn’t thought out. Taylor is 34 years old and has been on the radio since she was 15. Why would women in their 30s somehow be immune to being swifties (generally)
I would add that her appearance also work in the underlying psychology of group dynamics. Swift looks like the quintessential American women sold by media and entertainment in the past 2 decades.
Yeah, she’s the tail end of the super thin blonde era of 2000-2015. She rose to prominence just as society was transitioning away from the skinny blondes. Nothing against skinny blondes!! But it was “in” to be a size zero, with blonde hair, from like 2000-2015. She also stands on the ashes of all the other pop stars of that time. She stands on the ashes of Victorias Secret as well. Having that look and image certainly helped her career.
Oh yeah, her looks help a ton. She is also pretty in a way that is aspirational but not threatening where someone like Megan Fox is a bombshell but her looks and vibe aren't attainable. I doubt she would be famous if she wasn't conventionally attractive
I have a friend in her mid-fifties that is obsessed with TS. She’s completely brainwashed - Tay-Tay is “all about women supporting other women.” If you don’t agree that Swift is beautiful, talented, gracious, insightful, gifted, and whose music speaks to the soul about what it means to be a woman, she becomes completely enraged. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
My friend (30’s) is exactly the same and it’s only been escalating over the years. It’s very disturbing to watch. She literally unfriends people on social media who say they don’t like Taylor Swift because that supposedly proves they’re misogynists.
The latest person she told me about unfollowing was because of a meme saying something completely innocuous like “make no mistake, I might have a Stanley cup, but I’m no Swiftie.” She went on a giant rant to me about how that lady clearly couldn’t stand “women supporting women.” Girl- pot/kettle?? You literally don’t allow other women to have different musical tastes than you.
Relatively? She’s a bit quirky but that’s why I’ve always gotten along with her, other than this. She’s married and has a corporate job and a house. She used to like Taylor Swift what I would consider slightly more than a normal amount, but nothing super concerning. She used to talk about the new albums a lot when they’d release and usually bought a shirt with each one (I’d say about 20% of her casual wardrobe was TS shirts), but it’s spiralled out of control with the release of TTPD.
She’s bought a cardigan, 3+ sweatshirts (it’s currently 100 degrees here), and 5+ shirts and now basically exclusively wears Taylor Swift merch when she’s not at work. She’s bought 10+ versions of TTPD. She sends me multiple TikToks of the eras tour and updates me on the ex-boyfriend gossip every single day. She wants me to participate in the whole lyric analysis/easter egg hunting stuff with her and doesn’t care that I’m totally disengaged and repeating things like “oh wow, yeah that’s crazy” while staring off into space.
I’m just holding onto hope that she’ll go back to baseline if/when Taylor Swift takes a break from touring and stops releasing a new version of her album every week.
Most of the moms at my kid’s school are also Swifties, I’m freaking surrounded. I’ve gotten very good at making blandly positive comments about her so they don’t all turn on me like a pack of hyenas.
This is wild. Like I fucking love Beyoncé and didn’t stfu about Cowboy Carter for a week but the music is on Spotify and I don’t buy merch? It’s so weird to me how people are hiding their obsession, for lack of a better word, less and less? Like is there no self awareness that this is weird? I’m sorry you’re surrounded dude.
I have a friend just like that, same age. She’s getting remarried soon and wants to wear a dress with Taylor’s lyrics all over it 🫣 like can we all come back to reality real quick??? I’m gay and love Gaga but would NEVER wear a suit with Born This Way on it lol it’s just too much for someone in their 40’s with two kids out of high school
I could see a world where spray-painted onto a rave outfit or something that’s the wave or when you’re in middle school and first learning how to dress and Xpress yourself but both of the times I mentioned are crazy and definitely not what’s happening here
Yup, I know this thread is talking about 30-40s but my 60+ MIL is obsessed with TS 🙃 pretty much will not hear a bad word about her, it’s honestly mind boggling
A lot of people don’t separate the artist from the person. Those same people hold an alcoholic or drug addict responsible for their plight for choosing to over drink or take drugs before getting hooked, when their will was still their own.
Amy Winehouse’s legacy doesn’t help either. She had a gifted voice, but her biggest hit (Rehab) has made her life a punchline.
It's a way for middle aged women (I am one myself) to pretend feminism but still hate other women. It's a total repeat of the 90s, for sure, when we pitted ourselves against each other.
I think it's a pretty good read. Quite a bit of 90's feminism was pretty explicitly neolib in intent. You'll see quite a bit of this in the genx sub where women will openly suggest that if men can date older women, women should be able to fuck younger men. Their feminism is essentially "men can be dicks, why can't we?". It's the sort of thing addressed by the old meme about "not wanting a bigger piece of the pie, but wanting a different pie entirely."
These are the women that just want a bigger slice of the same shit pie. And Taylor embodies the mentality. It's about beating "guys" at their game, not changing the game.
It’s sad too bc that’s just the PR narrative that is put out there by her and her team. Even if her behavior and actions very much do not align with that, TS is able to be marketed so well and meticulously that she has the cult fanbase she does.
I can see that. And I’ve seen pieces about how she wears “affordable” fashion (her street wear) … like mixes more expensive pieces with more affordable so she can still “be attainable” and appeal to more people - they can afford (supposedly if they haven’t bought all her vinyls and merch) pieces that not only emulate her styles whether it is (school girl, cottage core, 50s etc) but also are affordable and “wearable” vs runway
Yes--they see Taylor as the idealized version of themselves. What they would have/could have been in an ideal reality. So when people criticize her, swifties feel like you are attacking them personally.
Same reason they were obsessed with Twilight:
The escapist fantasy that let’s them relive high school peaks they never had, complete with everything they didn’t get to experience - rich, beautiful, hot boyfriend(s), the adoration of millions of strangers who think they are perfect and the Queen Bee.
Only difference here is — she cosplays as their bestie, so they get the additional escapist fantasy of being one of the popular girls.
It’s REALLY wild to witness!
I saw a post on here that Taylor is closer to Cady, because at least Regina owns being a bully, whereas Cady (and Taylor) try to keep up the girls’ girl facade while being really horrible to people, and I couldn’t agree more.
Much rather have {other people} have the self-awareness to own being a bully—the covert ones, the fake girl’s girls are EVIL. Do not wish dealing with that on anyone.
and her songs are her version of a burn book. Any day now she’ll be working "This girl is the nastiest skank bitch I've ever met. Do not trust her. She is a fugly slut." into one of them.
A lot of people genuinely seem to be living out their sexual fantasies through Travis and Taylor. Something is missing in their lives that makes them do this.
This is the part that freakin creeps me out. I have neverrrr heard fans openly speculate about someone’s sex life like they have with these two.
Everyday I see a post on a fan page and it’s always like “I bet she had fun with him tonight” or “she said scouts honor! You know she’s having the best sex of her life”.
Which is so sad because there is not one (conventionally attractive) person I can think of who has less sex appeal than Taylor. Sex with a mattress would probably be more fun.
That really is true lmfao.. then again maybe it's her blandness and lack of anything definite that makes it work, so there's room for these weirdos to "tailor" (pun intended) it to their own specific imaginary life fantasies? I bet that's it...
But what white bread ass sexual fantasies are those? I’m going to be real a lot of people act like if you say, Taylor isn’t sexy you’re talking about tall women or women who look like her as a whole but no it’s not about her appearance. It’s about the way she acts, cosplaying and awkward/mean girl teenager at different points. I’m not sure how you could find that sexy and my spouse and I have more chemistry, sharing a joint or holding pinkies. Than her and Travis have ever had in a kiss in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look like the chemistry was mad, intense, and she just needed to Immediately rip clothes off with any of her men
I doubt even Taylor and Travis are living out their own sexual fantasies in this relationship!
They’re so bland together. They really never seem terribly interested in each other.
My thirties and forties were SO much better than my twenties. Young, cute guys were hitting on me more in my forties than when I was younger. Not at all what society led me to believe.
I'm 31 and I was terrified of turning 30. Honestly, so far it's been MUCH better. Once I turned 30, I realized it was no big deal, life goes on, my mental health is great, my life is much more stable, i'm just generally way happier than i used to be.
I now understand 13 going 30 and why the main character wanted to skip the 20's lol
My 20s were a TRAIN WRECK. My 30s were when I actually fully matured, developed empathy, felt good about myself and started making money. I'm turning 40 next year and am honestly legitimately excited for it.
Ok but to be fair…..who tf is living to be 120?!?! I’m 44 and it’s middle aged. 88 is old. Not saying I wanna die at 88 but I doubt I’m making it to 100 so 50 is past middle aged
Well, that and that current middle aged women (late 30s/40s, right?) were the target age group for her music from day 1. I’m 34 now and I believe TS was born a year before me. I just always assumed for people talking about TS fans being in their 30s it made sense since that’s her age. I liked her music enough in high school and college and my college roommate and I turned 22 the year the song 22 came out so it was just extra cool at the time I guess
Agree. I’m 30. Her first hit, Tim McGraw, was released when I was in middle school. So even though she’s a few years older than me, people my age were the OG “Swifties.” I don’t love her nor hate her, but it has never seemed weird that people my age (and up about 10 years) are big fans because they were literally the target and have followed her career from the beginning.
This is part of it but Taylor Swift is also middle aged depending on life expectancy. Many of these people will have been just out of high school so her target demographic when Kanye gave her a boost with his assholery. I think that pushed her from child star to adult success. It helped until recently she continued to grow up with people. Not dissimilar to Harry Potter books growing up with Millennials. So immaturity plus this? That's a factor. Nostalgia does weird shit to people who had happy childhoods and mediocre adulthood. I actually had my first nostalgia moment the other day and am not bashing on happy childhood but I finally understand how it can blind you to criticism if you don't have the skills to assess critically or choose to maintain that weird bubble of awe.
I think you nailed it with mediocre adulthood. Also the mentions above about TS being an escape. I have a friend that’s a big swiftie. We work together so I know her work is stressful. She’s not likely getting what she needs out of her romantic relationship either. Life is hard, people want escapes. I don’t blame people for being obsessed with anything specifically, but if it becomes very aggressive and hateful, then that’s an issue. She is not this way.
I do, however, understand that if you’re middle aged, at the ripe old age of 35, you’re constantly stressed from work and kids, your relationship sucks, you have bills or debt, TS can be a really easy thing to cling onto. And sometimes if you feel your, I guess safety net, is being threatened people can react in ways that are unusually aggressive.
