Much of the news recently has surrounded one topic: football. This makes sense as the Super Bowl is approaching, and all of the championships have been played. However, with this recent influx of news about football, particularly revolving around the Kansas City Chiefs, a recent rise in news about Taylor Swift has simultaneously occurred. Swift is dating the tight end for the Chiefs, Travis Kelce. Swift and Kelce have been all over the news since they first premiered their relationship. Since then, the media has been overwhelmingly filled with commentary on the relationship, whether that be negative or positive.
After Swift and Kelce first made their relationship public, he showed up at her Eras Tour. Following this, he was deemed a “supportive boyfriend”. The public loved him. However, when football season started and Swift began attending Chiefs’ games, she was deemed a “distraction”.
There has always been a double standard against women in our society. The majority of people declaring Swift a “nuisance” and “distraction” because of her attendance to the games have been predominantly male. While Swift has done nothing but attend the games in support of her boyfriend, people will find any reason to hate on a powerful woman.
Swift has not only caused a rise in viewers of NFL games, but also a growth in revenue coming in for the games. Swift has power; she has a fan base that adores her. She just broke the record for most “Album of the Year” Grammys. She stimulated the economy with her Eras Tour. But yet she is a “distraction”; she is a “nuisance”.
Men all around the world, even here at HC, hoped that the Chiefs didn’t make it to the Super Bowl for the mere fact that Swift would most likely be in attendance. Why are people so abhorrent that they can’t just simply ignore her presence if they don’t like her? Why loathe her for supporting her boyfriend when the same people gave him attention and praise for supporting her? Why do women constantly have to be put down? Why can a woman not succeed as much as a man can?
Swift is only one example of women having a double standard against them. People need to be less hateful towards powerful women. No one is as abominable towards a man as they are towards a woman. Men have that privilege in this society. That needs to change. Gender shouldn’t define your privilege or even be your defining characteristic. Women deserve the same respect a man receives.
