About
Feminist Taylor Swift is a novelty Twitter account that parodies song lyrics of the American pop singer with feminist commentaries on romantic ideals that may be deemed patriarchal or heteronormative.
Origin
On June 11th, 2013, Rhode Island-based blogger Clara Beyer[2] tweeted[3] (shown below, left) an idea for a single-topic Twitter feed called “feminist Taylor Swift.” The next morning, Beyer created the account @feministtswift[1] and tweeted a parody of lyrics from Swift’s 2009 hit “You Belong With Me” (shown below). Within five days, it had been retweeted more than 4,400 times and favorited nearly 1,900 times.
She wears short skirts / I wear t-shirts / Neither of us is asking for it
— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) June 12, 2013
Spread
On June 14th, a selection of tweets from the account were featured on Buzzfeed[4], who noted the account had accrued more than 7,100 followers with its first 19 tweets. The same day, additional tweets were featured on BroBible[5], Entertainment Weekly[6], Mashable[7] and PopHangover[8] and by the end of the day, the account had grown to 20,000 followers. On June 15th, Feminist Taylor Swift was featured on the Huffington Post[9], gaining another 27,000 followers overnight. Over the next 48 hours, the tweets were featured on the Washington Post[10], MSNNow[11], United Press International[12] and the Sydney Morning Herald.[13] By June 17th, Feminist Taylor Swift had accrued more than 76,000 followers. That day, Beyer was interviewed by The Daily Dot[14], during which she said that her motivation came from what she perceived as the “problematic nature of Top 40 lyrics” in general and trying to justify being a feminist while enjoying Swift’s music.
Notable Examples
Derivative: Feminist Kanye
On June 14th, a similar novelty Twitter account called @FeministKanye[15] began tweeting Kanye West lyrics with feminist commentary. Though the owner of the account has yet to come forward, Feminist Kanye has gained more than 6,200 followers in three days. The following day, several tweets from the account were featured on Salon.[16]
PINKASSPOLOSAND A FUCKINGBACKPACK / EVERYBODYKNOWYOUDON'T SUBSCRIBE TO GENDER-NORMATIVECOLORSCHEMES
— FEMINISTKANYE (@feministkanye) June 14, 2013
Search Interest
External References
[1]Twitter – @feministtswift
[3]Twitter – @clarabellum: Idea for a single purpose twitter: feminist Taylor swift
[4]Buzzfeed – The Feminist Taylor Swift Twitter Account Is Hilarious
[5]BroBible – This ‘Feminist Taylor Swift’ Twitter Account Is a Laugh and a Half
[6]EW PopWatch – Feminist Taylor Swift is Twitter’s most entertaining gender-studies project
[7]Mashable – ‘Feminist Taylor Swift’ Parody Dominates Twitter
[8]PopHangover – The “Feminist Taylor Swift” Twitter Account is the Best Thing Ever
[9]Huffington Post – Feminist Taylor Swift: Hilarious Twitter Account Turns Singer’s Lyrics Into Feminist Messages
[10]Washington Post – Taylor Swift’s feminist doppelganger takes off on Twitter
[11]MSN Now – Feminist revamp of Taylor Swift lyrics = great Twitter parody account
[12]UPI– ‘Feminist Taylor Swift’ parody takes off on Twitter
[13]Sydney Morning Herald – Taylor Swift’s feminist doppelganger takes off on Twitter
[14]The Daily Dot – Leaning in with Feminist Taylor Swift
[15]Twitter – @FeministKanye
[16]Salon – Feminist Kanye Twitter follows tradition of Feminist Taylor Swift