Taylor Swift, the famous singer and songwriter, recently has proven that she can use her voice for more than just music. After being silent about her political views for almost the entirety of her career, she broke her muteness in October of 2018 and has now become a huge political advocate! She disapproves of her past silence, especially in the previous election, so she believes that it is more important now than ever that she gets involved and uses her platform to encourage other people to as well!
Taylor Swift was never one to voice her political opinions. Before the 2012 election, she stated in an interview with Time that, “I don’t talk about politics because it might influence other people… And I don’t think that I know enough yet in life to be telling people who to vote for.”
In 2016, Swift did not endorse a political candidate and her response was, “I just figure I’m a 22-year-old singer. I don’t know if people really wanna hear my political views. I think they just kind of want to hear me sing songs about breakups and feelings.”
In 2019, Swift used her platform to voice her support for the Equality Act, Pro-Choice views, and the problems with systemic racism in our country. She even came out with the song and music video, “You Need To Calm Down,” which was released during Pride month to celebrate the LGBTQ community and to encourage people to sign a petition of the Equality Act at the end of the video. When this video won video of the year at the Video Music Awards, she stated in her acceptance speech, “You voting for this video means that you want a world where we are all treated equally under the law regardless of who we love — regardless of how we identify,” Swift said. “At the end of this video, there was a petition and there still is a petition for the Equality Act, which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law. I want to thank everyone who signed that petition because it now has a half a million signatures, which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House.”
In 2020, she has made her political voice the loudest ever releasing a Netflix documentary entitled “Miss Americana” where she essentially discusses her lack of previous involvement in politics and why she felt she had to get involved now stating in the film, “I’m sad that I didn’t two years ago, but I can’t change that. Right now, this is something that I know is right. I need to be on the right side of history.”
In the documentary, she reveals that she was so scared to previously voice her political beliefs because she was told not to. “Part of the fabric of being a country artist is don’t force your politics on people…Let people live their lives. That is grilled into us,” she states. She decided that she was “just not gonna do anything that anyone can say anything about” and said she “became the person everyone wanted me to be.”
In “Miss Americana,” she reveals that her past actions were a mistake. “I just thought to myself, ‘Next time there is any opportunity to change anything, you had better know what you stand for and what you wanna say.’”
In the documentary, she also released the political anthem, “Only The Young” which is essentially about how important it is for young people to use their voices and get out and vote.
In recent months she has been tirelessly using her platform to encourage people to get involved in this election. On September 22, National Voter Registration Day, she used social media to encourage her followers to vote, as well as provided voting resources. “We need everyone, and it is more important than I can even possibly say,” Swift said.
On October 7th, V Magazine came out with the article “The Thought Leaders Issue” with a segment on Taylor Swift where she speaks out on why she will be voting for Joe Biden for President. “The change we need most is to elect a president who recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women deserve the right to choose what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be acknowledged and included. Everyone deserves a government that takes global health risks seriously and puts the lives of its people first. The only way we can begin to make things better is to choose leaders who are willing to face these issues and find ways to work through them. I will proudly vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election” she states.
Taylor Swift was not involved in previous elections and she feels that this was a mistake. Her message is to get involved now and to use her platform to voice her opinions and encourage others to do the same.
Voting is a right we have the privilege to possess so it is important that we do so. It is crucial to stand up for what we believe in, in order to determine the fate of our lives in this country. Taylor Swift is involved in this election because it is more important now than ever. Do your part, use your voice, and vote!
