As Superbowl 58 was approaching, as televisions across the country began to flash the names Purdy and Mahomes, the buzz surrounding a certain pop star’s influence amplified. It’s no secret that one of the acclaimed “Queen[s] of Pop,” Taylor Swift, has recently been in attendance at many NFL games—as you may have seen from her consistent appearance on the screen every other play. Most conversations regarding Swift’s presence lean negative as audiences devise reasons for her scandals and calculations for being there—forgetting entirely her true purpose: to support her hunkalicious boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
N FL fans all over the country are fuming at Swift’s attendance and have simultaneously conducted astonishingly strange excuses to explain it. “She’s trying to sway voters” or “She rigged the Superbowl so she could go”; many have said that she has “ruined football.” No one seems to dedicate themselves nearly as much as Taylor Swift haters have in the months of football seasons. People have turned a supportive girlfriend into a martyr, saying Taylor will do anything to gain more followers and sway people’s opinions on anything but her current romantic situation.
Taylor is living her very own High School Musical, one foot in the music world, the other in the sports world; you have to wonder if she knew the risk she was taking exposing herself to such a vulnerable crowd: football fans. If she did, we should be applauding, not accusing her. Swift is already one of the most hated celebrities today, so, naturally, every little thing she does will gain attention and be spun out of proportion. The last thing she needs is people trashing her relationship. Enter football fans.
Football fans are incredibly protective of the sport they love—rightfully so—and generally question anything unusual. As soon as pop music royalty entered the arena, the gloves came off, and the fans’ internal “defense” signs were raised; fans questioned her motives, called her annoying, and claimed she was “ruining football”. Such behavior is to be expected from people who have such an admiration for an event. This behavior isn’t much different from what is known as “gatekeeping.”
Gatekeeping is defined as “the activity of controlling, and usually limiting, general access to something.” From a fangirl/boy/person’s point of view, gatekeeping consists of expressing love for whatever the source is, but then making sure other people don’t get involved in it—essentially keeping it all for yourself. People who gatekeep can become defensive of the thing they love and will become upset when others show interest. So, when NFL fans became enraged that Taylor Swift began attending games and drawing a lot of attention, unintentional shade was thrown at Swift; this rejection served as a way to keep Swift out of the conversation and make her feel unwelcome. Interestingly, NFL fans have only shown such abhorrence toward Taylor Swift, when plenty of celebrities have attended NFL games. Now, it can be argued that Swift has attended more games than others because she’s dating a player, but it’s not out of the ordinary for a teammate’s significant other to attend their games. For example, Simone Biles recently married Green Bay Packers’ safety Jonathan Owens, and no one seems upset at her attendance. It seems there is a pattern to the NFL fans’ gatekeeping; they only seem to be defensive against people they either don’t trust, or feel don’t align with their views. Drawing from this, it can be concluded that gatekeepers are most likely to act against those they don’t approve of—they will gatekeep from people they feel don’t deserve to indulge in whatever it is they’re protecting. Maybe the NFL fans have personal vendettas against Swift—vendettas they don’t have against Simone or any other celebrity—and therefore victimize her for it.
A theme that also comes to mind is something Taylor Swift has brought up in numerous interviews on various occasions: the double standard people display toward Swift as a woman. For example, when Ryan Reynolds attended the Jets vs. Chiefs game on October 1st of 2023, people rejoiced and thought it was cool; whenever Taylor attends Chiefs games, she is often repudiated. This is similarly seen when fans applauded Travis Kelce for cheering Swift on at her concert in Buenos Aires, calling him “supportive” and “amazing,” but calling Swift “annoying” and saying “she ruined football” when she cheered on Travis at his games. This is not unlike the Barbie debacle where Ryan Gosling is credited for his performance as Ken whereas Margot Robbie’s performance as Barbie is often ridiculed or overlooked. The double standard of men vs. women has been a primary topic of Swift’s discussions in the past and continues to stump her—and many others—to this day. Many people who take part in this double standard don’t even realize it at the time. As destructive as the standard is, Swift has managed to use it as a catalyst for her instrument in the songwriting process and has expanded her creative freedom across her victorious career.
In retrospect, there doesn’t seem to be a concrete solution to the dedication of Anti-Swifties; as Taylor notoriously proclaimed, “Haters gonna hate.” While the people putting in numerous efforts to trash Swift daily may not be stopped, maybe they can be informed of how their tactics seem to make Taylor and Travis’ relationship stronger and realize their efforts are meaningless. Travis Kelce recently spoke out about his relationship with Taylor on the podcast he and his brother, Jason Kelce, have called New Heights which releases episodes every Wednesday. In one episode, Travis says, “…how[ever] much the world wants to paint the picture and make us the enemy, we just have fun with it,”. So, the shots being fired at their relationship doesn’t seem to externally affect them, but people must remember that words cut deeper than others may let on.
The moral of the story is to show respect to a relationship that is not your own; you have no idea what goes on behind closed doors. And if a relationship repels you, simply ignore it; if you see videos about it, don’t watch them; if you see them on the TV, mute the TV; if you hear someone talking about it, walk away. It’s much simpler than people let on. You must wonder if haters would rather dedicate their time to hating instead of accepting that not everything is going to swing their way or please them . People must realize that not everything they encounter is going to uphold what they believe in, and that’s fine. This is what makes the world a diverse place where no one is the same. Is giving up our planet’s authenticity worth one peaceful NFL season?
Sources:
People: https://people.com/travis-kelce-attends-taylor-swift-second-concert-argentina-8400628