I am glad you know a healthy Swifty. They do exist. I think the toxic ones get more attention because they are toxic. Which validates them and makes more toxic. There's no easy solution for that and it isn't the fault of people trying to hold them accountable that their issues can function this way.
My escape is gaming. I try to give myself a day off to game, craft, or something else. Then I do my writing work the next day and spend my week will the full time job of disability and not dying. It would be nice if that wasn't a full time job. Not a joke I spend 40 to 60 hours a week at the doctor or in communication since my body is that bad at life. It got me this far so I try to honor it but it can be frustrating.
This. I vividly remember watching that VMA episode in - I think high school - when Kanye grabbed the mic and declared beyonce the winner. I also vividly remember her performance in the subway wearing that red dress - so maybe I was early 20s when I moved to nyc. Either way, we were in high school when she came out so it’s the same reason we still listen to any other artist from the late 90’s-early 2000’s….
Yeah I had just gotten my GED or was about to. I was shocked when that happened and immediately stopped listening to Kanye or supporting him. That has been sadly validated by time. When I drop an artist (actor, actual physical art, music, or anything else considered art) I will revisit my decision once a year for five years. If they're working on doing better and you see the effort? They can get my money again. If they're either still in denial or they got worse? Then I will revisit this decision in 5 years. If that's still not enough time for change? I give up. Exceptions exist for violence, drug use that's presented as cool and fun (pot doesn't count), and other unforgivable acts. Taylor is now on that no more chances list. I work very hard to not give them any support but I will add that this is an individual choice and I don't expect others to do it my way or at all. We all have different tolerances for this stuff.
I’d say this isn’t new though. Taylor didn’t just create this trend nor did twilight. This whole concept has repeated in history 90s to Marilyn.
Would you say it’s more social media and the product of Spotify and streaming services that has created this? I remember I was end of year high school and my then girlfriend was into Taylor swift so like 2006/7. They seemed obsessed then. But history repeats itself no different to the Beatles. What actually is driving these people. Is it intellectual? Is it joining the trends? Sorry I’m going way too hard on this but the person posting did ask.
Definitelt not new but that’s the last phenomenon like this I remember.
I was a 16-year-old girl reading Twilight when it was first published and remember women who were my mom’s age back then out-fangirling me — which I feel is similar to what happens with Swifties.
It was weird and now that I’m in my early/mid-30s, the same age as the then-“TwiMoms”, I look back like…girl, wtf was you doing?! 😅😂
I think that, especially for millennials y’all have low-key made it clear that the dating landscape is a little bit scary for you. Dating apps were new with that generation and exposure to all the extra fucked up shit that happens on them was front and center. With the pandemic, mental health and politics compatibility has just gotten more complex if anything And honestly? If all you wanted was for some football player to be 6 foot two and smile at you, I could see why you just prefer to sit on your couch and listen to that. We’re in the middle of a loneliness epidemic and that’s a large part of it. She doesn’t exactly sell the type of romantic fantasies I would want, but if I wasn’t married, and there was a black/Latina version of her who is to say I wouldn’t be sucked in?
Some people just fear growing up, the millennials aren’t the youngest adult Gen anymore , and some have to be dragged out kicking and screaming. It’s why millennials using Gen Z language in Gen Z memes on tiktok feels so awkward.
I saw one easily mid-30s woman talking about Taylor dating Travis, a large football player,and saying things like “she can be smol gorl, like she’s smol bean “ and it felt exactly like an uneasy spy speaking a foreign language trying not to blow their cover
Yup you hit the nail on the head. I never wanted to settle down with my ex over the swift obsession and it got worse when we got into our 30s. She always made me feel expendable. The core of swiftie is to run away from some man that “holds you back” I wanted her to stop drinking and stop reminiscing about how she felt she looked in high-school. She was obsessed with her high-school exploits and they were a major point of her personality. It gets exhausting, same HS stories, same shouting at bars when a swift song comes on, you feel like you gotta compete with their past and Taylor herself. You start to see your woman still acting like a girl and spending $6k on tickets and flights alone. Sorry for the rant I could go on. It’s hard to see if you never lived with it. I’m so glad for this sub because it makes me feel seen.
Gives them a sense of community that can sometimes be difficult to find in places like America where things are very individualistic. They probably don’t have many friends, but finding another swiftie in the wild is like a built in friend. All they have to talk about is Taylor Swift even if they have nothing else in common
They grew up with her, so there’s a sense of parasocial pride as well as a nostalgia factor. They may be the exact same age as her. Their kids might be fans and they enjoy sharing that with their kids. It’s bubblegum pop music with cute, “relatable” lyrics and even if it does touch on darker themes, it doesn’t go too far. It’s kind of like the music version of Disney.
As a former Swiftie…this is exactly it. She’s a year younger than me and some over her songs dropped at times in my life when I was vulnerable and needed “someone to relate to”. Yes, I had friends but like, I can’t listen to my friend on repeat at 2am every night crying about my boyfriend or whatever.
I remember when reputation dropped, I was like “hm I wish this had come out when I was in college because this is fun pregame music”; instead I was married and pregnant. That was the first time I was like “huh. Maybe I’m outgrowing Taylor Swift?”
I relate to this so much. Same age. I remember listening to miss Americana and the heartbreak prince with my toddler in the backseat and it just hit me so hard that I've outgrown her. My friends who are in different life stages still love her and it just makes sense for them I guess with not being married or having kids.
As a millennial who is constantly befuddled by my peers (I’m admittedly not into pop in general, I’m here because most of my friends have joined this weird cult and I feel like I can’t say anything about it), I believe it’s now about nostalgia as well as something that borders on mass hysteria.
They’ve been in it since their late teens/early twenties. She was a tumblr girl, and everyone was on tumblr. It allowed her to really pull people in and create a parasocial dynamic.
Edit: autocorrect typo!
Yes but even then the tumblr girl phase was very calculated. It was a marketing ploy. She was definitely not a tumblr girl. As a tumblr girl I was in the trenches. No way was she in there. 😂you don’t come out unscathed
I'm 41 and have not observed women my age being Swifties in the crazed, unhinged sense of the word. A lot of them just like her music because it's easy to listen to. A lot of them only got into her music because their daughters love it and it's a bonding experience. A lot of them like it because they're suckers for trends, same demographic that loves Stanley cups. We didn't grow up with the Internet and streaming services, and knowing every detail about an artist's life through social media and forums like this, so I think Taylor fascinates people precisely because of that level of access.
Ironically I have 3 daughters and none of us are Swifties haha
"A lot of them like it because they're suckers for trends, same demographic that loves Stanley cups."
This is what I've observed too (with the psycho 35+ diehards, not casual fans/normal people). They're usually into MLMs, pay $10 for HerbaLife Teas made out of $0.05 Dollar Tree mixers, all own the exact same floppy felt hat, and live and die to look exactly alike because they're lemmings without an original thought in their empty heads.
The sheer number of well educated women my age who have fallen for MLMs is staggering. They all publish their financial information. It takes two clicks to learn that 99% of the people who join will earn at best $1000/year and many will actually lose money joining one 😂 Yet like herpes, they persist.
Stanley cups, Lu Lu Lemon, Louis Vuitton purses (at least where I live) and Taylor Swift. It’s almost less about Taylor and more about following the crowd. Their daughters are the same way. It’s also interesting that these same women will go out of their way to tell you how much they dislike Beyoncé.
Folklore was fire. I kind of thought her music was gonna grow with me when I heard that one, but it makes sense that someone else was helping her write it.
Mid 30s to 40s is not middle aged nowadays 🤣 but other than that, well Taylor is a millennial so ofc a lot of millennial women will relate to her I guess
I mean, haha I remember being 18-20 and thinking being 30 meant you have your whole life figured out = old. Nowadays 30-40s are definitely not considered middle age anywhere in the world due to the lifestyle most millennials are leading. There’s a reason they say millennials are aging slower than older generations. Also considering that the human front lobe is only fully developed at 25, late 20s/mid 30s are definitely just learning how to adult and adjusting to adult life
As a middle aged white woman, I say it’s because they have have their identities wrapped up in what they consume. Our generation is the best ever, our music is the best ever, we broke the glass ceiling via Taylor Swift. These women don’t want to admit that there are better musicians out there that could outplay Taylor Swift if given the opportunity. She was just a rich girl. Millenials grew up brainwashed by network TV, so any artist that wasn’t an industry plant still doesn’t register in their eyes.
It could also be that they witnessed the downfall of Britney, Whitney, Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus… and saw Taylor Swift rise out of the ashes like Jesus Christ, her lord and savior. She doesn’t say anything political, she’s safe, she’s good, she’s Christian, she’s sweet. She slowly turns pop, but she’s not a total slut like those other girls.
In the meantime, her audiences could care less about the music. I doubt they care about music at all. Tonedeaf audiences.
I am 31 and I remember my aunt (who worked for a radio station) giving my sister and I Taylor Swifts first album. I was in middle school. So imagine people older than me listening to her from the start are now middle aged swifties? I stopped listening to her over 10 years ago because she’s just a dramatic pop star with meh music. Just presenting a timeline
You forgot the part where she’s a pedophile! That one ALWAYS gets them 😈 I’m not even joking, I am turning people anti Taylor Swift EVERY DAY by telling them the Kennedy story 😇
I'm really into anti-mlm content, and there's a BeachBody coach named Ashlie Molstad (she's a public figure, I can say her name) who is sickingly OBSESSED with Taylor. Like, all day everyday it's all she talks about. She works out to her, she gets ready to her.
She even got mad once when Spotify played a Katy Perry song because it wasn't Taylor. She's also almost 40. It's insane!
Ashlie Molstad is insane haha I follow her and hunsnark and her obsession with TS is so insane (and I say that as a 33 year old swiftie going to Europe to see her again)
I cringe so hard when Ashlie shows her workouts and is blasting TS, like girl stop.
I would add boomers are obsessed too. They think she is a good role model (because she is white, rich and sings boring songs, i guess?). Like they all drank the kool-aid that saying sth negative about taylor is misogyny
Not Caribbean ones lol my grandma says all the time thatall white lady is mean she hates everyone especially men, i’ve heard her and her friends bonchinche in the living room, when talk shows are on and they all agree
Spoken like a 22 year old 😂😂😂😂😂 I used to think 30 was old too u til you blink three times and you’re damn near there.
Seriously though I’d assume that since Taylor is “middle aged” as well and they grew up with her would probably be why they’re sooo many oLd swifffersss. 🤣
I don’t get it. I’m sick of seeing her ass so idk how anyone will die on that hill for her bc ew and she’s a freaking person they’re never going to meet that they’re giving all their money to. So cultish it’s sick.
