We Should Stop Treating Taylor Swift's Love Life as a 'Spectator Sport'

Taylor Swift has often spoken out about public's obession with her love life.

Being a public figure comes with its own set of baggage. Fame can often overlap with public scrutiny. Questions about their life range from what they are eating to what they are wearing and more. But a keen interest is shown in their love life – the reverberating question almost always is – who are they dating? 

Celebrities are certainly aware of the eagerness their romantic lives receive – some brush it off, some choose to stay mum and others are completely nonchalant. In this context, Taylor Swift is the flag-bearer of “fiercely” protecting her “private life.”  Her love life arguably receives a jarring amount of interest since she catapulted to fame after the release of her single ‘Love Story’. 

Initial criticism by media

Earlier the media packaged this frenzy as Taylor’s own doing. They criticised her for defaming her past lovers and rolled their eyes saying, “She only writes songs about her exes.” A criticism she continues to call downright sexist. 

Her argument was,

“You’re going to have people who are going to say, “Oh, you know, like, she just writes songs about her ex-boyfriends.” And I think frankly that’s a very sexist angle to take. No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says that about Bruno Mars. They’re all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life, and no one raises the red flag there.”

Taylor Swift, Singer

Break up with long time beau Joe Alwyn

The scrutiny, despite her overt criticism of the same, has persisted. Today, while she is creating history with her 3-hour long sets with her Eras Tour, her personal life has once again come into the spotlight. She has reportedly broken up with her long-time beau Joe Alwyn and the frenzy it has ensued is unwarranted, but not surprising. 

The fans who had earlier reasoned the pair to be “endgame” are suddenly feeling betrayed. For the ardent fans, the parasocial relationship based on repeated interactions warrants a certain response – negative or positive. And that is happening once again.

Overarching obsession with Taylor's life persists

After all, she is the kind of figure, who has always inspired intrigue. Whatever she does is newsworthy. But a sort of skewed interest in her love life has persisted since time immemorial. Despite her new albums having drastically changed thematically – Folklore, Evermore and Midnights don’t necessarily align with her previous work. In which case, fans cannot contextualise her songs with past lovers, but she is still in the news for the same.

To delineate, she has changed, the interest in her love life hasn't. 

Marketing gimmicks add to the frenzy

Marketing gimmicks continue to capitalise on her love life. Recently, when the news of her breakup was ripe, Starbucks brought out a coffee menu named after her exes. It received heavy criticism. But it doesn’t come as a shock. 

Duolingo too was criticised for similar tactics.

Rampant rumours

And now that the news is no longer fresh, rumours are widespread that she is dating a two-time Formula 1 winner Fernando Alonso. The news initially surfaced in Spanish magazines and then spread like wildfire across social media. Alonso deflected the rumours, which was like adding fuel to the fire, for many, because if it’s not an overt denial then it ignites the possibility of a potential romance. 

And now it seems, media houses cannot simply be satiated with linking Swift to one love interest. She of course needs to have at least two. The lead singer of the British band 1975, Matty Healy, has also been linked to the singer. He was spotted at her concerts, which of course means they are dating.

But despite the ongoing conjecture, Swift has remained tight-lipped. 

Is it sexist?

The obsession over the break up and rumoured link ups itself cannot be equated with sexism. But certain reactions to her love life most certainly can – shaming her for not being able to supposedly "keep a man" – most certainly is sexist.

And then there are arguably those fans that have a vested interest in her love life – they project their own heartbreaks onto her songs and see her glamorous social media presence as a reflection of her life as a whole.

Taylor widely spoke about how her life being a "spectator sport." She said:

Her experience throws light on the realities of the parade her dating life continues to be. So, it's perhaps in the best interest of all concerned, sexist or not, to draw a line. Specifically, because she has asked that for too long now.