We all know there has been a “Fat-phobic” storm for famous singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, since there was a scene where Swift gets on the scales and, instead of numbers, she sees the word FAT pop up, and she looks up sadly as her doppelganger shakes her head in disgust. This upset a lot of people who decreed that by using the word “fat”, Swift was being “fatphobic” (However, that scene has been quietly removed).
Many creators took to social media to accuse the singer of being insensitive to larger bodies and equalizing “fat” to “bad”. But the opposite voice thinks Taylor was expressing her internal critics and feelings about fighting her eating disorder in a private and emotional art format, which is all to herself rather than to the world around her.
The plus-size dating app WooPlus, conducted a poll in their in-app community “Moments”, regarding if all of this was “fat-phobic” for their users, and the outcome was a bit surprising.
She just expressed her inner critics via MV
More than half of the users don’t think the MV is fat-phobic, let’s check out what they think.
Taylor Swift doesn’t have a problem, the fashion and entertainment industries do.
@snowbunny91: “I’d say the only bad thing in this world is the fashion industry. But what comes to this video, clearly, is all about Taylor’s own struggles.”
@Gypsy: I don’t listen to her music, nor have I seen the video. But by Hollywood’s standards, a size 4 is considered plus size, so you do the math?
@Dylan: Not just her inner critics but what I suppose is Hollywood critics? Like people who like her music couldn’t care less how she looks.. but the people who make money off her do. They’re the insensitive ones. And she’s expressing that.
People shouldn’t take everything too personally. If they are doing so, they might need to be reconciled with themselves first.
@Sian: She is expressing her own struggles with her weight and image not having a go at people who are plus-size. I have friends who are a lot slimmer than me and struggle with their image and constantly say their fat but it doesn’t affect me as I show empathy towards how they feel and don’t judge them
@Morefromles: Just because she expressed her own feelings thru her music, if she was a bigger woman, men and women would discriminate against her. So here she is expressing her disorders.
@ErrBe: I feel like the people who accused the MV of signaling “fat is bad” are those who are still struggling to grasp that their own conflict has two sides: outward (society doesn’t accept me) and inward (I am not happy with my body). Both are unsettling feelings and can exist on their own or together.
Everyone deserves to have their own opinions, but that doesn’t mean backlash toward Taylor is right
@Blossombow: Art is an expression of the artists’ feelings/views and only becomes art when it combines with a viewers’/audiences’ responses. No reaction to her song/video is right or wrong – it is simply ‘your’ take on it. So everyone ‘owns’ their opinion irrelevant of if TS is expressing the same view.
@CharlesDodimead: Everyone wanna talk about oppression… Isn’t suppressing someone’s voice because we don’t like what they are saying oppressive?
She’s being insensitive and equals “fat” to “bad”
It’s clearly shown that nearly 25% of users think Taylor’s being insensitive and equals “fat” to “bad”, but this part of the users rarely expressed themselves out loud in the comment area.
It’s an interesting phenomenon since Taylor Swift being fat-phobic was deemed to be a mainstream viewpoint on social media like TikTok and Instagram, while it is quite the opposite on WooPlus.
The deluge of backlash toward Taylor Swift makes us think they might be the mainstream voice, but WooPlus is demonstrating it is an alternative platform for different voices, although it’s an internal community and can’t been seen as much as social media platforms. But these different voices need to be heard by more people.
ABOUT WooPlus
WooPlus, founded in 2015, is the dating app for curvy people to enjoy dating and be free of body shaming. Beyond that, also an inclusive lifestyle choice for them to feel attractive, confident, and loved for who they are. Today, with over 7,000,000 members globally, it is available on both the App Store and Google Play, featured on Forbes, People, BBC, and more.
