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It brings me no joy to report this, but I have to say it: Taylor Swift fatigue is nigh.
Maybe it’s the constant references to her during every single NFL broadcast. Maybe it’s the endlessly documented pap walks. Maybe it’s the fact that the Empire State Building is worshipping her, that every brand account is now a Taylor stan account, and that every company is trying, desperately, to ride her coattails into viral meme stardom. Maybe it's the upcoming Taylor Swift night on Dancing With the Stars.
It's all those things and more, and the result is that there is absolutely no escaping Swift right now, and my knowledge of and research into women on the internet makes me think this can’t end well.
Swift has essentially been dominating pop culture ever since her 10th album, Midnights, dropped almost a year ago. The album smashed record after record, her singles became ubiquitous, “It’s me, hi” became a meme. Then, of course, there was the Eras Tour, which has become less of a tour and more like a cultural phenomenon, making so much money it is literally saving cities’ economies and leading the entire world to hate Ticketmaster.
There’s also been Swift herself, finally letting herself bejeweled and doing pap walks all over New York. She’s drawing crowds outside Electric Lady Studios; she’s grabbing dinner with Sophie Turner, the pop culture cause celeb de jour. She’s back with her squad, giving us ’fits. She had a controversial yet obsessively discussed romance with Matty Healy. She’s squarely in the spotlight and, it seems, doesn’t want to let go.
But ever since Swift began dating Travis Kelce, things are on a completely different level. When she glided into Arrowhead Stadium and sat next to the Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s mom in the VIP suite to watch the team play, she not only put that man on the map; she launched herself into previously uncharted territory of the zeitgeist. Every single moment of the game—from Swift’s seeming consumption of ranch dressing and her chest bumps to her leaving with Kelce in a convertible and her sitting on his lap at an after-party—has been obsessively documented to the point of mania.
There hasn’t been a day since when Swift hasn’t overtaken the news cycle, for both women and men. From ESPN to TMZ, from Fox Sports to Pop Crave, all anyone is talking about is Taylor, Taylor, Taylor. When she showed up at the New York Jets game last weekend, a gaggle of celebrity friends in tow, you could practically hear CMOs across various industries salivating. Everyone wants a piece of the pie, and everyone wants in on the Swift money machine.
It’s all been, let’s say, a bit much? Even Kelce thinks so, saying on his podcast with his brother he thinks the NFL is going too far with its promo.
“They’re overdoing it a little bit, for sure, especially my situation. [But] I think they’re just trying to have fun with it,” he said, according to People. (The NFL snipped back that they were just leaning into a cultural moment.)
It shouldn’t be surprising that men have immediately started complaining about the fact that a (gasp) woman is being mentioned during their beloved NFL broadcasts, which we all know, unlike pop culture, are extremely serious matters unconcerned with frivolity. Misogynistic man-children like podcasters for Barstool Sports have attempted to also ride Swift’s coattails by making crude, sexist comments about her to try to get a rise out of people.
I'm a card-carrying Swiftie but I'm also a lifelong football fanatic. Watching sports media maniacally try to capitalize on the cultural power of Taylor Swift and her female fanbase is the definition of cringe.
This sort of backlash is nothing new. Historically, famous women who date football players are treated terribly by both fans and the mainstream sports media. They blamed Jessica Simpson whenever her then beau Tony Romo didn’t play well, and Gisele Bündchen faced harassment from fans during her entire marriage to Tom Brady. The fact that Swift is, undeniably, more famous and culturally relevant than Kelce (sorry, but it’s true) is sure to mean the backlash against her will be even harsher than what those women faced.
But the truth is that right now it’s hard to literally do anything on- or offline without someone talking about Swift, making a Swift reference, or trying to shoehorn their way into the conversation.
It’s all getting to be too much. Even some Swifties will admit, anonymously of course, that they are getting a little tired of seeing Swift’s name everywhere they turn.
“I am deeply over this news cycle,” one told me. “It’s embarrassing at this point; she’s too rich and famous for this.”
In online gathering spaces like Reddit and Twitter, other women are also, cautiously, admitting that they are feeling a bit of Swift fatigue. They joke that they want to “unsubscribe” from Swift news, that they need to “mute” her from their timelines.
“You either die the hero or live long enough to admit that you have Taylor Swift fatigue,” wrote one person on Twitter.
Again, historically, none of this bodes well for Swift. Once the public starts to view a famous woman as “overexposed,” “thirsty,” or “too much,” they usually turn quickly. Just ask Anne Hathaway or Jennifer Lawrence.
Or just ask Swift herself. As those who are fluent in Swiftie lore know, she was also very overexposed in 2016 during her “1989 era.” She was doing countless pap walks with the Squad, she was breaking the internet with Hiddleswift, and she was constantly in the news. Then came the Kimye “snake” saga, which led to Swift vanishing from the public eye and then entering her “Reputation era.”
With Swift about to release 1989 (Taylor’s Version), some people have even speculated that Swift is literally re-creating the era, forcing the public to start to grow tired of her, spurring backlash that will inevitably lead to an opening for her to release Reputation (Taylor’s Version) (her mind!)
However, since that would be slightly deranged, the more likely answer is that Swift is just enjoying herself right now, and is so famous that everyone talks about her every move. Brands and media companies are incredibly desperate for a viral moment, to be in the zeitgeist, and to get in front of Gen Z’s eyeballs, so when something is proven to get clicks, everyone jumps on it at once. It’s an endless cycle that’s led to a Swift monoculture.
That’s bad news for Swift though, because Americans love nothing more than building a woman up just to tear her down. I worry that there is no way this level of exposure is going to end well for her. One wrong move, or honestly even a Chiefs loss, could lead to a swift (LOL) turning of tides. I can already see the sportscasters blaming Swift for “distracting” Kelce from the game, the headlines about how annoying Swift is, and the public adoration curdling into snark.
Even though some Swifties admit they could use a break from the endless headlines, they say they are worried that, like many periods of women enjoying things, this one is not going to last.
“I’ve always gone through periods of fatigue with her, to be honest,” one tells me. “But I also have this weird emotion toward Taylor and the NFL because of the backlash and taunting she’s opened herself—and her fans, more importantly—up to from men and other people who like football and think they are too good for Taylor. The Eras Tour and this whole year and summer with the Barbie movie has felt like a safe bubble for girlhood. But that feels like it’s ending.”
Stephanie McNeal is a senior editor at Glamour and the author of Swipe Up for More! Inside the Unfiltered Lives of Influencers.
