this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2024
1162 points (92.4% liked)

memes

10671 readers
2840 users here now

Community rules

1. Be civilNo trolling, bigotry or other insulting / annoying behaviour

2. No politicsThis is non-politics community. For political memes please go to !politicalmemes@lemmy.world

3. No recent repostsCheck for reposts when posting a meme, you can only repost after 1 month

4. No botsNo bots without the express approval of the mods or the admins

5. No Spam/AdsNo advertisements or spam. This is an instance rule and the only way to live.

Sister communities

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 110 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Hi, Swiftie here 🙋‍♀️

There are no good billionaires. Taylor Swift is not a good person due to her business practices. I have no defense of her and I would never say “she is one of the good ones.” I and most of the Swiftie circles I run in wish that she would practice equitable compensation in her tours (where she gets the vast majority of her profit), among other areas.

Taylor Swift is a capitalist, and that’s bad. There are thousands of artists and laborers being exploited by her every performance. All those laborers, stage hands, designers, arena staff, etc should have a say in how the massive revenue generated is distributed, and they do not get that say. That is bad.

As a majority male space, Lemmy has a tendency to slide a bit toward dunking on women and majority women’s spaces because you may not be aware that many leftist Swifties are just as critical of Swift as other billionaires. This post is a good example of that. (If you feel bad or called out by this, don’t stress it. I just want to gently course correct the conversation a tad 🙂)

[–] AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works 25 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I appreciate you posting this, it was actually unexpected to see to me and was nice to know.

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 12 points 2 weeks ago

i appreciate you leaving the feedback! sometimes i feel like what i say lands on deaf ears so it’s reassuring that my experience can actually get out there :) cheers

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 18 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I'm not a swiftie, and I'm male, so take my words as you will in that context.

Simply: IMO, it is possible to appreciate someones artistry while disliking their personal value system and actions.

Just because someone is a good artist, does not and should not imply that they are good.

Both liking someone's music and disliking their decisions as a person, can both be true. I hate the plethora of false dichotomy arguments that you can't appreciate music made by a person if that person is considered a bad person. One does not mean the other cannot be true.

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 6 points 2 weeks ago
[–] lunarul@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I do agree with separating the artist from the art, but I also understand choosing to not support people whose values you disagree with. Because your money will end up being used to support those values.

So yes, I won't say that I don't like certain songs/books/paintings/etc. because of the artist, but I can refuse to pay for them or other related merchandise.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

That's fair. You can like something but refuse to support it.

I'm mainly taking issue with anyone who says that if you don't like the artist, you can't appreciate the art. I've heard it a few times (or some variation of it), and IMO, that's far too common already.

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

false dichotomy arguments that you can't appreciate music made by a person if that person is considered a bad person

For me this is more about making someone more popular and making them profits by listening to their music. And then there's also a possibility that someone is considered a bad person for their views that are also displayed in their music, then I consider that I might start viewing their opinion as the norm, and also prefer not to listen to them.

All in all, I agree that the dichotomy is false, but I think it has some sense in some cases.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

There's definitely logic behind wanting to boycott their art so that you are not indirectly supporting their decisions by giving them the money to continue to do the things that they're doing.

Of course, that is also a separate decision from whether you like the art or whether you like the artist.

Anyone trying to tie these things together is generally not someone I would want to associate with.

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 2 points 2 weeks ago

Oh, yeah, I kinda mixed together liking and supporting in the 'appreciate'.

[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Wow, I could never listen to her, but thanks for a Swiftie with a reasonable take on this.

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

to reiterate: i’m not alone :) my positions mirror a ton of other swifties’ (obviously not all, but you do what you can)—they just have limited representation on lemmy due to gender and vibes

[–] DontMakeMoreBabies@lemm.ee 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Why keep giving her attention? Why label yourself as a "Swiftie"? Why continue to consume her media? Are there no other artists?

[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

once you're a part of a cult of personality, it's hard enough to become self aware of the fact, let alone to break free.

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 1 points 2 weeks ago

Why do you pay for gas? The world is ending due to fossil fuels.

If you do, why do you buy bottled water or cheap supermarket chocolate? Communities are being deprived and destroyed by companies like Nestle.

If you do, why do you own a laptop/phone? When it breaks, why do you plan to get a new one? That technology was developed off the backs of child labor.

If you pay for Spotify or similar, do you realize that those platforms often exploit and underpay the very artists you enjoy, ethical artists or not?

If you’re an American who pays taxes, some of that money has gone to fund a genocide and decades of warmongering. Maybe you should give up paying taxes…

Much to think about! 🙂

[–] insaneinthemembrane@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yep, of all the billionaires, there are so many more men to choose from. So. Many.

[–] kcfb@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I feel the reason she is being used as an example isn't because she's a female billionaire, but because she is a billionaire who receives adoration. The meme points out that even the "good ones" shouldn't be billionaires.

[–] insaneinthemembrane@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You mean like Bruce Springsteen? Michael Jordan? Cristiano Ronaldo?

[–] kcfb@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

Yes all very current names lol.

[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

and how many of them have such a large cult of personality? it must be nice, to be able to use gender as a shield from any sort of criticism.

[–] voldage@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

How do you reconcile the understanding of her not being a good person and doing harm to the world with being a Swiftie? That's a genuine question, I find identifying with the group supporting or admiring the person or idea I myself am opposed to on the ideological level hard to imagine. I can understand it being the case if one is defending the lesser evil, as they are coerced to do so by implied existence of the greater evil, but while I'm not well versed in the Swift lore I believe there isn't any evil twin running around that she needs to stop. Unless.

That's not an attack, I believe that being a Swiftie might mean something else than what I understand by this term and I am making a fool out of myself. Still, it does seem to mean supporting what you're opposed to. How do you resolve that contradiction?

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Thanks for your question! It’s a good one.

Short answer: I don’t

Long answer: @MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca explains it super well so I won’t rewrite their excellent comment: https://lemmy.cafe/post/10463918/8811775

Parallel example but chronically fandom answer: Swift has also made a lot of really shitty decisions regarding relationships that I strongly dislike, including dating freak weirdo misogynist Matty Healy. 🫤 I don’t think we could ever be friends, or whatever, because of these flaws to her character. I don’t try to reconcile her flaws at all. I just like most of her music a lot and keep myself honest about the rest of it. 🤷‍♀️