UCF Swifties celebrate Taylor Swift at the UCF Trivia League’s “Taylor Swift Trivia Night” on Oct. 8.
Mikayla Moring
Many of Taylor Swift’s committed fans, Swifites, on campus have questioned her politics and artistic integrity following the highly anticipated release of “The Life of a Showgirl.”
Multiple fans primarily express their dissatisfaction with the artist’s absence from the political scene, which potentially interferes with their respect for the artist.
Sarah Haroon, a sophomore biomedical sciences major and self-identified Swiftie since the release of “Lover” in 2019, explained her thoughts on Swift’s recent political critiques.
“I was 100% disappointed. I was expecting more. I was expecting her to talk more about it,” Haroon said regarding Swift’s advocacy during the 2024 election. “I enjoy her music still, but like this whole new turnaround. Especially with this new album. I haven’t even listened to her since the album [was released].”
Leandra Preston-Sidler-Sidler, a senior lecturer in UCF’s Women’s and Gender Studies program, took the approach that while Swift has a responsibility to use her mass influence and engage in political discourse, public perception of women’s advocacy will almost never let them win.
Following online discourse about Swift’s engagement to the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, Preston-Sidler explained that this critique is associated with the “sleeping with the enemy” feminist concept.
“She’s damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t,” Preston-Sidler-Sidler said. “When she’s not having successful relationships, you know, people critique her for dating too much or being a slut or whatever. Then if she’s happy and in love and engaged, now she’s going down into ‘trad-wife’ territory. So it’s really the double standard that women face in everything that they do.”
Another concern shared among Swifties involves her indulgence in consumerism regarding marketing her work to the masses. Many opinions on Swift’s politics are influenced by the capitalistic ventures attributed to some of her projects.
During her “Tortured Poets” project, Swift released more than 30 different versions of the album as merchandise for purchase. This decision ignited many discussions regarding the singer’s profit-driven priorities on platforms like Reddit.
These conversations go even further after Swift released 34 different versions as of “The Life of a Showgirl” as of Oct. 10, according to Billboard.
Grayson Brinkley, a transfer communication and conflict major, touched on the concern relating to balancing profit, artistic authenticity and audience approval.
“At the end of the day, she’s a businesswoman. She makes music, but she makes millions and millions of dollars off of her products.” Brinkley said.
Brinkley explained that producing music in its physical form is essential in an artist’s craft, so Swift producing multiple versions of an album is not entirely the issue. However, Brinkley said that there shouldn’t be pressure on fans to buy everything that Swift releases.
“I would be interested to see what Taylor says about it herself, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard her comment on why there’s so many variations of everything,” Brinkley said.
“The Life of a Showgirl” earned the record-breaking title of selling the most albums in one week. The album, earning $3.48 million in pure album sales over the first week of release, surpassed Adele’s previously held title with $3.378 million in pure album sales, according to data accessed by Billboard.
While many Swifties at UCF have found fault in the recent release, some have expressed their appreciation for the album’s lighthearted and catchy tone, which contrasts significantly with her last album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Adriana Santiago, a junior elementary education major, began enjoying Swift’s artistry around two years ago when “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert film was released. Santiago says that Taylor Swift’s poetic and meaningful lyricism is her favorite attribute in the singer’s work. However, Santiago felt that a lot of the profound lyricism was absent in Swift’s latest album.
“If I’m being honest, I wasn’t really a big fan of all of the lyrics,” Santiago said. “But I do think that some songs were catchy enough to kind of stay in your head and just kind of think of it throughout the day.”
Preston-Sidler explained that the album was a “breath of fresh air” during a time when news concerning politics is filled with a lot of heavy developments.
“Now, that’s a total privilege. Because for the people in Gaza, it is heavy all the time. You know, for people living on the streets, it is as well,” Preston-Sidler said.
Preston-Sidler also added that the showgirl concept of the album innately comments on the challenges of being a woman in the spotlight.
“With the Showgirl theme that kind of runs throughout, it’s [about] the challenges of being a woman, period; but then being a woman in the spotlight, being a woman in a man’s world, being a woman who’s objectifying yourself in a way, too, in a showgirl sense,” Preston-Sidler said.
While not in direct reference to any scrutiny regarding her political or social advocacy, Swift explained the message behind the album’s fifth song, “Eldest Daughter,” in the album’s track-by-track version.
“You have a life that you portray to other people or what you portray on social media, and then you have the you that everyone gets to know who has earned the right to be closest to you,” Swift said. “And it’s really hard to be sincere publicly because that’s not really what our culture rewards. People reward you for being tough and unbothered and like too busy to care.”