I am consistently impressed with the amount of criticism Taylor Swift deals with. I don't know how she handles it, but a lot of times she does so with self-deprecating humor. The singer picked up a habit long ago of beating the press to the punch by picking apart her own flaws before they can. This happened again on Tuesday when Taylor Swift told David Letterman she was an "obnoxious" New Yorker because she's overly enthusiastic about the city.
When I love something, I'm very, very vocal about it. Any time I talk to anyone or any time I do an interview, I'm like, "You don't understand. You have to go there now. You have to go to New York. Just drop what you're doing, and go there. It's amazing. It's the greatest place ever." And I guess the city picked up on that. They're like, "She's the most enthusiastic, obnoxious person to ever love New York. She loves it with like 18 exclamation points afterward, underlined."
Ever since I watched Pantene's ad about how often women apologize for themselves, I've been hyper aware of when people do. It makes me really sad that Swift feels the need to criticize herself before others can. It might not even be a conscious decision, but it's still unfortunate. It's true that Swift really does <3 NY, but she shouldn't feel bad about that. But people are still determined to make her feel that way. The Huffington Post just wrote a whole article about how "beyond cringeworthy" Swift's description of New York vocabulary was. Like, just let her love where she lives, OK?
I understand Swift's desire to "prove" that she knows what people think of her by criticizing herself before others can. I did this frequently in college whenever I had to present a story I'd written. It's a horrible habit and eventually you start believing what you're saying. All in all, it's pretty damaging to your self-esteem.
Swift has been doing this since long before she was attacked for being an overzealous New Yorker. Back when her dating life was still the focus of taunting, Swift frequently joked about it. But as Tumblr user TaylorAlison pointed out, "It’s pretty f***ed up that Taylor swift now has to make fun of herself at every single award show to stop people from slut-shaming her."
There's being able to laugh at yourself, and then there's... this. As long as she is happy and comfortable with her decisions in life, that should be enough for everyone. It's pretty hard to break the self-deprecating habit once you start, but I hope she realizes soon that she is a strong, smart, talented woman. She shouldn't have to apologize for her dating life or her positive attitude about New York — or anything like that. When criticism comes her way, instead of judging herself she shoud follow her own advice and just shake it off.
Images: outsofthewoods/Tumblr (3); teen; shelbynewallis