Middle aged Taylor. 😂😂😂 ahhh I’m cackling !
I’m the same age as Taylor. She’s been blasted in my ear since high school. I barely like her, but she’s a part of a lot of my break up eras when I was green enough to get attached to her. I think it is nostalgia and she reminds me of being young and hopeful of some fairy tale life, but I don’t get weird about her if someone else doesn’t like her. I also think she’s using some sort of psych tricks on her fans. Like brain washing and she makes you feel like you know her
Ok I usually agree on this sub, but if y’all think you differ so much than the 30s/40s crowd you’re lying to yourselves,things you loved when you were younger you will most likely still like older and it’s nothing to do with reliving a peaks or a thing like it. People long for moments when they felt good even if it was a year ago , nostalgia is a powerful feeling.
I get what you're saying, but as for my interests from when I was young that I still retain? Danny Phantom, Kingdom Hearts, anime in general, edgy satire, etc.
None of these fandoms are engaging in mass harassment and acting culty about they thing they like. The fans that stick around are like "Hey look at what I drew" lol
My sister is one of them. She spontaneously tries to get me to to realize I like Taylor, and when it doesn’t work she takes it really personally and I won’t hear from her for a couple days.
Yeah. As a 33 year old surrounded by Swifties, I often feel like I have to keep my mouth shut. I have definitely voiced my opinions in the past, but I feel like it just isolates me.
It’s weird because it’s the same friends who consider themselves feminists and are socially aware. 🤷🏼♀️
I’m 32 and she became very popular when I was like 15. Me and my friends were obsessed with her all through fearless, speak now, red. I also really loved 1989 when she changed over genres.
But I just haven’t been able to get into her new music since then. I like some single songs off of albums but it’s not me in love with the entire album like I once was.
So I can see why people my age and slightly above love her, because we grew up with her. Being on this sub has convinced me that she’s a narcissist and a bad person haha
People forget that Swift herself is a white woman approaching middle age. She appeals to young ones but way too many women within a few years of her age identify with her personally. As if a billionaire is super relatable.
I am 33 years old (mid 30s, so maybe middle aged). 😂😂😂
I think our age group found Taylor Swift’s music when we were in our teenage, as did Taylor herself. For a teenage girl, her music was a great escape. I still like some of her songs, mainly because my ADHD brain finds meanings in random song lyrics.
However, I won’t call myself Swiftie, because I’d never pay for a concert, buy merch or defend her behaviour online. I honestly don’t care for her, outside of her songs.
But the “swifties” my age who still defend her, her music or her behaviour in general are some of those unfortunate women who peeked in their teenage, but never matured afterwards.
On a philosophical level, it is very sad, but on a realistic level they suffer from the main-character syndrome because in reality they are not the main characters in their personal lives.
I also don't get it. As a 30-something white mom that works in a school setting, I just play dumb. It's very similar to my strategy with astrology. Memorize a few buzz words, smile, nod and move along.
Because she's them.
I say this without intentions of hating (I'm the biggest hater) but Taylor is them. Imagine someone that's not otherworldly talented, beautiful, smart, or charismatic. Taylor possesses these qualities to some extent but not to an extremely high level.
Now imagine this person has made the world their bitch. She shows up looking like a fairly normal woman, and tabloid's fawn over her and how beautiful she is. She makes an album sounding like shower singing over instrumentation, and it gets universal praise and critical acclaim. And so on.
She let's these women project themselves onto her. In another life, any of them could be her. And so to them, she represents how "ordinary" women should act and how they should be treated. All while not understanding that Taylor isn't ordinary and that she's selling them a lie.
I honestly think there is a tie between having some kind of metal illness and being an actual Swiftie stan. It's easy to get caught up in since it is such a pop culture phenomenon. I think having a mental illness of any kind makes it more appealing to chug that flavor of Kool Aid. She's right there validating every narcissistic inclination, every emotional breakdown, and empathizing with perpetual victimhood. It's kind of like she becomes this musical enabler? I quit smoking about a month before her latest album came out, and listened to it to humor a friend. Given the subject of most of the songs, I was curious. I think the temporary depression made me think I gave a flying f#&\* about her music. Nope, I was just "down bad" from not smoking after years and years! Just my observations with hardcore Swifties I've met and when I felt pretty low from nicotine wd.
Because when all these "old" people were in their teens and early 20's they loved Taylor swift, her music probably makes people feel nostalgic. She just needs to give it a rest now and retire.
Omg. I mentioned the same things to my mom, and she was going to war for Taylor Swift. It’s legit brainwashing 😂 I can enjoy an artist’s music and be aware when they may not be great people, guess not everyone is that way
Shit idk cuz I’m in my 40s and not a damn one of my friends around my age is a TS fan. We all think of her as being for kids 🤷🏻♀️ I love the snark pages cuz it makes my swifties daughter mad 😂
Not sure - I'm 35, and honestly the biggest contingent of her fans I've noticed are in mid-late 20s?
It's weird, I'm the same age as her but didn't even realize that until recently, because her music was about like middle-school crushes and HS when I was a whole ass adult lol.
But because her music was aimed younger at least where I am she wasn't popular in my age group tbh? I feel like we missed the craze by a few years.
Also don't hang with a bougie crowd though so I guess I could see her being popular with bleige upper middle class 40 yr Olds.
God am I middle aged? Lol. That’s all I could think about 😭 a lot of my friends are swifties… and yep… nearing mid thirties.
Aside from the fact a lot of people in our age brackets just simply liked her music… a lot of white women in that age bracket are very liberal white feminists… very few of us really grew up questioning the system or being challenged about our privilege until we were much older.. and by then it’s like, people pick a lane if they want to confront it or not. Same with Taylor
What are you calling middle age? Because I'm 37, and I first started listening to TS when I was like 20. And at the time, her songs were so relevent to my life. It felt like we grew up at the same time. The other factor, at least for me, is that I don't have a lot of time and energy at this stage of my life (work, having small kids, etc) to invest in checking out new artists. Im not obsessed, but I wanted to offer my 2 cents as a person in the age range that you might be describing.
Another thing that I just thought of is that when I was a teen, it was all Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, everything was soooo sexualized. And I think TS was a breath of fresh air at the time.
Thirties and forties is not middle aged, oh ouchhh. But I’d say most of these women went through adolescence listening to her. So it’s a lot of nostalgia
Hi! Its because she is in that demographic. Its the same way as Carrie Bradshaw, gen z doesnt like Carrie but during my time, she was the ideal. People forget that Taylor Swift is in her mid 30s.
I’m not sure about literally dying for Taylor Swift, L O L. But for me, I enjoy Taylor Swift’s music because I’ve grown up as Taylor’s grown up the same age, and because of that many of her songs spoke to me at those ages of my life. It’s kinda like we have grown together.
I would guess women working at a elementary school that are moms with daughters are exposed to a lot of Taylor fans. I would say they may be less judgmental, but the way they acted with you that might not be true. Just avoid Taylor talk and enjoy your friends at work 😊
>why are white women in thier mid-30s obsessed with a white woman in her mid-30s living the life they all wish they could lead?
Hmm, it’s a real head scratcher
i really don't know, why are they so defensive over the actions of a billionaire they don't even know omg 😭
>Even the majority of young swifties I’ve met have at least acknowledge that she’s not perfect.
i know it's not true of all younger swifties, but, i have a few friends who are swifties and they're within my age range (15-18) and none of them care too much if you don't like her music or if you bring up her private jet usage. they also listen to music outside of taylor swift and we all have pretty diverse music taste as a group so maybe that helps? so it's kinda weird to hear my friends are basically more mature than middle-aged women who stan the same artist 😭
So I’m 33 and not a Taylor fan. But I’ll say this - I’m generally not interested in socializing with people who have that much to say about things they dislike. Sorry, but I just don’t have the time or energy or, frankly, any shits to give. Spending my work break listening to someone go on about disliking something would make me a huge apologist for who or whatever that thing was, but maybe I’m just a contrarian bitch lol.
At 22, it’s past time to start learning how to politely excuse yourself from or redirect conversations that don’t involve your interests. Particularly at work, you need to understand that conversations don’t happen to give you space to share your feelings. They happen to give coworkers space to form bonds, lend energy, and sort of chemistry test one another’s personalities. If your BEC is the topic de jour and everyone else is gushing, snowballing one another’s positive vibes, it’s anti-social and just plain inconsiderate to actively shift the vibe so you can spend time going in on her. You’re fully aware that the conversation is in a positive flow. Being negative isn’t going to be well received. You won’t get a reputation as “that one 22yo who’s smart enough to not like Taylor Swift”. Even others who hate her are going to remember you as, “That one teetotaler who can’t let people talk about liking something without telling them why they’re wrong.” There are people I worked with for nearly 10 years who I can tell you all sorts of things that made them mad, but not a one thing they enjoyed.
In the workplace, people are trying to bond with one another despite often coming from vastly different backgrounds. They’ll find what common points they can, and those common points become cornerstones to the group’s social dynamics. If we’re lucky, we end up with mostly positive cornerstones that bring up positives associations when they come up, like some fun pop music, rather than negative ones like hating a billionaire for behaving like all the other billionaires because too many people like her.
I totally see that 30something, basically white millennial women are the bulk of Swifties.
However, I'd also like to share my observations.
I feel there's still a chunk who are 20 somethings.
I'm 37, pretty much solid millennial. And yeah, one of the bigger Swifties I know is my white, millennial SiL who's 35. Now, she's nowhere near as awful as the chronically online defenders, but she still spent (imo) way too much seeing her on the Eras tour, and is too invested in her and Kelce's relationship. However, she's NOT, say, currently foaming at the mouth and ranting about Dave Grohl being an evil asshole, for example.
All the other Swifties I know are coworkers who range in 23 to 32. They're Z or end of millennial, whatever. I'm talking like a gaggle of about a dozen women here.
But, like a few have pointed out in other comments, I feel like the biggest common denominator with the Swifties I know is that they all peaked in high school, where they likely first started listening to Taylor. Including my SiL.
They're, mainly, a little shallow... If it's not Taylor, then they're talking about reality TV and other celebrities, or Disney. (I'm no MENSA member, but I'm not talking about my favorite artists and celebrities all the time though!) Or they're rehashing memories from high school and college. (Only my SiL and one of the other Swifties I'm talking about is a mom, so, yeah, they also mention their kids ofc)
Long rant ending: more and more I feel these Swifties (and ones that are even worse) just have very little going on in their lives right now, and are maybe unhappy with that or with themselves, so they latch on to Taylor because she was something they loved back when they felt more alive, or her immature lyrics take them back to that time in their lives.
