Study Says Taylor Swift’s Feminism Actually Makes People Care *Less* About Womens’ Issues

According to a new study, celebrity feminists can actually help trivialise womens' issues in the eyes of the public.

Study Says Taylor Swift's Feminism Actually Makes People Care *Less* About Womens' Issues

by Jess Commons |
Published on

Well this is depressing.

According to a new study from 'celebrity branding authority' (why did no careers advisor tell us that was a job back in the day) and Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern California Jeetendr Sehdev, celebrity feminism could actually be doing more harm than good.

Jeetendr's study, carried out over two years, found that if a celebrity jumps on the feminism bandwagon without having demonstrated prior commitment to the cause, 80% of people won't buy into it, reports The Independent.

Further to that, only 20% of people say they will care more about gender issues due to celebrity involvement. Taylor Swift was especially controversial with 30% of respondents saying that they care *less *about feminism because of her input.

Interestingly, the study showed a global split on the matter with the more sceptical amongst us about celebrity feminism hailing from North America and Europe (hello), whilst people from South East Asia and Latin America were more susceptible.

The problem seems to be the percieved commodification of a serious cause. The re-surgence of feminism under the third wave over the past few years has become one of the world's most talked about issues. Naturally, celebrities have got involved - the renewed debate around the issue has meant it has become easier to be vocal about such things but, as this study shows, people think there's a fine line between advocating for an issue and using it to further your own platform.

From our perspective, any debate around feminist issues on an elevated platform is a good thing. No matter how people are absorbing the issues, the awareness is there and, quite frankly, that can't ever be a bad thing.

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Follow Jess on Twitter @Jess_Commons

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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