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Taylor Swift<\/a>\u2018s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl<\/em>, was released on October 3, and the reactions have been a mixed bag of critiques and praise, all par for the course when it comes to album drops. But accusations of misogynoir<\/a>? Well, that has to be a first for the Swifties, at least on this scale.<\/p>\n In August, Swift got engaged to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce<\/a>. Before that, he dated influencer and journalist Kayla Nicole, a Black woman. When they broke up, she was subject to the exact type of digital backlash you\u2019d expect from your ex dating one of the most influential women in the world. Prior to Kayla Nicole, Kelce was also romantically linked to other Black women, and he even had a whole reality television show, Catching Kelce<\/a><\/em>, where he went on a quest for romantic partnership in the style of Flavor of Love<\/em>.<\/p>\n Now, this history has left many people speculating whether or not some of Swift\u2019s lyrics were directed at Kayla Nicole. Swift, who has made a career of her ability to glamorize the plight of the anti-cool girl, who isn\u2019t the canonically cool \u201ccheer captain\u201d or a \u201csexy baby.\u201d Instead, she\u2019s more of a \u201cmonster on a hill\u201d kind of gal.<\/p>\n This mixture of Kelce\u2019s previous dating history and Swift\u2019s propensity for melodic self-deprecation has led many to ponder whether her \u201cBut I\u2019m not a bad b***h and this isn\u2019t savage\u201d lyrics on her song \u201cEldest Daughter\u201d were a dig at Kayla Nicole or just her usual ne\u2019er-do-well happenings. If you\u2019ll recall, these are also the lyrics in Megan Thee Stallion<\/a>\u2018s \u201cSavage.\u201d There\u2019s also a \u201cOpalite\u201d lyric referencing \u201cSleepless in the onyx night but now the sky is opalite,\u201d which many have taken as a racial dog whistle.<\/p>\n On its own, all of these happenings might not seem like a big deal. But it\u2019s the culmination of all of these subtleties that gives us pause. This is also all happening as Swift further nestles herself into the bosom of male-centered rhetoric that has largely been the antithesis of her brand thus far. This includes her telling Jimmy Fallon<\/a> that part of the reason she doesn\u2019t want to do the Super Bowl halftime show is because she was too concerned about Kelce.<\/p>\n Again, independently, this might be a fine statement. But many people have drawn parallels in Swift\u2019s statements and trad wife content. On TikTok, trad wife content is a vertical that idealizes the rejection of progressive ideals of women in the workplace in favor of domestic labor, child rearing and other more traditional gender roles, like making cereal from scratch<\/a> on TikTok. These viewpoints also have strong conservative leanings, which don\u2019t look the best paired next to the possible racial subtext and Swift\u2019s lyrics about loving her friends being \u201ccanceled.\u201d<\/p>\n The speculation here is vast, but a recurring theme to be remembered is the importance of impact versus intent. The appearance of microaggressions, even if unintentional, still has real-world consequences. Especially when you occupy space as one of the most influential women in history.<\/p>\n The post How Taylor Swift\u2019s New Album \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019 Raises Concerns Of Anti-Blackness<\/a> appeared first on Blavity<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nTaylor Swift\u2019s subliminal lyrics on \u2018The Life of a Showgirl\u2019<\/h2>\n
Sneaky, covert conservatism<\/h2>\n