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This example belongs in our anthology because it is a direct representation of how someone can be judged based on their exterior, and society’s opinion on this exterior can have a truly detrimental effect on one’s health and wellbeing.
“…my reputation’s never been worse so, you must like me for me.” (“Delicate”).
In 2016, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian uploaded a snippet of a phone call between Swift and West about an upcoming song feature that painted Taylor Swift in a bad light to the media. Because the video only complimented one side of the story based off the fact that it was a very short snippet that left out extremely important parts of the conversation, Taylor Swift was portrayed as a “snake” and a liar on twitter, a trending hashtag that millions of individuals interacted with, creating a mass spread of negative misinformation around her. Because of this madness, Taylor Swift’s image was completely shattered by anyone online. After millions of people started sending hateful messages to Swift, she hit a low point mentally and believed she could never create any new relationships after this scandal, how would anyone know who she truly was as a person after all the horrible lies they have read online? Swift deleted all media platforms and was not spotted for months. It seemed like the whole population was against her, this was until she met Joe Alwyn though. At the 2016 Met Gala, when she was going through this harsh time, Joe Alwyn pursued a romantic relationship with her. He assured her that he knew what the media was saying about her, but instead he chose to believe the facts and get to know Swift as an individual, which is what made him absolutely fall in love with her. She chose to be vulnerable and get to know Alwyn, even though she had lots of borders surrounding her based on her past experiences with social media. Good for Swift though, Alwyn chose to go against the easy thing to do and judge her for the rumors surrounding her and love her for the person she truly is, which the media does not always see. In her song dedicated to Joe Alwyn, Swift says, “…my reputation’s never been worse so, you must like me for me.” This song was based off the dedication Alwyn stuck with when disregarding the public’s negative perception of Swift and getting to know her true identity that the public cannot see.
“Delicate.” YouTube, uploaded by Taylor Swift, 11 March 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCXGJQYZ9JA