She argued that Taylor Swift should not be influencing tweens to get involved in politics.
A mom of a 10-year-old girl received mixed reactions after insisting that global superstar Taylor Swift should stick to making music and entertaining her young fans instead of attempting to sway their opinions about the upcoming election and politics as a whole.
She said Taylor Swift should stay out of politics and ‘stick to sequins.’
“I have a 10-year-old that listens to Taylor Swift. I myself love Taylor Swift, but why is she dabbling her toes in politics?” Melinda Lynn questioned in a TikTok. “Stay in your lane, baby girl. Stay in your lane.”
She argued that when her 10-year-old daughter goes to a Swift concert, she should not be immersed in politics or hear about the upcoming election. Rather, the focus should solely be on the music and performance.
Lynn claimed that she’s seen countless videos on TikTok of Swift’s concerts being “patriotic” and took offense, arguing that Swift should just stick to entertaining her fans.
“My 10-year-old should not go to your concert and see a silhouette of Kamala Harris behind you looking like a backup dancer or something,” she said, mispronouncing the vice president’s name. “Red and blue isn’t even your color, girl.”
Lynn insisted that her daughter, and the millions of other little girls over whom Swift has influence, are way too young to be involved in politics.
“Keep singing your songs and stop trying to change the minds of these little children,” Lynn continued. “My daughter is 10, and she doesn’t need to hear about politics. Let’s leave that till later, honey.”
“Before they can even vote, you’re brainwashing them to get on your side,” she added.
She insisted that it is no one’s business who she supports in the upcoming election or politics as a whole — something Swift needs to learn, according to Lynn.
As someone with a platform and influence — Lynn has over 71 thousand followers on TikTok — she argued that opinions about politics and social issues should be kept private. She emphasized that the biggest portion of Swift’s fanbase is under the age of 18 and can’t even vote yet anyway.
That’s not statistically true, however. According to a Morning Consult survey, roughly half of Swift’s fanbase are millennials — not Gen Alpha. And just 11% of her fans are under the age of 26, far from a majority.
Swift is not the most vocal celebrity regarding politics and social issues.
In the past, Swift has been heavily criticized for refusing to address certain political and social issues.
The only thing she’s consistently done is tell her fans to vote, something anyone in a democratic country should be happy to support. She doesn’t even tell her fans to vote for a particular candidate; she just stresses the importance of voting as a whole.
On top of that, she has a far-reaching and influential platform filled with young children and teenagers who look up to her and consume everything she does with fervor. Just because many of her fans aren’t yet 18 doesn’t mean they shouldn’t learn about the importance of having a voice and using it to better the world that we live in.
To reduce her to simply making music, singing songs, and putting on shows for tweens and teens diminishes the power that she has. To stay silent in the face of adversity, oppression, and the state of the world is to be complicit, and frankly, Swift should be doing everything in her power to make sure her fanbase stays vigilant and aware of their futures.
