# Is Taylor Swift genuinely a toxic individual? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381 "2017-09-03T02:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/21 "2017-09-03T07:26:57Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Swift stopped going to school at 16 and wasn’t terribly involved in it for a few years before that. She has basically been an aspiring pop star or a pop star since the onset of puberty. She’s never lived a normal life, isn’t educated, and really has nothing to talk or sing about EXCEPT relationships, which are understandably hard to maintain when you never had the chance to become a fully developed person. Her behavior doesn’t seem that odd or different compared to a typical kid in their mid-to-late teens & early 20s. It’s just that everything she did was reported by the entertainment press. Most people I knew at that age wrote bad poems about their boyfriends/girlfriends/exes; they were just a whole lot less catchy and we lacked a platform to share them with world. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/22 "2017-09-03T08:02:26Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I’m confused at this point, I guess. …an easy way to stop your confusion would be to stop being concerned about Taylor Swift’s private life. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/23 "2017-09-03T08:08:21Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I was replying to a conjecture that Taylor’s relationships were a failure because she wasn’t putting out. > > I don’t care if Taylor had sex with a bunch of people. My concern (as slight as it actually is) is whether Taylor is going through guys in a toxic, manipulative way. If you know how Borderlines operate, you’ll know what I mean. > > But TIL that there is a theory that all these guys are actually beards for her of some type. I’m confused at this point, I guess. I wouldn’t be surprised if Taylor is still a virgin and she’s holding out for marriage. She almost never sings about sex in her songs, and when she does, it’s usually portrayed as regrettable (“Fifteen” or “All Too Well”) or shameful (“Better Than Revenge”). ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/24 "2017-09-03T09:33:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if Taylor is still a virgin and she’s holding out for marriage. She almost never sings about sex in her songs, and when she does, it’s usually portrayed as regrettable (“Fifteen” or “All Too Well”) or shameful (“Better Than Revenge”). Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/25 "2017-09-03T09:49:48Z")
She seems rather petty with her songs, holding serious grudges with people that she’s willing to sing about them for the rest of her career. But aside from that I agree with **Sage Rat** ’s assessment almost exactly. Though I do think the brief nonsense with Tom Hiddleston was all a big con that they both conjured up as a deliberate fuck-you to the paparazzi, who dog their lives. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/26 "2017-09-03T10:03:47Z")
Also, she’s so damn pretty. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/27 "2017-09-03T10:18:06Z")
do you believe any of her “relationships” have actually been _real_, and not just put together by her PR team to keep people talking about her? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/28 "2017-09-03T10:28:38Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Didn’t know that. Interesting. I had heard she came from a rich family that basically bankrolled her career, but didn’t know the age thing. > > She does not come across as particularly smart in interviews. She may have come from a rich family (no clue), but she made it with her songs and persona and ability to navigate today’s media. Coming into a conversation about her starting from the view that she a manufactured twit is wrong. For what she is trying to accomplish her songs are brilliant. This last one I don’t quite get. She seems to want to present her self as Regina George from Mean Girls. And any dis track that requires adding the guys from I’m Too Sexy to the credits - why didn’t that make her pause and think? Now, is she genuinely toxic? How the heck would I know? She works her persona super effectively in songs and in the media, and has been a rich hot very powerful celebrity her entire adult life. Where’s the risk there? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/29 "2017-09-03T10:32:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Swift stopped going to school at 16 and wasn’t terribly involved in it for a few years before that. She has basically been an aspiring pop star or a pop star since the onset of puberty. She’s never lived a normal life, isn’t educated, and really has nothing to talk or sing about EXCEPT relationships, which are understandably hard to maintain when you never had the chance to become a fully developed person. This is I think it. The fact she came from a loaded and educated family meant that the more obvious acting out like Spears did was avoided, probably due to the influence of her parents. But, at the end of the day she is still an overgrown teenager. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/30 "2017-09-03T14:14:44Z")
I am going to concede the debate with my friend. The theory that Swift is an overgrown teenager and perhaps a virgin trumps mine that she is a toxic Borderline. Thanks for your help, peoples! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/31 "2017-09-03T14:50:13Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > do you believe any of her “relationships” have actually been _real_, and not just put together by her PR team to keep people talking about her? Sure, I guess? I mean, people do seek out relationships and companionship and intimacy. I know that the media portrayal of celebrity is that someone is always behind the scenes micromanaging every move but I’m guessing that even famous people want to go on dates and enjoy the company of others. And it’s not as though the male halves get a lot out of this from a mercenary point of view – “Pretend to date Taylor Swift for six weeks and she’ll write a song about what a thoughtless asshole you are! Any press is good press, right?” ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/32 "2017-09-03T15:46:51Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Her original complaint was that Kanye never asked her permission or talked to her about the song except to ask her to promote it on Twitter. That was a lie. She also claimed that she warned him about releasing the song because of its “strong misogynistic message” which was also a lie since she was laughing about it during the call and how funny it’d be to see the media get upset. “Yeah, but he never told me he’s say ‘bitch’” was pretty much a complaint of last resort. Ah, gotcha. Yes, I can see how that would be seen as backpedaling. I don’t think she should be criticized for writing angry songs that she has to sing forever, though. Alanis Morissette did just fine with that, as did many other people. Yes, you might be over it 5 years later when you’re singing the song in concert, but the people currently going through what you went through aren’t, and that’s who you’re singing it for. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/33 "2017-09-03T17:07:05Z")
and now they are spreading rumors she voted for Trump!!! Off with her head. > **[Taylor Swift's silence on politics fuels speculation that she secretly voted...](https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/taylor-swift-political-silence-sparks-belief-voted-trump-article-1.3465716)** > > Taylor Swift pal Todrick Hall says that anyone who takes her political silence as evidence she voted for Trump are making a huge assumption. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/34 "2017-09-03T17:21:47Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Also, she’s so damn pretty. You know what they say about The Crazy. Yeah, I ignore it, too. :o As for Hiddleston, maybe they were each other’s beard. Note: I know nothing about either of them. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/35 "2017-09-03T18:48:17Z")
Based solely on headlines she sounds like a mean girl. Based on portions of a few songs I don’t know why she is a star. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/36 "2017-09-03T19:05:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Based on portions of a few songs I don’t know why she is a star. Her older stuff was never really my bag but I could appreciate why it was popular. It was usually pretty fun and had a good hook. Her more recent stuff does nothing for me and her most recent track (“Look What You Made Me Do” or whatever its called) sounds like roasted trash. In my humble opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/37 "2017-09-03T19:56:27Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Also, she’s so damn pretty. I’m willing to overlook our age difference and take the chance that I’ll become the subject of a future song. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/38 "2017-09-03T19:57:40Z")
I’m not a fan of her music. I do admire her tenacity in staying relevant in the ever changing music market. Swift is right up there with Madonna in understanding how to reinvent herself every few years. I can easily see Swift cranking out hits 15 years from now. She knows exactly how to keep herself in the news and attract new fans. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/39 "2017-09-03T22:56:15Z")
I find it interesting that Adele wrote an entire album and a half about her horrible failed relationships and we don’t have this discussion about her. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381/40 "2017-09-03T23:13:37Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > I find it interesting that Adele wrote an entire album and a half about her horrible failed relationships and we don’t have this discussion about her. Adele doesn’t seek out news coverage. Sometimes months goes by without any articles. She was recently on tour and got some coverage. Swift gets coverage because she seeks it out. She conveniently pops up in just the right places for paparazzi shots. Neither approach to a career is wrong. Both stars are very, very successful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-taylor-swift-genuinely-a-toxic-individual/795381.md?page=3)