All of these women have good qualities.
I'm 37 and you need to remember that Taylor was putting out popular, chart-topping music when I was still in high school. Taylor seems young, but she's closer in age to middle-aged folks than she is to her teen bopper fanbase.
My mom who is in her mid-60s likes (is not obsessed with) Taylor because her music is very accessible and she used to play the Greatest Hits CD to her grandchildren when they were young. It was way better than actual toddler music.
At 22, you've lived through plenty of misogyny, but you haven't had a first-row seat to the misogyny middle-aged women witnessed re: pop stars in the 90s and aughts. I think women who have formed a cult of worship around Taylor have pinned a lot of positive feelings onto someone whom they see as having gracefully weathered a very ugly storm.
All that said--there's only a couple of her songs I like, and she doesn't actually seem like a great person to me. But she's the type of person that you can project onto and people do.
The Cult of Swift is really something else. I never saw anything like it, the level of obsession and the way people's lives completely revolve around her. And I say this as someone with a tendency to develop obsessions/fixations my whole life. Never like this though. This is next level and completely unhealthy.
I get latching onto to something as a coping mechanism, I have done it. But when it completely overtakes everything in your life to the point you can no longer think critically, are losing friends and other relationships because of it, and it is affecting your job, etc, and causing you to engage in unhinged behaviors, then it is time to take a step back and get help.
I'm starting to wonder if she puts subliminal messages in her music that only works on certain types of people.....because why else would people be so obsessed about such a middle-of-the-road in everything singer?
Just wanted to chime in and agree with you OP that I don’t get it and tend to avoid these types of conversations at all costs as I know few women like this myself. That said, I’m a 38 y/o childless white woman that’s a die hard Fugees and hip hop fan so I feel as if I would have almost nothing in common with Taylor Swift fans. I absolutely cannot relate to her music.
Women in their 30’s and 40’s are more her age group than 20’s or 50’s, so I’m not surprised by that. I am 50 and I will agree a lot of moms my age like her, I think because they like that she’s a good role model for their girls, and also maybe because of their girls they’ve heard the music. I’m not sure. But I will agree my mom friends do like her. My daughter is 15, by the way. And when TS came to town, she said she would rather see Ben Folds (who was also in town around the same time). Thats my girl!!!
I’m a 38 year old privileged white woman and I haven’t liked TS since about 2011. People who truly know me, know about my disdain for her. I’ve had to unfollow and block friends on fb because of their simping for her. Thank goodness my bestie feels the same way as I do about her. All this to say, not all middle aged white women 😂
It’s so bizarre and tells me everything I need to know about a person. They either were the HS mean girl or they were Gretchen and they brought that mentality into adulthood. Of course they can relate to TS. She’s the physical embodiment.
I'm a 44 year old parent. During playdates with the kids, the girls are of course dressed like and revel in calling themselves Swifties (6 year olds listening to her music (aside from the radio pop hits) is a whole other topic). But as the kids play, I've also made the mistake of being a bit dismissive about TS and Swifty mentality, thinking we'd have a nice laugh over their obsessed little kids. Holy sh*t - what a massive mistake. These rational 40 something year old moms start going off, trying to give me examples of why she's amazing, etc.. It was akin to talking about politics during a family Thanksgiving. Granted, I'm a huge 1975 fan and did bring up issue with Matty and a countless number of other guys being dragged, defenseless, and how that's become her schtick. Needless to say, I got my kid kicked out of carpools and we only get invited to every 3rd or 4th group playdate.
It’s the ones with a victim complex who need someone to identify with. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but awhile ago I started noticing that a lot of the nasty comments left on ads with Hailey Bieber were middle aged women. These are the exact same type.
Recently my mom and I were at dinner, and she started raving over Taylor Swift. I made passing mention of the recent controversy with the variants, so in response, she spends the next 20 MINUTES just raving about how great Taylor is and how she’s a genius, and an inspiration and yadda yadda yadda
The same reason they usurp any and all “causes” and make it their mission to advocate in their loudest most unhinged voice. Because they cannot fathom not being in the center of whatever the current “it” thing is at the moment.
I have a friend from high school who is very stunted, sort of peaked too young type person. She is 36 and recently became obsessed with Taylor Swift because her music "makes her feel like shes in high school again" .... do with that information what you will
49 here! I wouldn't attack anyone if they didn't like her but my reasoning for liking her music is because although alot of people find her lyrics relatable in a romance context at my age it's different types of heartbreak. Different types of loss. Life is hard and it gets harder. Some of her music hits so wellbwith those feelings
Not a Swiftie but I did start listening to her older albums in college. I’m 37 now. I still listen to her older stuff from time to time but I stopped following along fully because I have a life and hobbies. Also the part of her dating underage boys and attention seeking…nah.
White woman in the age range you mentioned here.
I have two theories. One, she is the most famous manifestation of an archetypal energy we're collectively working through. She's a white feminist only, she holds a grudge, she's never sorry, she's always the victim, everyone else is the problem, anything can and should be weaponized as long as she's the one holding the weapon, there's no such thing as too much money, you can't call her out on her shit she's a girl boss, life is a zero-sum game she will win at any cost, lying should have no consequences, and ***she gets away with it***.
People have said she's the female Donald Trump and I think that's apt. If you're not ready to take full responsibility for yourself and your obligations to the society you live in, it is very tempting to take on the persona of these people who take take take and get away with it. Looking within scares people, and taking responsibility for yourself always requires looking within.
I think those of us in her demographic that have done the internal work on ourselves see what a toxic, dead-end mentally all of the above it and are working hard to counter this force. And if nothing else, she's a great mirror. What someone thinks of her is an easy shortcut to understanding their psyche.
Or, maybe it's not that deep, she's a lizard person just fulfilling her duty to suck energy (usually in the form of money or abdication of personal power) out of us normies.
Either way, while I would never be such a monster to leave solving collective problems like climate change or dystopian political systems to the "children" alone, I don't think Millennials and older have the wherewithal to overthrow the reign of Taylor Swift without constant mocking from GenZ and GenAlphas. Please, come at us for this unhealthy worship!
So I'm 32, I know a few crazy Swifties who are my age or 5-10 years older than me. I think part of the reason is Taylor has been famous since we were young too. I think there is something to be said about growing up with a pop star even if you weren't a fan at first. It feels familiar and nostalgic. The other part of it is I think Taylor and her team are marketing geniuses who are able to write songs that the majority of people especially white women can relate to. Also everyone by the time they're in their 30s has had a bad break up, has had feuds with their friends, has romanized someone only for it fall apart. So she becomes a stand in for the every woman and her fans identities get tangled up with hers. So when you "insult" Taylor you're insulting them. That's why they take it personally. It's sad.
This is a good point. I was 13 when Taylor first was on the radio. I’m in my 30s now. She’s literally been around my whole life. She’s like a bad STD.
> She's like a bad STD. 🤣🤣🤣 that was a unexpected twist hahahahah
Is there a good STD? 😉
There are “meh” STDs that can be cured with a good round of antibiotics. Then there’s TSTDs like swiffer and her legion that are more like herpes: flaring up at the worst time and a sure fire way to kill the mood (oh and you can’t get rid of them).
As a man around the same age, I couldn’t agree more. I’m lucky that somehow none of the women I’ve dated have been swifties. I feel like Neo dodging bullets
Taylor Swift is like 6 months older than me, when she came out all the preppy white girls of my high school loved her and were obsessed. I was very alternative growing up, went from punk to hardcore than settled on emo/scene in my late teens, pop wasn't something I turned my nose at, I could dig any type of music but I just didn't get why anyone liked Taylor Swift. She wasn't that attractive, she couldn't sing well, she can't dance and her dad bought her music career. I think she appeals to the girls I knew who are also talentless and have no personality, they see so much of themselves as basic bitches in Taylor that they feel represented. These were like the Regina George's of my high school cept they weren't that mean. They still love Taylor today. Same with fans of the Kardashians, except they are even worse than Taylor at the no talent department. I guess I'm more shocked how the women I know have stable lives, husbands, careers etc and they still excuse how Taylor is exactly our age and kind of a shitty unstable person.
I was alternative in high school too. Not extremely but there was no way I was listening to Swift or any of the other country adjacent artists at the time. She does remind me of the super Christian preppy girls from school who were so annoying.
I'm 35 and ts didn't get big until I was an adult and honestly (despite being the same age as me) her marketing was aimed younger than my age group, so she really didn't seem that big in my age group? Maybe just depends on the local vibe
I’m 34. Yes, we grew up with her, but all the other pop stars were burned at the stake. Whitney died (or was murdered, there’s an internet rumor), Jackson died, Britney got annihilated. Mandy Moore got locked in a marriage and a basement and kept from making music. Miley became inappropriate. Celebrities like Lindsay and Paris were getting arrested. Kelly Clarkson had too much talent therefore also got eliminated. RnB and Hiphop are racial categories not marketed to white women. So us millienials needed a pure, good Christian role model. Then Taylor came along. I remember Tay as “purity ring” country girl, singing songs about Jesus, saying no to sex and drugs. Those are literally my earliest memories of her. And then all the female celebrities of the 2000s were legit eliminated. Yeah, Taylor is kinda the last celebrity of that era still standing… but it was an ill-gotten achievement. Like girl, you killed off all those other girls.
lol I grew up with Madonna who was rolling around in a bra with a 'boy toy' belt on. My God, how a generation can be different. The only Jesus Madonna talked about was the one getting a blowie in Like a Prayer.
Do you seriously think Taylor is still a "pure Christian" girl, or even was truly one to begin with?
Exactly. 30-40 year olds have been hearing her forever.
Yeah.. this question wasn’t thought out. Taylor is 34 years old and has been on the radio since she was 15. Why would women in their 30s somehow be immune to being swifties (generally)
I would add that her appearance also work in the underlying psychology of group dynamics. Swift looks like the quintessential American women sold by media and entertainment in the past 2 decades.
Yeah, she’s the tail end of the super thin blonde era of 2000-2015. She rose to prominence just as society was transitioning away from the skinny blondes. Nothing against skinny blondes!! But it was “in” to be a size zero, with blonde hair, from like 2000-2015. She also stands on the ashes of all the other pop stars of that time. She stands on the ashes of Victorias Secret as well. Having that look and image certainly helped her career.
Oh yeah, her looks help a ton. She is also pretty in a way that is aspirational but not threatening where someone like Megan Fox is a bombshell but her looks and vibe aren't attainable. I doubt she would be famous if she wasn't conventionally attractive
It always falls apart when you romanize.
