A note to moms: If you're thinking about taking your daughters to see Taylor Swift as their first concert, and maybe your first show since the Indigo Girls in 1996, please don't. If you're thinking you'll see a sweet Southern singer/songwriter on stage with her guitar, a few pretty dresses, and simplistic but heartfelt lyrics, you won't.
The overwhelming message of the Swift concert to the sea of girls ages 5 to 55: be pretty, be conventional, be quiet (well, it's OK to scream for me), and definitely put on some lipstick.
When my 10-year-old daughter learned to belt out "A Place in this World" on her guitar a few months ago, I began to feel some affection for Swift. Country music up until the quasi-country, anti-Bush Dixie Chicks had never appealed to me, but Swift's commitment to writing her own songs and to making her own way in the music business was compelling. And she even maintained some dignity after being publicly berated by an obnoxious Kanye West.
On a recent trip to Washington, DC, my husband and I splurged on Swift tickets for ourselves and kids -- an 8-year-old boy and two girls, ages 10 and 12. We thought the young singer would be especially inspirational to our daughters who love her music and are avid musicians.
We joined the ebullient, predominantly female concertgoers in floral H&M jumpers and cowboy boots streaming into DC's Verizon Center. Many arrived holding their daughters' hands before the first two opening bands to stand in long lines for Swift t-shirts and merchandise and take photos next to the towering Swift cutouts in the lobby.
The scene was sweet until you got to the CoverGirl stands (Swift is a CoverGirl) where girls of all ages sat on stools before stage mirrors to receive makeovers -- perhaps selecting the lip and eye colors that Taylor wears.
The message -- you're not really beautiful until you cake your tiny, pre-pubescent face with makeup -- wasn't the empowering one I had envisioned. (I later watched a five year old with ruby red lipstick pouting because the color had come off in her cotton candy. Welcome to the hardscrabble world, baby.)
OK, I thought, that's advertising -- not Swift's fault? Actually the pre-tweens in makeup set the scene for the CoverGirl meets Disney extravaganza.
After her opening "Sparks Fly," that featured an inordinate amount of hair flipping, Swift stood on the stage for what felt like a long and awkward few minutes, taking in the screams of her girl fans, eyes wide open with feigned amazement. Glancing to the far reaches of the arena where fans paid upwards of $130 per ticket (the going rate on Craigslist), she gazed left. She gazed right. She beamed. She stood still and put her hands to her heart.
Throughout the concert, even the best songs -- "Speak Now" and "Fifteen" -- were convoluted by an elaborate stage show and a relentless multimedia set with projected live images of Swift inside a gigantic framed mirror. Hearts and words with curly-cue lettering flashed on the screens. (The most ironic image projected was of a girl's quaint bulletin board with a tacked up ticket stub for a concert that cost $10.)
Dancers swirled up and down a staircase in the middle of the set and around Swift like something out of Glee, but not as entertaining. The music and lyrics (which do speak to girls) were secondary to the sparkle and fireworks -- literally -- of the stage.
Fleshing out the princess theme, Swift even drifted just above the crowd in a floating balcony -- her eyes seemingly meeting the eyes of each concertgoer. My husband was sure she was singing just to him.
My 10-year-old girl stood rapt on her chair, taking in everything. Like most of the girls (except the 13 year old making out with her boyfriend in the row in front of me) she loudly sang along with each song.
I didn't expect Taylor Swift to make any radical, edgy, feminist remarks, but I also didn't expect Gidget meets the Little Mermaid. What an incredible platform for Swift to say something as simple as "Girls rock!" or something even crazier like "Love yourselves!"
Instead, she finished each song by looking wide-eyed into the crowd and noting how "amazing" it was that so many people came to the show and how "beautiful" everyone looked (incredible how she could see people with all those lights in her eyes).
Maybe my family got the vacuous experience we deserved. That would be true if it were just a benignly bad concert experience. The problem is that it was an insidious concert experience that emphasized everything but the artist's voice -- the flowing fairy dresses and saccharine monologues covering up Swift's real power. Covering up girl power.
The best moments were rare authentic ones with Swift's top lip a wee bit sweaty, hair oh-so-slightly disheveled, strumming "Mean" on a banjo and later "Fearless" on a ukulele. That's what we had come to see, but it was fleeting.
