Taylor Swift Was Picked To Feature As TIME’s ‘Person Of Year’ & Twitter Is Losing It
We woke this morning to some news that’s pulled right at our heartstrings. TIME Magazine has awarded their coveted person of the year to ‘The Silence Breakers’, the women (and men) that catapulted the #MeToo campaign and spoke up in the face of sexual assault, misogyny and abuses of power.
While we should be celebrating these brave and wonderful advocates for social change, one person that was not only chosen to be featured but also landed the cover is derailing the good news: Taylor Swift.
.@TIME magazine has revealed their ‘Person Of The Year’ cover is graced by ‘The Silence Breakers’, women who have come forth about sexual harassment they have experienced and sparked a national movement. pic.twitter.com/8WR0G5ZiDD
— EMCEE (@emceenetwork) December 6, 2017
It’s been a big year for Tay-Tay, as she relaunched her career on the back of her fall from grace in 2016 following a public feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. She released her much-anticipated album Reputation, with mostly favourable reviews. Swift was also involved in a public sexual assault case, where she delivered a powerful testimony against former radio host David Mueller, who allegedly groped her at a 2013 meet-and-greet in Denver, Colorado. In the TIME feature, she opened up for the first time about the case.
While Swift has no doubt been an influential female voice in 2017, calling the singer a ‘silence breaker’ is coming under scrutiny, as is the choice to put her on the cover over women like Rose McGowan or Tarana Burke. Women who have not only been vocal advocates of the #MeToo campaign, they were the guiding force behind it.
Twitter is well and truly divided over Swift’s place on the cover.
Some people don’t think Taylor deserved the cover over other notable women:
Tarana Burke and Rose McGowan didn't make the cover, but Taylor Swift did? She's actually been pretty silent (save for her lawsuit) about #MeToo so… https://t.co/e0ADvBGpUr
— Alex Berg (@AlexfromPhilly) December 6, 2017
Taylor Swift has BEEN silent about white supremacy and still made the cover of TIME as a "silence breaker" pic.twitter.com/XPXkX8jb4z
— amy wood (@amy_wood) December 6, 2017
I really wish Terry Crews, Garbielle Union, Lupita, Kesha or Tarana had been featured on the cover over T**lor S**ft. What I am saying doesn't minimize what happened to her, but she somehow always manages to get centered within discussions she is never vocal about.
— Lara Witt (@Femmefeministe) December 6, 2017
Stop it. Just. Stop. Nobody is saying Taylor Swift wasn't victimized. Nobody is saying Taylor Swift doesn't deserve to speak about her experience. People are just wondering why she was picked to be the face of a movement over the woman who ACTUALLY CREATED THE MOVEMENT.
— ????️????Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) December 6, 2017
4. I know Taylor Swift was included on the cover to sell magazines, and I'm not going to take away from anyone's experience, but she has never posted on her powerful social media platforms about #metoo – not even once.
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) December 6, 2017
But many others have defended the magazine’s choice to feature Swift.
taylor swift is a victim of sexual assault. she came forward, she went to court when the man who groped her tried to victim-blame her, & stood up for millions of victims of sexual assault. you don't get to invalidate her experiences just because you don't like her or her music. pic.twitter.com/0DDBrXC660
— britta (@mogirlprobs) December 6, 2017
Taylor Swift was groped by a man who went on to sue to her first in an effort to take even more from her. Her countersuit and monetary support to Kesha did resonate with hordes of folks and inspired them to speak out. We shouldn’t invalidate that.
— Michael Arceneaux (@youngsinick) December 6, 2017
Do y’all ever get tired? Taylor Swift is on the #PersonOfTheYear2017 cover because she publicly put her attacker to task, acknowledged her privilege & made it a point to support victims. Even RAINN reported she emboldened victims to report their sexual assault. Tea. pic.twitter.com/BgKjbUV3Mk
— Oscar Gracey (@oscargracey) December 6, 2017
Taylor Swift not speaking up on some issues or putting out music you don’t like doesn’t mean you get to decide her brave public sexual assault trial was meaningless.
— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) December 6, 2017
like her or you hate her, taylor swift is a victim of sexual assault. period. you do not get to berate her because you don't think she was assaulted viciously enough to be on the cover of a magazine. you don't get to stop being a feminist when it's a woman you don't like.
— liv! (@visitkingdoms) December 6, 2017
"Taylor swift hasn't done anything influential" pic.twitter.com/0m5IK1xYSE
— layan (@zayIorde) December 6, 2017