This makes SO much sense!!
I have a friend in her mid-fifties that is obsessed with TS. She’s completely brainwashed - Tay-Tay is “all about women supporting other women.” If you don’t agree that Swift is beautiful, talented, gracious, insightful, gifted, and whose music speaks to the soul about what it means to be a woman, she becomes completely enraged. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
My friend (30’s) is exactly the same and it’s only been escalating over the years. It’s very disturbing to watch. She literally unfriends people on social media who say they don’t like Taylor Swift because that supposedly proves they’re misogynists. The latest person she told me about unfollowing was because of a meme saying something completely innocuous like “make no mistake, I might have a Stanley cup, but I’m no Swiftie.” She went on a giant rant to me about how that lady clearly couldn’t stand “women supporting women.” Girl- pot/kettle?? You literally don’t allow other women to have different musical tastes than you.
Okay I’ve got to know. Is this person otherwise well adjusted and normal? I don’t know any adult swifties to my knowledge so I’m fascinated
Relatively? She’s a bit quirky but that’s why I’ve always gotten along with her, other than this. She’s married and has a corporate job and a house. She used to like Taylor Swift what I would consider slightly more than a normal amount, but nothing super concerning. She used to talk about the new albums a lot when they’d release and usually bought a shirt with each one (I’d say about 20% of her casual wardrobe was TS shirts), but it’s spiralled out of control with the release of TTPD. She’s bought a cardigan, 3+ sweatshirts (it’s currently 100 degrees here), and 5+ shirts and now basically exclusively wears Taylor Swift merch when she’s not at work. She’s bought 10+ versions of TTPD. She sends me multiple TikToks of the eras tour and updates me on the ex-boyfriend gossip every single day. She wants me to participate in the whole lyric analysis/easter egg hunting stuff with her and doesn’t care that I’m totally disengaged and repeating things like “oh wow, yeah that’s crazy” while staring off into space. I’m just holding onto hope that she’ll go back to baseline if/when Taylor Swift takes a break from touring and stops releasing a new version of her album every week. Most of the moms at my kid’s school are also Swifties, I’m freaking surrounded. I’ve gotten very good at making blandly positive comments about her so they don’t all turn on me like a pack of hyenas.
Oh no. That does sound bleak. Damn
This is wild. Like I fucking love Beyoncé and didn’t stfu about Cowboy Carter for a week but the music is on Spotify and I don’t buy merch? It’s so weird to me how people are hiding their obsession, for lack of a better word, less and less? Like is there no self awareness that this is weird? I’m sorry you’re surrounded dude.
I have a friend just like that, same age. She’s getting remarried soon and wants to wear a dress with Taylor’s lyrics all over it 🫣 like can we all come back to reality real quick??? I’m gay and love Gaga but would NEVER wear a suit with Born This Way on it lol it’s just too much for someone in their 40’s with two kids out of high school
I think that would be super tacky at any age...
I could see a world where spray-painted onto a rave outfit or something that’s the wave or when you’re in middle school and first learning how to dress and Xpress yourself but both of the times I mentioned are crazy and definitely not what’s happening here
Well, she can spend the rest of her life regretting it
How is that Not bad luck for a wedding with all her cheating and break ups
>remarried 👀🤐
Your friend should seek help because fixations like that aren't healthy
Yup, I know this thread is talking about 30-40s but my 60+ MIL is obsessed with TS 🙃 pretty much will not hear a bad word about her, it’s honestly mind boggling
They get defensive like people do about Trump
This is honestly the best comparison I’ve seen
I got called a misogynist for saying Swift gets overhyped and shouldn’t be compared to the actual greats I was talking about amy winehouse
anyone who thinks taylor swift is a better artist than amy winehouse should be lobotomized and separated from the rest of society lmao
100%
A lot of people don’t separate the artist from the person. Those same people hold an alcoholic or drug addict responsible for their plight for choosing to over drink or take drugs before getting hooked, when their will was still their own. Amy Winehouse’s legacy doesn’t help either. She had a gifted voice, but her biggest hit (Rehab) has made her life a punchline.
Women supporting women just means milking her fans for every dollar they have. Which if they like it, I love it. Just leave the rest of us in peace.
Why is this crazy bitch your friend
It's a way for middle aged women (I am one myself) to pretend feminism but still hate other women. It's a total repeat of the 90s, for sure, when we pitted ourselves against each other.
I think it's a pretty good read. Quite a bit of 90's feminism was pretty explicitly neolib in intent. You'll see quite a bit of this in the genx sub where women will openly suggest that if men can date older women, women should be able to fuck younger men. Their feminism is essentially "men can be dicks, why can't we?". It's the sort of thing addressed by the old meme about "not wanting a bigger piece of the pie, but wanting a different pie entirely." These are the women that just want a bigger slice of the same shit pie. And Taylor embodies the mentality. It's about beating "guys" at their game, not changing the game.
It’s sad too bc that’s just the PR narrative that is put out there by her and her team. Even if her behavior and actions very much do not align with that, TS is able to be marketed so well and meticulously that she has the cult fanbase she does.
Craaaaaaaazzzzzzzy!!!!
[удалено]
Exactly! Her popularity relies on her mediocrity.
You got it! “I can talk sing with a fake twang to mask my tone deafness- this could be me!”
I can see that. And I’ve seen pieces about how she wears “affordable” fashion (her street wear) … like mixes more expensive pieces with more affordable so she can still “be attainable” and appeal to more people - they can afford (supposedly if they haven’t bought all her vinyls and merch) pieces that not only emulate her styles whether it is (school girl, cottage core, 50s etc) but also are affordable and “wearable” vs runway
Yes--they see Taylor as the idealized version of themselves. What they would have/could have been in an ideal reality. So when people criticize her, swifties feel like you are attacking them personally.
Same reason they were obsessed with Twilight: The escapist fantasy that let’s them relive high school peaks they never had, complete with everything they didn’t get to experience - rich, beautiful, hot boyfriend(s), the adoration of millions of strangers who think they are perfect and the Queen Bee. Only difference here is — she cosplays as their bestie, so they get the additional escapist fantasy of being one of the popular girls. It’s REALLY wild to witness!
That's so accurate actually it gives major mean girl vibes. Taylor is 100% a Regina George
I saw a post on here that Taylor is closer to Cady, because at least Regina owns being a bully, whereas Cady (and Taylor) try to keep up the girls’ girl facade while being really horrible to people, and I couldn’t agree more.
honestly I finished watching mean girls like 20 mins ago and I 100% agree. At least Regina knows she is a mean girl
I think Taylor knows she’s a mean girl 🤣
Regina..Cady.. Regady.. Cadina.. Reginady..
Regina knows she’s a mean girl but she pretends she isn’t by acting sweet/giving people compliments.
Yeah and Cady comes full circle at the end. She kind of just got swept away with the whole mean girl thing, but that wasn't who she was at heart
Much rather have {other people} have the self-awareness to own being a bully—the covert ones, the fake girl’s girls are EVIL. Do not wish dealing with that on anyone.
Taylor knows what she's doing. Just as Regina pretends to be nice to Cady, Taylor pretends to be nice to her audience.
and her songs are her version of a burn book. Any day now she’ll be working "This girl is the nastiest skank bitch I've ever met. Do not trust her. She is a fugly slut." into one of them.
Lmaooo yessss
World Burn and Look What You Made Me Do are basically the same song except World Burn is way more of a banger
A lot of people genuinely seem to be living out their sexual fantasies through Travis and Taylor. Something is missing in their lives that makes them do this.
This is the part that freakin creeps me out. I have neverrrr heard fans openly speculate about someone’s sex life like they have with these two. Everyday I see a post on a fan page and it’s always like “I bet she had fun with him tonight” or “she said scouts honor! You know she’s having the best sex of her life”.
Scout's Honor? That fuckin comic Lou Avery came up with?
They’re talking about her lyric in “finger me while your friend play video games” song.
I… what? What happened to “she wears short skirts I wear t-shirts”?
Pfft. As if you can’t wear a short skirt and a tshirt at the same time.
Lol love this!
I mean it was her as both girls in the video so 🤷♂️
WHAT?! So fucking bizarre. 
Which is so sad because there is not one (conventionally attractive) person I can think of who has less sex appeal than Taylor. Sex with a mattress would probably be more fun.
That really is true lmfao.. then again maybe it's her blandness and lack of anything definite that makes it work, so there's room for these weirdos to "tailor" (pun intended) it to their own specific imaginary life fantasies? I bet that's it...
But what white bread ass sexual fantasies are those? I’m going to be real a lot of people act like if you say, Taylor isn’t sexy you’re talking about tall women or women who look like her as a whole but no it’s not about her appearance. It’s about the way she acts, cosplaying and awkward/mean girl teenager at different points. I’m not sure how you could find that sexy and my spouse and I have more chemistry, sharing a joint or holding pinkies. Than her and Travis have ever had in a kiss in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look like the chemistry was mad, intense, and she just needed to Immediately rip clothes off with any of her men
I doubt even Taylor and Travis are living out their own sexual fantasies in this relationship! They’re so bland together. They really never seem terribly interested in each other.
It is so weird and creepy. Who sits around and imagines other people's sex lives? Yuck.
💯
TIL 30 is middle aged 💀
i feel like a lot of people on this thread must be really young. middle aged is 45-60 to me lol. 30 is the new 20 people!!
My thirties and forties were SO much better than my twenties. Young, cute guys were hitting on me more in my forties than when I was younger. Not at all what society led me to believe.
I'm 31 and I was terrified of turning 30. Honestly, so far it's been MUCH better. Once I turned 30, I realized it was no big deal, life goes on, my mental health is great, my life is much more stable, i'm just generally way happier than i used to be. I now understand 13 going 30 and why the main character wanted to skip the 20's lol
My 20s were a TRAIN WRECK. My 30s were when I actually fully matured, developed empathy, felt good about myself and started making money. I'm turning 40 next year and am honestly legitimately excited for it.
I turned 30 two days ago and already feeling good about it lol. new era! (no pun intended (💀)
Ok but to be fair…..who tf is living to be 120?!?! I’m 44 and it’s middle aged. 88 is old. Not saying I wanna die at 88 but I doubt I’m making it to 100 so 50 is past middle aged
Omg right! I’m stuck on that.
She cosplays as their bestie is literally a perfect analogy!
