Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Pop ~ 1989 (Oct 2014)

Welcome to New York

Walkin’ through a crowd, the village is aglow/Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats/Everybody here wanted somethin’ more/Searchin’ for a sound we hadn’t heard before…/…When we first dropped our bags on apartment floors/Took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer/Everybody here was someone else before/And you can want who you want/Boys and boys and girls and girls…/…Like any great love, it keeps you guessing/Like any real love, it’s ever-changing/Like any true love, it drives you crazy/But you know you wouldn’t change anything, anything, anything

Blank Space

Magic, madness, heaven, sin…/…You look like my next mistake/Love’s a game, wanna play?” Ay…/…New money, suit and tie…/…Ain’t it funny? Rumors fly/And I know you heard about me/So hey, let’s be friends/I’m dying to see how this one ends…/…I can make the bad guys good for a weekend…/…You can tell me when it’s over, mm…/…Got a long list of ex-lovers…/…And you love the game/’Cause we’re young, and we’re reckless/We’ll take this way too far/It’ll leave you breathless, mm/Or with a nasty scar…/…But I’ve got a blank space, baby/And I’ll write your name…/…Stolen kisses, pretty lies/You’re the King, baby, I’m your Queen/Find out what you want/Be that girl for a month/Wait, the worst is yet to come, oh, no/Screaming, crying, perfect storms/I can make all the tables turn…/…Don’t say I didn’t, say I didn’t warn ya/THEY’LL tell you I’m insane (I’m insane)/’Cause YOU know I love the players…

Style

Midnight/You come and pick me up, no headlights…/…Could end in burning flames or paradise…/…And I should just tell you to leave ’cause I/Know exactly where it leads…/…And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt/And when we go crashing down, we come back every time…/…Oh, you got that James Dean daydream look in your eye/And I got that red lip classic thing that you like

Out of the Woods

Then discovered…/…The rest of the world was black and white/But we were in screaming color…/…Are we out of the woods?/Are we in the clear yet?…/…The night we couldn’t quite forget/When we decided, we decided/To move the furniture so we could dance/Baby, like we stood a chance/Two paper airplanes flying, flying, flying…/…Remember when we couldn’t take the heat?/I walked out, I said “I’m setting you free”/But the monsters turned out to be just trees/When the sun came up you were looking at me

All You Had to Do Was Stay

People like you always want back the love they gave away/And people like me wanna believe you when you say you’ve changed/The more I think about it now, the less I know…/…Then why’d you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?

Shake It Off

I go on too many dates [chuckle]/But I can’t make ’em stay/At least that’s what people say, mmm-mmm…/…And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate…/…I shake it off, I shake it off…/…I never miss a beat/I’m lightning on my feet/And that’s what they don’t see…/…I’m dancing on my own (dancing on my own)/I make the moves up as I go (moves up as I go)

More examples:

These had too many pics to post a concise list on this post, but check out the websites. It shows a lot of relationships, marriages, babies, cheating, fights, etc, etc… are orchestrated to generate buzz and ultimately sell a product:

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a26847417/keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-pr-stunts-timeline/

https://www.insider.com/kardashian-jenner-family-scandals-controversies-2021-5

I Wish You Would

You think I’m gonna hate you now/’Cause you still don’t know what I never said…/…I wish you knew that/I’d never forget you as long as I’d live…/…We’re a crooked love/In a straight line down/Makes you wanna run and hide/Then it makes you turn right back around…/…And remember what we were fighting for…/…This mad, mad love makes you come rushing

Exp 2:

Bad Blood

You know it used to be mad love…/…Now we got problems/And I don’t think we can solve ’em/You made a really deep cut…/…I was thinking that you could be trusted/Did you have to ruin/What was shining? Now it’s all rusted/Did you have to hit me/Where I’m weak? Baby, I couldn’t breathe/And rub it in so deep/Salt in the wound like you’re laughing right at me…/…Did you think we’d be fine?/Still got scars on my back from your knife/So don’t think it’s in the past/These kind of wounds they last and they last/Now did you think it all through?/All these things will catch up to you…/…If you live like that, you live with ghosts (ghosts, ghosts)/Band-aids don’t fix bullet holes (hey!)/You say sorry just for show …/…Hm, if you love like that, blood runs cold/’Cause baby, now we got bad blood

