The popular track, which is the third from Taylor’s recently released album, is about her insecurities and anxieties. “I really don’t think I’ve delved into my insecurities into this detail before,” she said of the song.
“This song is really a real walkthrough through all the things I tend to hate about myself,” she said. “We all hate things about ourselves.”
This raw honesty is evident throughout the music video, which is written and directed by Taylor herself. She has describe the footage as a depiction of his “nightmarish scenarios and intrusive thoughts” unfolding “in real time”.
The video shows Taylor coming face to face with another version of herself: the Anti-Hero. It was quickly praised by fans who praised the singer for such a raw and honest portrayal of her deepest insecurities.
However, one scene in particular caused a stir online when the video was released. The short clip in question saw Taylor standing shamefacedly on a scale that read “FAT,” while the other version of herself shook her head in apparent disapproval.
Many social media users deemed the clip “fatphobic”.
“Taylor Swift’s music video of her looking at the scale that says ‘fat’ is a shitty way to describe her body image issues. Fat people don’t need to be told over and over again that it’s everyone’s worst nightmare to look like us,” read one viral tweet.
“It’s possible to appreciate Taylor Swift and Midnight as an artist AND call her out on her blatant fatophobia. Taylor Swift should have done better because even though it’s relatable and an ‘intrusive thought’, it’s damaging and fatphobic. Listen to fat people when they tell you you are,” one user said.
Taylor has now edited the video to remove the ladder scene, likely in response to such comments. The video was first edited on Apple Music and later on YouTube as well.
But some fans have spoken out in defense of Taylor, who opened up about her own experience with eating disorders in her 2020 documentary, miss american.
In the candid film, Taylor recalls a time in her life when she “didn’t eat” much and watched what she did consuming, as well as overexercising.
“I would have defended it to anyone who said, ‘I’m worried about you,'” she said, before admitting her response to worry would have been, “What are you talking about? Of course, I eat. I exercise a lot. And I did a lot of sports. But I didn’t eat.
Taylor even revealed that she often felt like she was going to pass out during her shows due to restrictive eating. “I thought I was supposed to feel like I was going to pass out at the end of a show, or in the middle of it,” she said.
She went on to say that she is still learning to navigate her thoughts around body image and can be easily triggered.
“It’s not good for me to see pictures of myself every day,” Taylor said. “It’s only happened a few times, and I’m not at all proud of it. A picture of me where I feel like my belly was too big, or…someone said I had the look pregnant…and it’s just going to make me starve a little bit – just stop eating.”
She later opened up about how she struggled to feel like she had to conform to society’s beauty standards, describing them as “fucking impossible” to meet.
“There is always a standard of beauty that you do not respect. Because if you’re thin enough, then you don’t have that ass everyone wants. But if you’re overweight enough to have an ass, your stomach isn’t flat enough. It’s just impossible,” she said.
As a result, many fans read the scene in “Anti-Hero” as both a visual representation of Taylor’s own eating disorder and an acknowledgment of fatphobia more generally – how its pervasiveness has conditioned us to equate being fat with fear. , and the need to undo this thought.
And many fans have argued that Taylor shouldn’t have had to erase a depiction of her own wrestling because of others’ interpretations.
“Taylor wasn’t showing how bad being ‘fat’ is, she shows how body dysmorphia affects her, and SHE struggles with it, stop taking it out on yourselves,” one person wrote next. a screenshot of a now-deleted tweet called Taylor “grosphobic.”
“I’m really upset with the editing of the Anti-Hero music video. It’s clearly the art that spoke to so many of us. And I feel so bad that Taylor felt bad enough to feel like that she had to change that. I hope she knows we appreciate her art and accept her struggles without judgement,” another said.
“Everyone experiences their ED in different ways and to shame them by dictating how a word can be used is to dismiss their struggles. This is cruel and unfair, especially since she has spent virtually her entire adult life in an industry that places incredible pressure on body image,” a third user wrote.
Before long, fans started reposting Taylor’s documentary clip, reminding others how open she was about her eating disorder.
Taylor has yet to speak out about all of the backlash herself, but we’ll be sure to update you if she does.
The National Eating Disorders Association hotline is 1-800-931-2237; For 24/7 crisis assistance, text “NEDA” to 741741.
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