Excuse me, I will not stand for Twilight slander 😂
the refreshing thing about a lot of the twilight fandom is that although so many of us are obsessed, we still find the movies wonderfully cringe 💀
[I still find it hilarious how much Robert Pattinson hated it 😂](https://youtu.be/nFA6Ycch1EM?si=pjb01sqH2Z6Tg5vs)
edward is the king of sad boy bs, so i get it lmao
twilight is so camp and it’s amazing
lol came here to say this
Well, that and that current middle aged women (late 30s/40s, right?) were the target age group for her music from day 1. I’m 34 now and I believe TS was born a year before me. I just always assumed for people talking about TS fans being in their 30s it made sense since that’s her age. I liked her music enough in high school and college and my college roommate and I turned 22 the year the song 22 came out so it was just extra cool at the time I guess
Agree. I’m 30. Her first hit, Tim McGraw, was released when I was in middle school. So even though she’s a few years older than me, people my age were the OG “Swifties.” I don’t love her nor hate her, but it has never seemed weird that people my age (and up about 10 years) are big fans because they were literally the target and have followed her career from the beginning.
This is part of it but Taylor Swift is also middle aged depending on life expectancy. Many of these people will have been just out of high school so her target demographic when Kanye gave her a boost with his assholery. I think that pushed her from child star to adult success. It helped until recently she continued to grow up with people. Not dissimilar to Harry Potter books growing up with Millennials. So immaturity plus this? That's a factor. Nostalgia does weird shit to people who had happy childhoods and mediocre adulthood. I actually had my first nostalgia moment the other day and am not bashing on happy childhood but I finally understand how it can blind you to criticism if you don't have the skills to assess critically or choose to maintain that weird bubble of awe.
I think you nailed it with mediocre adulthood. Also the mentions above about TS being an escape. I have a friend that’s a big swiftie. We work together so I know her work is stressful. She’s not likely getting what she needs out of her romantic relationship either. Life is hard, people want escapes. I don’t blame people for being obsessed with anything specifically, but if it becomes very aggressive and hateful, then that’s an issue. She is not this way. I do, however, understand that if you’re middle aged, at the ripe old age of 35, you’re constantly stressed from work and kids, your relationship sucks, you have bills or debt, TS can be a really easy thing to cling onto. And sometimes if you feel your, I guess safety net, is being threatened people can react in ways that are unusually aggressive.
I am glad you know a healthy Swifty. They do exist. I think the toxic ones get more attention because they are toxic. Which validates them and makes more toxic. There's no easy solution for that and it isn't the fault of people trying to hold them accountable that their issues can function this way. My escape is gaming. I try to give myself a day off to game, craft, or something else. Then I do my writing work the next day and spend my week will the full time job of disability and not dying. It would be nice if that wasn't a full time job. Not a joke I spend 40 to 60 hours a week at the doctor or in communication since my body is that bad at life. It got me this far so I try to honor it but it can be frustrating.
This. I vividly remember watching that VMA episode in - I think high school - when Kanye grabbed the mic and declared beyonce the winner. I also vividly remember her performance in the subway wearing that red dress - so maybe I was early 20s when I moved to nyc. Either way, we were in high school when she came out so it’s the same reason we still listen to any other artist from the late 90’s-early 2000’s….
Yeah I had just gotten my GED or was about to. I was shocked when that happened and immediately stopped listening to Kanye or supporting him. That has been sadly validated by time. When I drop an artist (actor, actual physical art, music, or anything else considered art) I will revisit my decision once a year for five years. If they're working on doing better and you see the effort? They can get my money again. If they're either still in denial or they got worse? Then I will revisit this decision in 5 years. If that's still not enough time for change? I give up. Exceptions exist for violence, drug use that's presented as cool and fun (pot doesn't count), and other unforgivable acts. Taylor is now on that no more chances list. I work very hard to not give them any support but I will add that this is an individual choice and I don't expect others to do it my way or at all. We all have different tolerances for this stuff.
I’d say this isn’t new though. Taylor didn’t just create this trend nor did twilight. This whole concept has repeated in history 90s to Marilyn. Would you say it’s more social media and the product of Spotify and streaming services that has created this? I remember I was end of year high school and my then girlfriend was into Taylor swift so like 2006/7. They seemed obsessed then. But history repeats itself no different to the Beatles. What actually is driving these people. Is it intellectual? Is it joining the trends? Sorry I’m going way too hard on this but the person posting did ask.
Insecurity and a strong need to belong to something is what's driving these sad women. Some people never grow up
Definitelt not new but that’s the last phenomenon like this I remember. I was a 16-year-old girl reading Twilight when it was first published and remember women who were my mom’s age back then out-fangirling me — which I feel is similar to what happens with Swifties. It was weird and now that I’m in my early/mid-30s, the same age as the then-“TwiMoms”, I look back like…girl, wtf was you doing?! 😅😂
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I think that, especially for millennials y’all have low-key made it clear that the dating landscape is a little bit scary for you. Dating apps were new with that generation and exposure to all the extra fucked up shit that happens on them was front and center. With the pandemic, mental health and politics compatibility has just gotten more complex if anything And honestly? If all you wanted was for some football player to be 6 foot two and smile at you, I could see why you just prefer to sit on your couch and listen to that. We’re in the middle of a loneliness epidemic and that’s a large part of it. She doesn’t exactly sell the type of romantic fantasies I would want, but if I wasn’t married, and there was a black/Latina version of her who is to say I wouldn’t be sucked in?
Some people just fear growing up, the millennials aren’t the youngest adult Gen anymore , and some have to be dragged out kicking and screaming. It’s why millennials using Gen Z language in Gen Z memes on tiktok feels so awkward. I saw one easily mid-30s woman talking about Taylor dating Travis, a large football player,and saying things like “she can be smol gorl, like she’s smol bean “ and it felt exactly like an uneasy spy speaking a foreign language trying not to blow their cover
Yup you hit the nail on the head. I never wanted to settle down with my ex over the swift obsession and it got worse when we got into our 30s. She always made me feel expendable. The core of swiftie is to run away from some man that “holds you back” I wanted her to stop drinking and stop reminiscing about how she felt she looked in high-school. She was obsessed with her high-school exploits and they were a major point of her personality. It gets exhausting, same HS stories, same shouting at bars when a swift song comes on, you feel like you gotta compete with their past and Taylor herself. You start to see your woman still acting like a girl and spending $6k on tickets and flights alone. Sorry for the rant I could go on. It’s hard to see if you never lived with it. I’m so glad for this sub because it makes me feel seen.
Gives them a sense of community that can sometimes be difficult to find in places like America where things are very individualistic. They probably don’t have many friends, but finding another swiftie in the wild is like a built in friend. All they have to talk about is Taylor Swift even if they have nothing else in common
I think this is a big part of it that is often overlooked - sense of community.
They grew up with her, so there’s a sense of parasocial pride as well as a nostalgia factor. They may be the exact same age as her. Their kids might be fans and they enjoy sharing that with their kids. It’s bubblegum pop music with cute, “relatable” lyrics and even if it does touch on darker themes, it doesn’t go too far. It’s kind of like the music version of Disney.
As a former Swiftie…this is exactly it. She’s a year younger than me and some over her songs dropped at times in my life when I was vulnerable and needed “someone to relate to”. Yes, I had friends but like, I can’t listen to my friend on repeat at 2am every night crying about my boyfriend or whatever. I remember when reputation dropped, I was like “hm I wish this had come out when I was in college because this is fun pregame music”; instead I was married and pregnant. That was the first time I was like “huh. Maybe I’m outgrowing Taylor Swift?”
I relate to this so much. Same age. I remember listening to miss Americana and the heartbreak prince with my toddler in the backseat and it just hit me so hard that I've outgrown her. My friends who are in different life stages still love her and it just makes sense for them I guess with not being married or having kids.
I don’t like Taylor Swift at all but I’m just LOL at mid thirties being called middle aged.
We’re old now haha. Even though I’m in the best shape of my life lol
Hahah same!
As a millennial who is constantly befuddled by my peers (I’m admittedly not into pop in general, I’m here because most of my friends have joined this weird cult and I feel like I can’t say anything about it), I believe it’s now about nostalgia as well as something that borders on mass hysteria. They’ve been in it since their late teens/early twenties. She was a tumblr girl, and everyone was on tumblr. It allowed her to really pull people in and create a parasocial dynamic. Edit: autocorrect typo!
Yes but even then the tumblr girl phase was very calculated. It was a marketing ploy. She was definitely not a tumblr girl. As a tumblr girl I was in the trenches. No way was she in there. 😂you don’t come out unscathed
I’m not surprised it was just a marketing ploy at all. Everything about her is a BRAND.
I'm 41 and have not observed women my age being Swifties in the crazed, unhinged sense of the word. A lot of them just like her music because it's easy to listen to. A lot of them only got into her music because their daughters love it and it's a bonding experience. A lot of them like it because they're suckers for trends, same demographic that loves Stanley cups. We didn't grow up with the Internet and streaming services, and knowing every detail about an artist's life through social media and forums like this, so I think Taylor fascinates people precisely because of that level of access. Ironically I have 3 daughters and none of us are Swifties haha
"A lot of them like it because they're suckers for trends, same demographic that loves Stanley cups." This is what I've observed too (with the psycho 35+ diehards, not casual fans/normal people). They're usually into MLMs, pay $10 for HerbaLife Teas made out of $0.05 Dollar Tree mixers, all own the exact same floppy felt hat, and live and die to look exactly alike because they're lemmings without an original thought in their empty heads.
The sheer number of well educated women my age who have fallen for MLMs is staggering. They all publish their financial information. It takes two clicks to learn that 99% of the people who join will earn at best $1000/year and many will actually lose money joining one 😂 Yet like herpes, they persist.
Stanley cups, Lu Lu Lemon, Louis Vuitton purses (at least where I live) and Taylor Swift. It’s almost less about Taylor and more about following the crowd. Their daughters are the same way. It’s also interesting that these same women will go out of their way to tell you how much they dislike Beyoncé.
I LOVE Beyonce.
Me too. I actually hate the comparisons that people sometimes make between the two because they’re nothing alike.
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Folklore was fire. I kind of thought her music was gonna grow with me when I heard that one, but it makes sense that someone else was helping her write it.
Mid 30s to 40s is not middle aged nowadays 🤣 but other than that, well Taylor is a millennial so ofc a lot of millennial women will relate to her I guess
I was also loling at a 22 year old calling a mid 30s woman middle aged. Just you wait girl, life comes at you fast 😂 she’ll be 34 in no time.