As the house lights came on, my older daughter, age 12 and a half, gave me a deflated, knowing look. My younger daughter was tired but managed to quietly gush: "I loved it." My son loved his glow stick.
I hope more discerning parents than us might think twice about Swift tickets. Better to have to explain the explicit sexuality of someone like Gaga and her "Born this Way" message than to have to undo the message of female powerlessness -- especially from an artist who is so fervently emulated by girls. If you have tickets already, perhaps you can prep your music lover. It's sort of like a game of I Spy: look hard and look deeply for Swift's voice. It's there, just buried in the fluff.
Speak Now tour? More like Speak softly and smile a lot.
Isn't it a major sign of insecurity when you have to use a meat dress, 20 inch heels, sexing up your songs, and parading around in your underwear to get attention? Forget your talent, you have to shock people until the next shiny thing comes along and steals your audience.
Maybe you'll create a tragic story about being a misunderstood outcast in school (which comes as a surprise to all your friends), or say you were inspired by your poverty (while going to a private expensive Catholic school in New York). She's as authentic as the Spice Girls and fake feminism (just like an empty slogan like "girl Power") is just part of her advertising. She wasn't "Born this Way" unless she was born in 2005. I'm trying to picture Joan Baez singing in her bra and panties.
It's like Britney and Christina - going from sweet to sexy to skanky - when really it's whatever sells.
Swift plays the "Traditional Girl" and is mocked for it. Gaga is yet another "rebel" and hardly more honest; she's a mix of Marilyn Manson, Madonna, and Marketing
I'm not saying Taylor Swift isn't about girl power or writing about the real problems girl face in their life, because that is as true as it gets (she even says her songs come right from her diary), but she is also all about her fans. Those extra pauses and glances she makes gives her that connection with her fans.It makes her fans feel like she is singing to directly to her fans, which to a young girl, is the greatest feeling in the world.
I'm sorry the concert wasn't what you were hoping. In the words of The Rolling Stones, "you can't always get what you want."
I've been to many, many Chicago, America, Foreigner, and Earth, Wind and Fire concerts and those are set up to basically stand there and sing. Sure, the bands dance around a little and joke and talk to the audience, but contemporary artists don't do that much anymore. Going to a concert isn't just about the music.It's about the whole show: costumes, lights and all the other extras. If that's what you were hoping for, then you should have just sat in the car and popped Taylor's cd in the cd player. If you really wanted, you could even dissect each line of her songs and drill the messages into your daughters' heads.
Kids and adults love whats bad for them: junk food, junk-food movies, and junk food pop stars like Swift. Promoting lipstick to 5 year olds is not my idea of "wholesome". I guess you're kind of superficial
Lighten up Andrea, don't let other people or the media raise your kids, that's your job. Be happy they enjoy this type of harmless entertainment, and aren't bugging you for tickets to the the next "gangsta rap" crap that comes along.
Sure, some of Taylor's songs aren't entirely appropriate and probably your daughters aren't going to understand some of her lyrics until they're older but is it appropriate for a 5-year-old to be smeared in makeup? No. It'll reinforce in these young girls that they won't be good enough until their face looks as flawless as Covergirl can make them look because their faces are their most important asset. Not their brains or personality. Especially since Taylor represents Covergirl, her embodiment of "girl power" ought to mean that makeup doesn't imply femininity. Sure her lyrics don't mean that, but those makeup stands do.
Since she represents such a wide range of women, you'd think that she would be a strong face of feminism, even in its slightest forms. You'd expect her to be strong in her convictions, rather than tossing her hair around or staring doe-eyed into an audience, as if their applause were unexpected. I'm exhausted with her constant self-deprecation, she's talented and knows it. A strong woman would own that!
Did you even read this article?
I sing Lady Gaga with my 6 year old granddaughter and she's gonna turn out great.
I look at Taylor Swift and Cover Girl and I DO NOT like that. Then I learn about her song writing and listen without looking and I would promote that to girls any day.
Taylor needs to get as real in the fame world as she appears in her head or she should be shunned till she does.
Pity.