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On Friday, October 21, Taylor Swift released her new album, Midnight. The album and songs received a lot of love and traction from fans. The record sales are proof enough that fans are going gaga over the new songs, as Midnight is already this year’s top-selling album.
She also released a music video for the song Anti-Hero the same day. Unlike her new album, the music video has come under fire for “promoting fatphobia.” Produced and written by Taylor Swift, the song is being slammed by netizens as the music video does not seem to sit well with the listeners.
In the music video, as Taylor hops on a weighing scale, the scale, rather than reading a number, reads “FAT,” leading to fans criticizing the video for promoting fatphobia. A TikToker named Mama Miah shared a video where she calls herself “former swiftie.” She can be seen sitting in her childhood room, where she has massive posters of Taylor Swift.
In her video, she stated how Swift has been instrumental in her development during her childhood and teenage years. However, the Love Story singer just “missed the mark” this time.
The caption of her video reads:
“Disappointed? Yes. Surprised? Nah.”
Netizens aren't happy with Taylor Swift’s clone in the video looking at her with disgust as the scale reads “FAT”
The TikToker, Mama Miah, elaborated in her video on how people are feeling that just Taylor on the scale that reads “FAT” is not infuriating enough. But the fact that the clone stares at her with absolute disgust is what's making people angry. In the video, the TikToker exclaimed:
“The scene then cuts to her and a clone of herself looking at her with disgust after looking at the scale that says fat. And by the end of the video, she finds relief in not being fat. This is problematic because she could have just learned that being fat is not bad.”
Many other netizens also felt that the song is promoting the perception that being “FAT” is something to be ashamed of. They claimed that the song is promoting the society’s psyche about their body image, and how it is damaging people and their confidence from within.
Others on TikTok also explained how receiving such messages from a singer like Taylor can be hurtful and heartbreaking, as Taylor is seen as a role model. They claimed that young girls who look up to Taylor Swift can be triggered if they are of a certain size and figure.
However, many social media users also highlighted that Taylor Swift is simply portraying her struggles with eating disorders in the video, and that she is not fat shaming anyone through her latest song. Some also pointed out that the music video is about the singer's personal struggle with an eating disorder after the media constantly called her out for gaining weight. One user on social media said:
“People calling Anti-hero by Taylor Swift fatphobic makes me sick. She is trying to show HER struggles with ED. People even said she should have put “not enough” but they need to realize the media didnt call her not enough the media called her fat.”
Despite all the negative backlash, Anti-Hero, has received 29 million views in 3 days. It is one of the most trending songs from the album on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music.