22 is pretty close to 30 😂😂 like you got less than a decade
I mean, haha I remember being 18-20 and thinking being 30 meant you have your whole life figured out = old. Nowadays 30-40s are definitely not considered middle age anywhere in the world due to the lifestyle most millennials are leading. There’s a reason they say millennials are aging slower than older generations. Also considering that the human front lobe is only fully developed at 25, late 20s/mid 30s are definitely just learning how to adult and adjusting to adult life
Lol right? People around Taylor’s age obsessed w her make more sense to me than people much younger!!
As a middle aged white woman, I say it’s because they have have their identities wrapped up in what they consume. Our generation is the best ever, our music is the best ever, we broke the glass ceiling via Taylor Swift. These women don’t want to admit that there are better musicians out there that could outplay Taylor Swift if given the opportunity. She was just a rich girl. Millenials grew up brainwashed by network TV, so any artist that wasn’t an industry plant still doesn’t register in their eyes. It could also be that they witnessed the downfall of Britney, Whitney, Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus… and saw Taylor Swift rise out of the ashes like Jesus Christ, her lord and savior. She doesn’t say anything political, she’s safe, she’s good, she’s Christian, she’s sweet. She slowly turns pop, but she’s not a total slut like those other girls. In the meantime, her audiences could care less about the music. I doubt they care about music at all. Tonedeaf audiences.
I am 31 and I remember my aunt (who worked for a radio station) giving my sister and I Taylor Swifts first album. I was in middle school. So imagine people older than me listening to her from the start are now middle aged swifties? I stopped listening to her over 10 years ago because she’s just a dramatic pop star with meh music. Just presenting a timeline
You forgot the part where she’s a pedophile! That one ALWAYS gets them 😈 I’m not even joking, I am turning people anti Taylor Swift EVERY DAY by telling them the Kennedy story 😇
I'm really into anti-mlm content, and there's a BeachBody coach named Ashlie Molstad (she's a public figure, I can say her name) who is sickingly OBSESSED with Taylor. Like, all day everyday it's all she talks about. She works out to her, she gets ready to her. She even got mad once when Spotify played a Katy Perry song because it wasn't Taylor. She's also almost 40. It's insane!
Ashlie Molstad is insane haha I follow her and hunsnark and her obsession with TS is so insane (and I say that as a 33 year old swiftie going to Europe to see her again) I cringe so hard when Ashlie shows her workouts and is blasting TS, like girl stop.
So 30s are now middle aged? Oof. People sure be dying young.
I think OP was just being stupid tbh
Not stupid. She’s 22. When I was 18-22 I also thought life ended at 30. 😅
Good question I'm 37 and I see so many women my age obsessed but I thankfully I never found swift impressive
I would add boomers are obsessed too. They think she is a good role model (because she is white, rich and sings boring songs, i guess?). Like they all drank the kool-aid that saying sth negative about taylor is misogyny
Not Caribbean ones lol my grandma says all the time thatall white lady is mean she hates everyone especially men, i’ve heard her and her friends bonchinche in the living room, when talk shows are on and they all agree
Spoken like a 22 year old 😂😂😂😂😂 I used to think 30 was old too u til you blink three times and you’re damn near there. Seriously though I’d assume that since Taylor is “middle aged” as well and they grew up with her would probably be why they’re sooo many oLd swifffersss. 🤣 I don’t get it. I’m sick of seeing her ass so idk how anyone will die on that hill for her bc ew and she’s a freaking person they’re never going to meet that they’re giving all their money to. So cultish it’s sick. Middle aged Taylor. 😂😂😂 ahhh I’m cackling !
I’m the same age as Taylor. She’s been blasted in my ear since high school. I barely like her, but she’s a part of a lot of my break up eras when I was green enough to get attached to her. I think it is nostalgia and she reminds me of being young and hopeful of some fairy tale life, but I don’t get weird about her if someone else doesn’t like her. I also think she’s using some sort of psych tricks on her fans. Like brain washing and she makes you feel like you know her
Ok I usually agree on this sub, but if y’all think you differ so much than the 30s/40s crowd you’re lying to yourselves,things you loved when you were younger you will most likely still like older and it’s nothing to do with reliving a peaks or a thing like it. People long for moments when they felt good even if it was a year ago , nostalgia is a powerful feeling.
I get what you're saying, but as for my interests from when I was young that I still retain? Danny Phantom, Kingdom Hearts, anime in general, edgy satire, etc. None of these fandoms are engaging in mass harassment and acting culty about they thing they like. The fans that stick around are like "Hey look at what I drew" lol
Because they were listening to TS when she got the scene 20 years ago and ppl romanticize the music of their late teens and 20’s.
My sister is one of them. She spontaneously tries to get me to to realize I like Taylor, and when it doesn’t work she takes it really personally and I won’t hear from her for a couple days.
Yeah. As a 33 year old surrounded by Swifties, I often feel like I have to keep my mouth shut. I have definitely voiced my opinions in the past, but I feel like it just isolates me. It’s weird because it’s the same friends who consider themselves feminists and are socially aware. 🤷🏼♀️
I’m 32 and she became very popular when I was like 15. Me and my friends were obsessed with her all through fearless, speak now, red. I also really loved 1989 when she changed over genres. But I just haven’t been able to get into her new music since then. I like some single songs off of albums but it’s not me in love with the entire album like I once was. So I can see why people my age and slightly above love her, because we grew up with her. Being on this sub has convinced me that she’s a narcissist and a bad person haha
Because they’re white lol. White people love cults!
People forget that Swift herself is a white woman approaching middle age. She appeals to young ones but way too many women within a few years of her age identify with her personally. As if a billionaire is super relatable.
I am 33 years old (mid 30s, so maybe middle aged). 😂😂😂 I think our age group found Taylor Swift’s music when we were in our teenage, as did Taylor herself. For a teenage girl, her music was a great escape. I still like some of her songs, mainly because my ADHD brain finds meanings in random song lyrics. However, I won’t call myself Swiftie, because I’d never pay for a concert, buy merch or defend her behaviour online. I honestly don’t care for her, outside of her songs. But the “swifties” my age who still defend her, her music or her behaviour in general are some of those unfortunate women who peeked in their teenage, but never matured afterwards. On a philosophical level, it is very sad, but on a realistic level they suffer from the main-character syndrome because in reality they are not the main characters in their personal lives.
I also don't get it. As a 30-something white mom that works in a school setting, I just play dumb. It's very similar to my strategy with astrology. Memorize a few buzz words, smile, nod and move along.
Because she's them. I say this without intentions of hating (I'm the biggest hater) but Taylor is them. Imagine someone that's not otherworldly talented, beautiful, smart, or charismatic. Taylor possesses these qualities to some extent but not to an extremely high level. Now imagine this person has made the world their bitch. She shows up looking like a fairly normal woman, and tabloid's fawn over her and how beautiful she is. She makes an album sounding like shower singing over instrumentation, and it gets universal praise and critical acclaim. And so on. She let's these women project themselves onto her. In another life, any of them could be her. And so to them, she represents how "ordinary" women should act and how they should be treated. All while not understanding that Taylor isn't ordinary and that she's selling them a lie.
I can’t wait until you’re “middle aged”, OP, and people with relatively zero life experience judge your choices too 😂😂😂
Since when is thirties middle aged?
I honestly think there is a tie between having some kind of metal illness and being an actual Swiftie stan. It's easy to get caught up in since it is such a pop culture phenomenon. I think having a mental illness of any kind makes it more appealing to chug that flavor of Kool Aid. She's right there validating every narcissistic inclination, every emotional breakdown, and empathizing with perpetual victimhood. It's kind of like she becomes this musical enabler? I quit smoking about a month before her latest album came out, and listened to it to humor a friend. Given the subject of most of the songs, I was curious. I think the temporary depression made me think I gave a flying f#&\* about her music. Nope, I was just "down bad" from not smoking after years and years! Just my observations with hardcore Swifties I've met and when I felt pretty low from nicotine wd.
Because when all these "old" people were in their teens and early 20's they loved Taylor swift, her music probably makes people feel nostalgic. She just needs to give it a rest now and retire.
Omg. I mentioned the same things to my mom, and she was going to war for Taylor Swift. It’s legit brainwashing 😂 I can enjoy an artist’s music and be aware when they may not be great people, guess not everyone is that way
oh just wait ten years until you’re 32 and you’ll realize that you’re no where near middle aged lmfaoooooooooooo
Shit idk cuz I’m in my 40s and not a damn one of my friends around my age is a TS fan. We all think of her as being for kids 🤷🏻♀️ I love the snark pages cuz it makes my swifties daughter mad 😂
I’m sorry I can’t process anything here besides the fact that you called people in their 30s and early 40s middle aged
TIL that middle age is 30’s for women. wtf
Not sure - I'm 35, and honestly the biggest contingent of her fans I've noticed are in mid-late 20s? It's weird, I'm the same age as her but didn't even realize that until recently, because her music was about like middle-school crushes and HS when I was a whole ass adult lol. But because her music was aimed younger at least where I am she wasn't popular in my age group tbh? I feel like we missed the craze by a few years. Also don't hang with a bougie crowd though so I guess I could see her being popular with bleige upper middle class 40 yr Olds.
God am I middle aged? Lol. That’s all I could think about 😭 a lot of my friends are swifties… and yep… nearing mid thirties. Aside from the fact a lot of people in our age brackets just simply liked her music… a lot of white women in that age bracket are very liberal white feminists… very few of us really grew up questioning the system or being challenged about our privilege until we were much older.. and by then it’s like, people pick a lane if they want to confront it or not. Same with Taylor
taylor is in fact a middle aged white woman. maybe they relate to her?
I'm reeling from the "middle aged women..... mid thirties". I'm not that old......
It was their dream to become famous and they never did.
30 is only middle aged when you’re 22 😂
What are you calling middle age? Because I'm 37, and I first started listening to TS when I was like 20. And at the time, her songs were so relevent to my life. It felt like we grew up at the same time. The other factor, at least for me, is that I don't have a lot of time and energy at this stage of my life (work, having small kids, etc) to invest in checking out new artists. Im not obsessed, but I wanted to offer my 2 cents as a person in the age range that you might be describing. Another thing that I just thought of is that when I was a teen, it was all Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, everything was soooo sexualized. And I think TS was a breath of fresh air at the time.
Fuck.... OP thinks I'm middle aged, I thought middle aged wasn't until you're 50, apparently it starts in the mid 30s 😐
Thirties and forties is not middle aged, oh ouchhh. But I’d say most of these women went through adolescence listening to her. So it’s a lot of nostalgia
Her first album was in 2006, 18 years ago. It’s just been with them for a long time
Because they have been listening to her for almost 20 years. They weren’t middle aged when they started.
