Taylor is simply a wonderful woman 👩🏼 and should be permitted to age gracefully which in my book is the most beautiful way to live. Too many people don’t understand that dynamic. Her voice is Angelic and her style is first class. JMHO.
I totally understand your argument, but I wonder if it’s projecting too much to assume Taylor’s insecurity and thus filler use. There can be no doubt that there are various pressures on women to adhere to certain beauty standards and that celebrities have popularized cosmetic procedures, but as you point out most people still don’t get cosmetic procedures and plenty of celebrities don’t either. We have no idea whether we should use Taylor as an example of one or the other and she never talks about it herself, so it’s strange to use her as the metaphor in this context. Especially when there are so many easier and more obvious examples. To me, it might be more telling that when we see someone with a beautiful face we assume she had work done, and that says more about us than the people we are projecting it on.
I could be wrong! But the way she looks beautiful this week and the way she looked beautiful in June seem different. I agree that as a public we too often conflate beauty with a certain look, using the word as shorthand when we mean something else. This is part of the endless helter-skelter you go down with this topic. Has she really had work done or is it just makeup? Is cosmetic surgery really everywhere or are we overstating it? One thing I am sure of is that many women are living as if there’s something fundamentally wrong with our bodies and it’s creating a lot of sadness.
The last few pics I've seen of Taylor (double denim art the first football game, jersey as a dress at the second) her face was so gorgeous I really thought it was AI. It makes sense that she had some work done after her tour and before football season, because the pics are from a closer range vs onstage from a distance.
I do know that other people actually know how to use makeup to change their face- contouring got really big but I never learned how to do it and I still have the same line on my forehead I’ve had since age 13 due to “rolling my eyes so much” (my mother’s claim). I had this conversation with my SILs recently and the social media famous aspect is making people think we all need to look like this- I have a pool friend who lives in Jamestown, NC and has a completely immovable face at 35 yo- and for what?! I don’t mind a little Botox and people can do what they want with their bodies but I continue to feel hotness is overrated. One of my SILs has this whole idea of needing to be a “hot mom” and I don’t get it but she grew up here and all her HS friends with kids also look very young, thin and beautiful in their early 30s with 2 kids. Over here in late 30s I am somewhat bothered by the increasing lines on my face but not enough to do anything about it. I love Taylor Swift and at a couple years older than her I feel somewhat protective of her too and I want her to place her value in her many talents apart from being young and hot.
Yes totally agree people can do what they want. They are not doing it “at you”. I think there’s ways to maximise your personal beauty without trying to get closer to a dubious beauty ideal that most people just don’t have access to. And we can also expand our consumption to view more types of beauty as valuable and real.
I saw some strong pushback against the botox/fillers - they attributed it to makeup and maybe I'm optimistic but I tend to agree (not quite the point of your writing but since you were trying to engage in conversation about this).
I don’t have a good eye for this so I don’t really know either way, although I do think she looks different currently and I’ve never thought that before. If I’m wrong and my whole article is rendered moot, excellent 😂
What a powerful piece! I needed to read this today! Thank you! 🙏 💜💞
Thank you!
Taylor is simply a wonderful woman 👩🏼 and should be permitted to age gracefully which in my book is the most beautiful way to live. Too many people don’t understand that dynamic. Her voice is Angelic and her style is first class. JMHO.
I totally understand your argument, but I wonder if it’s projecting too much to assume Taylor’s insecurity and thus filler use. There can be no doubt that there are various pressures on women to adhere to certain beauty standards and that celebrities have popularized cosmetic procedures, but as you point out most people still don’t get cosmetic procedures and plenty of celebrities don’t either. We have no idea whether we should use Taylor as an example of one or the other and she never talks about it herself, so it’s strange to use her as the metaphor in this context. Especially when there are so many easier and more obvious examples. To me, it might be more telling that when we see someone with a beautiful face we assume she had work done, and that says more about us than the people we are projecting it on.
I could be wrong! But the way she looks beautiful this week and the way she looked beautiful in June seem different. I agree that as a public we too often conflate beauty with a certain look, using the word as shorthand when we mean something else. This is part of the endless helter-skelter you go down with this topic. Has she really had work done or is it just makeup? Is cosmetic surgery really everywhere or are we overstating it? One thing I am sure of is that many women are living as if there’s something fundamentally wrong with our bodies and it’s creating a lot of sadness.
The last few pics I've seen of Taylor (double denim art the first football game, jersey as a dress at the second) her face was so gorgeous I really thought it was AI. It makes sense that she had some work done after her tour and before football season, because the pics are from a closer range vs onstage from a distance.
I do know that other people actually know how to use makeup to change their face- contouring got really big but I never learned how to do it and I still have the same line on my forehead I’ve had since age 13 due to “rolling my eyes so much” (my mother’s claim). I had this conversation with my SILs recently and the social media famous aspect is making people think we all need to look like this- I have a pool friend who lives in Jamestown, NC and has a completely immovable face at 35 yo- and for what?! I don’t mind a little Botox and people can do what they want with their bodies but I continue to feel hotness is overrated. One of my SILs has this whole idea of needing to be a “hot mom” and I don’t get it but she grew up here and all her HS friends with kids also look very young, thin and beautiful in their early 30s with 2 kids. Over here in late 30s I am somewhat bothered by the increasing lines on my face but not enough to do anything about it. I love Taylor Swift and at a couple years older than her I feel somewhat protective of her too and I want her to place her value in her many talents apart from being young and hot.
Yes totally agree people can do what they want. They are not doing it “at you”. I think there’s ways to maximise your personal beauty without trying to get closer to a dubious beauty ideal that most people just don’t have access to. And we can also expand our consumption to view more types of beauty as valuable and real.
I saw some strong pushback against the botox/fillers - they attributed it to makeup and maybe I'm optimistic but I tend to agree (not quite the point of your writing but since you were trying to engage in conversation about this).
I don’t have a good eye for this so I don’t really know either way, although I do think she looks different currently and I’ve never thought that before. If I’m wrong and my whole article is rendered moot, excellent 😂