Taylor Swift Is Accused Of Being "Fatphobic" In A Scene Of Her New Music Video When The Scale Displays A Message Instead Of A Number
Taylor Swift is back in the spotlight for her latest album called "Midnights." One song in particular is garnering a lot of attention because of a particular scene in the music video in which she steps on a scale and the word "fat" appears rather than a number. She's being accused of promoting fatphobia.
Popular songs on Taylor Swift's new album include "Midnight Rains," "Vigilante Sh*t," and "Lavender Haze." However, the music video for "Anti-Hero" is raking up much attention because of a scene in which Taylor steps on a scale and sees the message "fat." The song is meant to represent Taylor's fears and the struggles she has faced over the years. But people aren't happy about the video, claiming that it's fatphobic for Taylor to be afraid of being fat.
Taylor Swift Is Accused of Promoting "Fatphobia" in Her New Music Video
Taylor has talked before about her body image issues and said that she has struggled before with living up to people's expectations with the way she looks. While the scene from the music video was meant to be an expression of Taylor's struggles, many people took it differently. Various people on Twitter have spoken out against the pop star and accused her of being fatphobic.
"Taylor swift saying 'Imagine if I was fat, that’s a nightmare!' IS fat phobic even if it was unintentional and that’s why people are upset she’s used her enormous platform to display fatphobia and think about who a majority of her fans are (teenage girls)," one user wrote.
Even some fans of Taylor are glad to "call her out on her blatant fatphobia."
Then there were fat activists who took to social media to express their disappointment with Taylor. "as an actual fat person genuinely how are we supposed to feel seeing this? watching a thin person remind the whole world that one of their biggest fears is being fat. is looking like me," [sic] one person wrote on Twitter.
Apparently, the problem is that the word "fat" is being used as a pejorative in Taylor's music video. An activist and therapist named Shira Rose says the message on Taylor's scale was "a sh*tty way to describe her body image struggles."
"Having an eating disorder doesn't excuse fatphobia," she continues. "It's not hard to say, 'I'm struggling with my body image today' instead of I'm a fat, disgusting pig."
It doesn't matter how progressive you are with your career or politics. Even the most liberal figures—Lizzo, Beyoncè, and now Taylor Swift—are attacked by progressives at some point for saying something deemed offensive with their music. Taylor has yet to respond to the backlash, but it wouldn't be surprising if she has an apology around the corner, just like Lizzo apologized when she removed the word "spaz" from her lyrics.