Taylor Swift, who grew out of country music, has posted to Instagram a photo of herself voting, encouraged her young fans to vote, but hasn’t said who for.
Why is this? Could it be that she really likes Donald Trump? Or could it be that she can’t be bothered to align herself with Hillary Clinton after she got Katy Perry (sworn enemy of Taylor’s) to perform at one of her rallies?
Or, perhaps, it’s down to the fact that Taylor has so many of her roots in country music. Bear with us. Though much modern country music will infuse with R&B and hip hop, showing it’s got an ability to become more diverse, it still clings to an old white tradition of the deep south, places that are polling heavily in favour of Trump.
Before becoming Taylor Swift, popstar, she was Taylor Swift, country singer. And to admit to voting Clinton, would be to upset her fans who’re looking to vote Trump. Sure, there are plenty of celebrities who’ve come out in support of Clinton, like Madonna, Bon Jovi, Jay Z and Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Mark Ruffalo (previously a Bernie Sanders supporter), Chance the Rapper (who led hundreds of people to the polls in Chicago) and Will.i.am. And there’s Lena Dunham, Taylor’s BFF, who’s been campaigning for Clinton from the beginning of this arduous 18-month bid for the presidency.
But, unlike Taylor, none of them risk losing a right-wing fanbase by doing so. It’s unfair that Taylor Swift will be held to higher account for not saying who she’ll vote for when, say, Paris Hilton is refusing to disclose who she voted for - despite saying Trump, KKK-backed Trump, sexual assault boaster Trump, ‘build-a-wall’ Trump, is a ‘family friend’ and not getting the same stick. But you’d think being so used to the same sort of sexism Clinton has experienced - something Taylor’s commented on extensively, and having introduced many young women to Madeleine Albright’s ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women’, Taylor would be a little keener to dip her toe into partisan politics. Especially when we have the prospect - at the time of writing - of the US’s first female president. Sure, she gets attacked for so much of what she does do, but saying you prefer the candidate who isn’t facing a rape lawsuit against a 13-year-old girl seems to be such a win-win for old Swifty.
In her defence, speculation that her wearing a shoulderless top to the polling station was a nod to Clinton - who once wore a shoulder less top too! - has been bandied about. So maybe she did vote Clinton. But why not say it loud and proud? Does Swift really want Trump fans buying her music?
Some might say that celebrities aren’t that influential, that no-one’s going to look at Lady Gaga or Bruce Springsteen stumping for Hillary and go ‘Oh if THEY think so, we MUST vote for her!’ But when you have an actual celebrity using his reputation as a celebrity - he sure isn’t a great businessman, he’s never held political office - to leverage his way into a nomination for the highest position in the country, it’s worth considering that celebrities do, for better or worse, influence politics.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.