American Girl, along with Penang Boy, is co-contributor to The Food and Rant blog. Taken from their "About" section: "The Food and Rant, constructed from the ever churning genius minds of Penang Boy and American Girl, is dedicated to entertain and inform its readers on all food, popular culture, and daily musings deserving a good old rant (or rave). For example to this day we still do not understand why Taylor Swift deserves a Grammy, or why donuts are so darn delicious." Popular rants include "Ten Reasons You Don't Wanna Mess with Eric Cartman", "The Most Annoying Phrases (Ever)" and of course, "10 Reasons Taylor Swift Sucks".I commented on this rant but there was just too much to say. American Girl is actually one of the main catalysts for me starting this blog - So, Thanks, American Girl, for giving me something to do other than listen to Taylor Swift and work on Writing Assignments.
WhatI like:
- She welcomes debate
- She obviously has a good sense of humour
- She also seems quite intelligent
- She cares about music
- She cites Taylor's dance moves as proof of a lazy and egotistical attitude - Taylor Swift is not the kind of artist who dances (alot of) choreography - although her live performances do feature many professional dancers. Speaking as a fan, I like her dancing. I think it looks cool - and as a fan, that's important, because fans are the ones that are supposed to be entertained. Anyone who knows Taylor Swift's story or how much work she puts into planning shows knows she's not lazy. As for egotistical, since I don't personally know Taylor Swift I guess it would be frivolous to argue with that point, but based on all evidence to the contrary, I strenuously disagree.
- The Lyric-Bashing - The songs that generally get released as singles are the ones most likely to appeal to the mainstream. I recommend anyone who thinks Taylor Swift's lyrics are shallow with no real meaning look up the words to one or more of the following: The Outside, A Place in This World, Tied together with a Smile, Come in with the Rain, The Best Day, Change, Long Live, Never Grow Up. OK, some of those were released as singles, but they're not particularly well-known outside the fandom.
- She claims Taylor has an all-or-nothing take on relationships - "When you find everything you look for, I hope your life leaves you back to my door/Oh, but if it don't/Stay beautiful" - Stay Beautiful. "I remember that fight/Two-thirty am/As everything was slipping right out of our hands/I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street/Braced myself for the goodbye/'Cos that's all I've ever known/But you took me by surprise/You said, "I'll never leave you alone"/...Hold on/We can make it last" - Mine. "Maybe it's me and my blind optimism to blame" - Dear John. "It's hard not to find it all a little bitter-sweet" - Tim McGraw. "Life makes love look hard/The stakes are high/The water's rough/But this love is ours." - Ours. "Hope it's nice where you are/And I hope the sun shines and it's a beautiful day." - Last Kiss.
- Just... point number five on her post and point number five on her reply to my comment - When did Taylor lash out at anyone? In my opinion, Innocent isn't about her being innocent and Kanye being emotionally immature. The "still growing up now" line could apply to anyone. We never stop learning and growing from our mistakes. - those of us that choose to learn and grow from our mistakes. Kanye copped alot of flack for what he did that night - a ridiculously unfair amount of flack. Yes, I was pissed off, too, but I got over it. Alot of people couldn't seem to let it go. I think Taylor was saying that one little mistake shouldn't define him for the rest of his career. Taylor said it was important for her to perform that song on that night to show people how she felt about the matter one year later - what better place than the scene of the crime?
- She calls Taylor a man-hater - I already responded to this on her blog. It's such a ridiculous accusation that I'm not going to dignify it with another response. Every time I try to write something else on the matter I mostly find myself just screaming at the computer and laughing at the same time because... this is Taylor Swift we're talking about. Come on.
What pisses me off the most:
She believes Taylor Swift is a bad influence on young girls/women - What?! We have young female celebrities out there that go around getting drunk and high, crashing into things, going to jail, getting pregnant when they're not ready, flashing their junk to everyone.... and her go-to bad role model is Taylor Swift? Taylor Swift, who gives to charity, constantly encourages her fans to be kind, and love ourselves for who we are, to not be afraid of being ourselves. Taylor Swift, who actually bakes cookies in her free time.
American Girl compared T. Sweezy to Twilight. I'm sorry (not really) but I disagree. I don't really have anything against Twilight (in fact I have the books) but I agree that anyone reading Twilight who doesn't understand thast the character of Edward is pure fantasy could acquire a dangerous attitude towards the opposite sex. I don't believe Taylor perpetuates this attitude. She has admitted to being a "hopeless romanitc" and "fascinated by love", but that's a far cry from enjoying sadomasochistic relationships.
Honestly, AG needs to give Swifties more credit. There's a difference between waiting for a fairytale ending and simply thinking it would be cool to have one and I believe even the younger ones know the difference. Taylor Swift introduced optimism into my pessimistic life but I don't now expect every nice guy I meet to be 'the one'. Hope and disappointment are both powerful emotions that should be expressed, and I don't see anything wrong with the way Taylor Swift chooses to express hers.
Obviously, American girl does, and she has a right to her opinion, just as I have a right to mine.
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