Earlier this week, Matt Healy of The 1975 got into some classic Internet trouble for comments he made about his (lack of a) relationship with Taylor Swift. ICYMI, his exact words were, “If I had gone out with Taylor Swift I would’ve been, ‘Fucking hell! I am NOT being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.’ You know, ‘FUCK. THAT.’ That’s also a man thing, a de-masculinating, emasculating thing.” Sounds pretty bad, right? So naturally, people weren’t too happy—and neither was Matt. In response to the proliferation of articles on the subject, he went on a bit of a Twitter rant to defend himself. Essentially, he stressed that he’s not a misogynist and that his comments were prompted by his desire to be a renowned artist of his own accord.
Look, we get it—nobody wants to be known as someone’s boyfriend, child or parent. As an artist, that feeling is amplified by the fact that people might only listen to your music because you’re going out with someone famous: not ideal! But regardless of this natural and very human sense of pride, which Matt himself calls “dinosaur thinking,” we just don’t think there’s ever any reason to use the word “emasculating.” Like, what the heck does your masculinity have to do with your talent or the recognition you get for your music? And even if it did have something to do with it at all, why should it matter?
Obviously, the problem is larger than Matt. The insecurity that men often feel with regards to their masculinity—and the irrational avoidance of successful women that comes with it—is part of our system of binaristic thinking and the socially constructed idea that being masculine means rejecting all signs of weakness that are wrongfully associated with femininity. We just think that, as a public figure, Matt should realize the role he can play in either diffusing or reinforcing the artificial concept of what it means to be a “real man.”
You can read his whole spiel below:
READ THIS I’M PISSED OFF pic.twitter.com/GKZYfNNDqX
— matty (@Truman_Black) March 18, 2016