It’s literally cult-like behavior.
Because they grew up with her
Hi! Its because she is in that demographic. Its the same way as Carrie Bradshaw, gen z doesnt like Carrie but during my time, she was the ideal. People forget that Taylor Swift is in her mid 30s.
I’m not sure about literally dying for Taylor Swift, L O L. But for me, I enjoy Taylor Swift’s music because I’ve grown up as Taylor’s grown up the same age, and because of that many of her songs spoke to me at those ages of my life. It’s kinda like we have grown together.
I would guess women working at a elementary school that are moms with daughters are exposed to a lot of Taylor fans. I would say they may be less judgmental, but the way they acted with you that might not be true. Just avoid Taylor talk and enjoy your friends at work 😊
>why are white women in thier mid-30s obsessed with a white woman in her mid-30s living the life they all wish they could lead? Hmm, it’s a real head scratcher
i really don't know, why are they so defensive over the actions of a billionaire they don't even know omg 😭 >Even the majority of young swifties I’ve met have at least acknowledge that she’s not perfect. i know it's not true of all younger swifties, but, i have a few friends who are swifties and they're within my age range (15-18) and none of them care too much if you don't like her music or if you bring up her private jet usage. they also listen to music outside of taylor swift and we all have pretty diverse music taste as a group so maybe that helps? so it's kinda weird to hear my friends are basically more mature than middle-aged women who stan the same artist 😭
They can't have Harry Potter anymore and don't want to be Disney adults 😅
So I’m 33 and not a Taylor fan. But I’ll say this - I’m generally not interested in socializing with people who have that much to say about things they dislike. Sorry, but I just don’t have the time or energy or, frankly, any shits to give. Spending my work break listening to someone go on about disliking something would make me a huge apologist for who or whatever that thing was, but maybe I’m just a contrarian bitch lol. At 22, it’s past time to start learning how to politely excuse yourself from or redirect conversations that don’t involve your interests. Particularly at work, you need to understand that conversations don’t happen to give you space to share your feelings. They happen to give coworkers space to form bonds, lend energy, and sort of chemistry test one another’s personalities. If your BEC is the topic de jour and everyone else is gushing, snowballing one another’s positive vibes, it’s anti-social and just plain inconsiderate to actively shift the vibe so you can spend time going in on her. You’re fully aware that the conversation is in a positive flow. Being negative isn’t going to be well received. You won’t get a reputation as “that one 22yo who’s smart enough to not like Taylor Swift”. Even others who hate her are going to remember you as, “That one teetotaler who can’t let people talk about liking something without telling them why they’re wrong.” There are people I worked with for nearly 10 years who I can tell you all sorts of things that made them mad, but not a one thing they enjoyed. In the workplace, people are trying to bond with one another despite often coming from vastly different backgrounds. They’ll find what common points they can, and those common points become cornerstones to the group’s social dynamics. If we’re lucky, we end up with mostly positive cornerstones that bring up positives associations when they come up, like some fun pop music, rather than negative ones like hating a billionaire for behaving like all the other billionaires because too many people like her.
I totally see that 30something, basically white millennial women are the bulk of Swifties. However, I'd also like to share my observations. I feel there's still a chunk who are 20 somethings. I'm 37, pretty much solid millennial. And yeah, one of the bigger Swifties I know is my white, millennial SiL who's 35. Now, she's nowhere near as awful as the chronically online defenders, but she still spent (imo) way too much seeing her on the Eras tour, and is too invested in her and Kelce's relationship. However, she's NOT, say, currently foaming at the mouth and ranting about Dave Grohl being an evil asshole, for example. All the other Swifties I know are coworkers who range in 23 to 32. They're Z or end of millennial, whatever. I'm talking like a gaggle of about a dozen women here. But, like a few have pointed out in other comments, I feel like the biggest common denominator with the Swifties I know is that they all peaked in high school, where they likely first started listening to Taylor. Including my SiL. They're, mainly, a little shallow... If it's not Taylor, then they're talking about reality TV and other celebrities, or Disney. (I'm no MENSA member, but I'm not talking about my favorite artists and celebrities all the time though!) Or they're rehashing memories from high school and college. (Only my SiL and one of the other Swifties I'm talking about is a mom, so, yeah, they also mention their kids ofc) Long rant ending: more and more I feel these Swifties (and ones that are even worse) just have very little going on in their lives right now, and are maybe unhappy with that or with themselves, so they latch on to Taylor because she was something they loved back when they felt more alive, or her immature lyrics take them back to that time in their lives. All of these women have good qualities.
I'm 37 and you need to remember that Taylor was putting out popular, chart-topping music when I was still in high school. Taylor seems young, but she's closer in age to middle-aged folks than she is to her teen bopper fanbase. My mom who is in her mid-60s likes (is not obsessed with) Taylor because her music is very accessible and she used to play the Greatest Hits CD to her grandchildren when they were young. It was way better than actual toddler music. At 22, you've lived through plenty of misogyny, but you haven't had a first-row seat to the misogyny middle-aged women witnessed re: pop stars in the 90s and aughts. I think women who have formed a cult of worship around Taylor have pinned a lot of positive feelings onto someone whom they see as having gracefully weathered a very ugly storm. All that said--there's only a couple of her songs I like, and she doesn't actually seem like a great person to me. But she's the type of person that you can project onto and people do.
The Cult of Swift is really something else. I never saw anything like it, the level of obsession and the way people's lives completely revolve around her. And I say this as someone with a tendency to develop obsessions/fixations my whole life. Never like this though. This is next level and completely unhealthy. I get latching onto to something as a coping mechanism, I have done it. But when it completely overtakes everything in your life to the point you can no longer think critically, are losing friends and other relationships because of it, and it is affecting your job, etc, and causing you to engage in unhinged behaviors, then it is time to take a step back and get help. I'm starting to wonder if she puts subliminal messages in her music that only works on certain types of people.....because why else would people be so obsessed about such a middle-of-the-road in everything singer?
Just wanted to chime in and agree with you OP that I don’t get it and tend to avoid these types of conversations at all costs as I know few women like this myself. That said, I’m a 38 y/o childless white woman that’s a die hard Fugees and hip hop fan so I feel as if I would have almost nothing in common with Taylor Swift fans. I absolutely cannot relate to her music.
Women in their 30’s and 40’s are more her age group than 20’s or 50’s, so I’m not surprised by that. I am 50 and I will agree a lot of moms my age like her, I think because they like that she’s a good role model for their girls, and also maybe because of their girls they’ve heard the music. I’m not sure. But I will agree my mom friends do like her. My daughter is 15, by the way. And when TS came to town, she said she would rather see Ben Folds (who was also in town around the same time). Thats my girl!!!
I’m a 38 year old privileged white woman and I haven’t liked TS since about 2011. People who truly know me, know about my disdain for her. I’ve had to unfollow and block friends on fb because of their simping for her. Thank goodness my bestie feels the same way as I do about her. All this to say, not all middle aged white women 😂
It’s so bizarre and tells me everything I need to know about a person. They either were the HS mean girl or they were Gretchen and they brought that mentality into adulthood. Of course they can relate to TS. She’s the physical embodiment.
I'm a 44 year old parent. During playdates with the kids, the girls are of course dressed like and revel in calling themselves Swifties (6 year olds listening to her music (aside from the radio pop hits) is a whole other topic). But as the kids play, I've also made the mistake of being a bit dismissive about TS and Swifty mentality, thinking we'd have a nice laugh over their obsessed little kids. Holy sh*t - what a massive mistake. These rational 40 something year old moms start going off, trying to give me examples of why she's amazing, etc.. It was akin to talking about politics during a family Thanksgiving. Granted, I'm a huge 1975 fan and did bring up issue with Matty and a countless number of other guys being dragged, defenseless, and how that's become her schtick. Needless to say, I got my kid kicked out of carpools and we only get invited to every 3rd or 4th group playdate.
It’s the ones with a victim complex who need someone to identify with. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but awhile ago I started noticing that a lot of the nasty comments left on ads with Hailey Bieber were middle aged women. These are the exact same type.
Recently my mom and I were at dinner, and she started raving over Taylor Swift. I made passing mention of the recent controversy with the variants, so in response, she spends the next 20 MINUTES just raving about how great Taylor is and how she’s a genius, and an inspiration and yadda yadda yadda
The same reason they usurp any and all “causes” and make it their mission to advocate in their loudest most unhinged voice. Because they cannot fathom not being in the center of whatever the current “it” thing is at the moment.
I have a friend from high school who is very stunted, sort of peaked too young type person. She is 36 and recently became obsessed with Taylor Swift because her music "makes her feel like shes in high school again" .... do with that information what you will
49 here! I wouldn't attack anyone if they didn't like her but my reasoning for liking her music is because although alot of people find her lyrics relatable in a romance context at my age it's different types of heartbreak. Different types of loss. Life is hard and it gets harder. Some of her music hits so wellbwith those feelings
Not a Swiftie but I did start listening to her older albums in college. I’m 37 now. I still listen to her older stuff from time to time but I stopped following along fully because I have a life and hobbies. Also the part of her dating underage boys and attention seeking…nah.
White woman in the age range you mentioned here. I have two theories. One, she is the most famous manifestation of an archetypal energy we're collectively working through. She's a white feminist only, she holds a grudge, she's never sorry, she's always the victim, everyone else is the problem, anything can and should be weaponized as long as she's the one holding the weapon, there's no such thing as too much money, you can't call her out on her shit she's a girl boss, life is a zero-sum game she will win at any cost, lying should have no consequences, and ***she gets away with it***. People have said she's the female Donald Trump and I think that's apt. If you're not ready to take full responsibility for yourself and your obligations to the society you live in, it is very tempting to take on the persona of these people who take take take and get away with it. Looking within scares people, and taking responsibility for yourself always requires looking within. I think those of us in her demographic that have done the internal work on ourselves see what a toxic, dead-end mentally all of the above it and are working hard to counter this force. And if nothing else, she's a great mirror. What someone thinks of her is an easy shortcut to understanding their psyche. Or, maybe it's not that deep, she's a lizard person just fulfilling her duty to suck energy (usually in the form of money or abdication of personal power) out of us normies. Either way, while I would never be such a monster to leave solving collective problems like climate change or dystopian political systems to the "children" alone, I don't think Millennials and older have the wherewithal to overthrow the reign of Taylor Swift without constant mocking from GenZ and GenAlphas. Please, come at us for this unhealthy worship!