SHAKE IT OFF

              It is not always easy to be a feminist and a fan of pop music at the same time.  I love riot grrl music, but it’s not always the easiest music to dance to and I love to dance.  One of my favorite things to do in this city is to go to Mad Planet, a dance club, on Friday nights and dance to 80s music.  So when I’m driving in the car, I’ll turn on the pop stations and find out what’s the new hit single.   The song “Shake It Off” came on and I told Ashley, that this tune isn’t half bad.  She said it was Taylor Swift and I would not have guessed this was Ms. Swift.  This is the newest single off of her upcoming album 1989; this song is more pop than her usual country-pop style. 

              Yes, the beats are catchy and I have totally danced to it while doing the dishes.  On further listening I declared that the lyrics were also sending a good message to the young ladies out there. The song describes the media’s perception of Taylor being a flighty twenty-year old who’s un-lucky in love.  However, Taylor responds, “I never miss a beat.  I’m lightning on my feet.  And that’s what they don’t see… I’m dancing on my own.  I make the moves up as I go and that’s what they don’t know.”  Sadly our culture tends to focus so much the love lives of these pop divas, but Taylor demands that she is happy dancing to her own and creating her own moves.  We all get hurt in the game of love and people make assumptions about our lives, but we should learn to shake off their assumptions and be confident in ourselves.

           

          I rarely ever watch music videos these days, but I decided to check out the video for “Shake It Off.”  We find Taylor first as a ballerina, then break dancing, cheerleading, and twerking.  In each clip she is trying to mimic the professional dancers, but is failing and in the end is found dancing to her own dorky moves.  The video has received some criticism for perpetuating black stereotypes with the African American back up dancers’ twerking in the video.  I can see why some people may find this offensive, but I believe Swift was just trying to show the various types of dance. I doubt Taylor, meant to offend with the video.  Would it have been better for her to remove the twerking segment?  I’m not sure, since twerking is hugely popular at the moment and yes, it’s also objectifying women bodies, but it is a form of dance. Recently, Taylor has come out as a feminist and I’m glad to welcome her to the movement and I hope she keeps making songs for the ladies to dance to.