Nothing, really. But she’s making a lot of people crazy and it’s very eye-opening.

For the record, I’m not a fan. I don’t like her music. A couple of my kids are fans of hers, which is fine. Every generation has their differences. I do like what she has done with her celebrity, though. She has tried to do what good she can, bringing issues to light that she feels strongly about and helping out various charities and food banks while on tour. Her employees all received “life-changing” bonuses on her tour. So while I don’t particularly like her music, I think she’s a pretty decent human being.

And now I’m watching people turn themselves inside-out trying to justify their jealousy and hatred of her. I have a musician acquaintance that seems to be afflicted with TSDS – Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome. He hates her with a passion. Why? I think it’s because he’s seeing a woman work a system that has been male-dominated for years and succeed and doesn’t like it.

This was his most recent rant, which bothered me a great deal. Why? Because apparently when a woman gets plastic surgery, it’s a deal-breaker, but all the male artists out there who get it. My response: Have you the same feelings about Steven Tyler, Robbie Williams, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Vince Neil, Rick Springfield, Ozzy, and Sting? Or is it just female musicians you have this problem with? He responded:

He pivots to a very narrow view that it’s only wrong when “the biggest artist in the world” who is a billionaire qualifies. Misogynistic much? Of course, if you disagree with him then you have blinders on, even if you’re not a fan of Taylor Swift.

Because yeah, what I see here is another man who feels he should be more successful in his chosen field and is blaming women for it. Specifically, one woman. I’ve seen posts where he denigrates her songwriting ability. Again, I don’t like her music, but there are plenty of male artists out there who have made money singing other people’s songs. He never brought them up. He says he’s railing against the way the music industry works right now, but all I see are misogynistic rants directed at a woman who is very popular right now.

I knew people in the music industry in the mid-1980s and had a number of doors opened for me. I was going to work in artist relations or become a sound engineer. Then I saw how women were treated in the industry. I watched someone as talented as Debora Iyall (of Romeo Void) be jettisoned because they “didn’t know how to market her.” This was a euphonism for her not being “sexy enough.” All the while Madonna was sleeping with whoever it took to get her to the top. I think Iyall is way more talented than Madonna, and I can think of a number of other women who also demonstrated a lot of talent but were bypassed for people like Madonna and other who were “sexy” in men’s eyes. I saw the misogyny then, and I walked away from the industry.

It’s all over social media – people who hate Taylor Swift for no reason other than she’s successful and happy. They blame her for issues with football, when all she’s doing is attending games to support her boyfriend. She has no control over how many times she appears on camera during the game. She’s not exerting any pressure on anyone to show her more and get publicity (like she needs it!).

Why does this one woman set so many people off? I really don’t get it. It’s been eye-opening, though, as people I thought I knew lose their minds over her in a way they never did over Michael Jackson and many other who were pop-stars and at one point were looked up to by the masses. For when a male is a billionaire and a “role model” it’s okay if he’s secretly a child molester; it’s okay if they are sleeping with underage girls; it’s okay if they get plastic surgery. 

You may be fooling yourself, but you’re not fooling everyone out there.