Taylor Swift and the NFL: Feminist Movement or a Turn Back in Time?

This year's National Football League has offered several surprises thus far; the greatest one is that the coverage is a little different from previous year.  One of the world’s most famous women, singer and songwriter, Taylor Swift, has been on the screen a lot. She is currently in a relationship with the Chiefs’ tight end, Travis Kelce. This has sparked a massive outpour of feedback from the public, both favorable and unfavorable.

Swift has attended most of Kelce's games, frequently supporting the team while spending time with his family and friends. While Swift’s fans have been praising her for standing by her boyfriend and are excited to see her on television, others have not.

The NFL has received backlash; some fans are criticizing the network for having too much coverage on Swift and not enough on the game. More so, when they arrived in New York last week, they were booed by Buffalo Bills fans. This has caused a major uproar on social media as users have taken to Twitter to express their distaste for the singer’s coverage, with one even claiming that she “ruined football”.

With this much publicity surrounding the couple, it is inevitable that the public will have something to say about the couple. But, claiming that Taylor Swift ruined football? That seems farfetched and problematic. It can make someone wonder… is Swift becoming the center of feminism or does the criticism seem like a thing of the past?

Historically, women have been disenfranchised. Not only fighting for rights like voting in 1920, but even to this day; an increasing number of States are banning the right to abortion. Now, it seems like even having the right to go to your own boyfriend’s football game is frowned upon. Yes, as an icon like Swift, not everyone is going to like her. Especially, as a woman who has been known to show her feminist side to the world, often pointing out double standards between men and women.

But, is Taylor Swift really to blame for the NFL coverage? The answer is simple: no. One women cannot be to blame for what a network chooses to air. She is merely a woman who is there to stand by her boyfriend’s side.

Moreover, her being there does not make the game itself more feminine but there is no doubt that her appearances have generated more women viewers, seeing as CNN reported that 27 million people tuned into the Chiefs versus the Jets game, more than two million being women viewers.

The number do not lie. Afterall, women supporting women has always been an important component in the feminist movement.

A good question is whether people would respond the same way if Taylor Swift were any other male non-football superstar. Would this still generate fury among NFL fans? It seems the only true reason for the supporters' indignation appears to be Taylor Swift's gender.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Swift says, “Misogyny is ingrained in people from the time they are born. So to me, feminism is probably the most important movement that you could embrace, because it’s just basically another word for equality.”

Maybe Swift is onto something.