Since Donald Trump took office, there have been several times I felt chilled by the rapid increase in misogyny seeping into our culture. But watching Taylor Swift at Super Bowl LIX booed by a crowd of thousands on Sunday night was a new low. Advertisement It was just a football game, people might say. Or Swift—who is famously dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce—got heckled by some rowdy Eagles fans excited to be at the biggest sporting event of the year. So? Don’t take it so seriously. But I was there at the game. When Swift’s face appeared on the Jumbotron, an almost instant—and distinctly male—dissent erupted from around me. Swift, of course, was there to support her boyfriend and was far from the only celebrity in attendance. In fact, the screen showed a new famous person—from Paul McCartney to Anne Hathaway to Lady Gaga—nearly every time there was a break in the play with virtually no response from the crowd. WATCH THIS Love Island’s Olandria Carthen Reveals What’s On Her Phone Swift was different. As soon as she appeared on screen, the crowd seemed to delight in jeering and heckling her, and the mood shift was palpable. I watched in real time as Swift, alongside her friend Ice Spice, took in the response, her brow furrowing in confusion and then apparent discomfort. Looking at the camera, she distinctly said, “What is going on?” And girl, same, because we were all wondering what the hell was happening. Perhaps the moment would have felt less visceral if not for the fact that less than an hour earlier the crowd had exploded—this time with applause—to see Trump on that same screen. As an image of the president, stonefaced and standing in a salute, was shown to the crowd during Jon Batiste’s national anthem performance, the roar of approval and cheers was deafening (of course, there were those in the crowd who booed the president and cheered for Swift as well, but from my vantage point, it was clear what the overall sentiment was).
Since Donald Trump took office, there have been several times I felt chilled by the rapid increase in misogyny seeping into our culture. But watching Taylor Swift at Super Bowl LIX booed by a crowd of thousands on Sunday night was a new low. Advertisement It was just a football game, people might say. Or Swift—who is famously dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce—got heckled by some rowdy Eagles fans excited to be at the biggest sporting event of the year. So? Don’t take it so seriously. But I was there at the game. When Swift’s face appeared on the Jumbotron, an almost instant—and distinctly male—dissent erupted from around me. Swift, of course, was there to support her boyfriend and was far from the only celebrity in attendance. In fact, the screen showed a new famous person—from Paul McCartney to Anne Hathaway to Lady Gaga —nearly every time there was a break in the play with virtually no response from the crowd. WATCH THIS Love Island’s Olandria Carthen Reveals What’s On Her Phone Swift was different. As soon as she appeared on screen, the crowd seemed to delight in jeering and heckling her, and the mood shift was palpable. I watched in real time as Swift, alongside her friend Ice Spice, took in the response, her brow furrowing in confusion and then apparent discomfort. Looking at the camera, she distinctly said, “What is going on?” And girl, same, because we were all wondering what the hell was happening. Perhaps the moment would have felt less visceral if not for the fact that less than an hour earlier the crowd had exploded—this time with applause—to see Trump on that same screen. As an image of the president, stonefaced and standing in a salute, was shown to the crowd during Jon Batiste’s national anthem performance, the roar of approval and cheers was deafening (of course, there were those in the crowd who booed the president and cheered for Swift as well, but from my vantage point, it was clear what the overall sentiment was).