Wildest Dreams

…”Let’s get out of this town/Drive out of the city, away from the crowds“/I thought Heaven can’t help me now/Nothing lasts forever/But this is gonna take me down…/…I said, “No one has to know what we do”/His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room…/…You’ll see me in hindsight/Tangled up with you all night/Burning it down/Someday when you leave me/I bet these memories/Follow you around…/…Say you’ll see me again/Even if it’s just (pretend, just pretend) in your wildest dreams/In your wildest dreams/Even if it’s just stayed in your wildest dreams

How You Get the Girl

Stand there like a ghost/Shaking come the rain, rain/She’ll open up the door/And say, are you insane…/…And you were too afraid to tell her what you want, want…/…And then you say/I want you for worse or for better…/…Tell her how you must’ve lost your mind/When you left her all alone and never told her why, why/And that’s how it works/That’s how you lost the girl…/…Broke your heart, I’ll put it back together…/…And you could know, oh/That I don’t want you to go

This Love

High tide came and brought you in…/…Skies grew darker/Currents swept you out again…/…In silent screams/In wildest dreams/I never dreamed of this/This love is good/This love is bad…/…In losing grip/On sinking ships…/…This love left a permanent mark/This love is glowing in the dark…/…I watched you leave/Your smile, my ghost/I fell to my knees/When you’re young, you just run/But you come back to what you need

I Know Places

It’s a scene, and we’re out here in plain sight/I can hear them whisper as we pass by/It’s a bad sign, bad sign/Something happens when everybody finds out/See the vultures circling, dark clouds/Love’s a fragile little flame, it could burn out…/…’Cause they got the cages, they got the boxes/And guns/They are the hunters, we are the foxes/And we run/Baby, I know places we won’t be found and/They’ll be chasing their tails trying to track us down…/…Lights flash and we’ll run for the fences/Let them say what they want, we won’t hear it/Loose lips sink ships all the damn time/Not this time…/…they take their shots, but we’re bulletproof

https://www.queerty.com/evicted-closet-8-times-queer-celebrities-outed-allies-20210612

Clean

You’re still all over me/Like a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore/Hung my head as I lost the war/And the sky turned black like a perfect storm/Rain came pouring down/When I was drowning, that’s when I could finally breathe/And by morning/Gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean…/…There was nothing left to do…/…So I punched a hole in the roof/Let the flood carry away all my pictures of you/The water filled my lungs, I screamed so loud/But no one heard a thing…/…Ten months sober, I must admit/Just because you’re clean, don’t mean you don’t miss it/Ten months older, I won’t give in/Now that I’m clean, I’m never gonna risk it

https://variety.com/2015/film/news/gay-lgbt-movie-stars-staying-locked-in-the-closet-1201529581/

Wonderland

Flashing lights and we/Took a wrong turn and we/Fell down a rabbit hole…/…’Cause nothing’s as it seems/And spinning out of control…/…Haven’t you heard what becomes of curious minds?/Ooh, didn’t it all seem new and exciting?/I felt your arms twisting around me/I should’ve slept with one eye open at night…/…We found Wonderland/You and I got lost in it/And life was never worse but never better…/…Too in love to think straight/All alone, or so it seemed/But there were strangers watching/And whispers turned to talking/And talking turned to screams, oh…/…It’s all fun and games ’til somebody loses their mind…/…I knew I had to go back home/You search the world for something else/To make you feel like what we had/And in the end, in Wonderland, we both went mad

https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1354&context=theses

You Are In Love

One look, dark room/Meant just for you…/…No proof, one touch/But you felt enough…/…You can hear it in the silence, silence, you/You can feel it on the way home, way home, you/You can see it with the lights out, lights out/You are in love, true love…/…He keeps his word/And for once, you let go/Of your fears and your ghosts/One step, not much/But it said enough…/…One night he wakes/Strange look on his face/Pauses, then says/You’re my best friend/And you knew what it was/He is in love…/…And you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars/And why I’ve spent my whole life tryin’ to put it into words

New Romantics

We’re all bored/We’re all so tired of everything/We wait for trains that just aren’t coming/We show off our different scarlet letters/Trust me, mine is better/We’re so young/But we’re on the road to ruin/We play dumb but we know exactly what we’re doin’…/…I could build a castle/Out of all the bricks they threw at me/And every day is like a battle/But every night with us is like a dream…/…Heartbreak is the national anthem/We sing it proudly/We are too busy dancing/To get knocked off our feet/Baby, we’re the new romantics/The best people in life are free…/…We’re all here/The lights and noise are blinding/We hang back/It’s all in the timing/It’s poker/He can’t see it in my face/But I’m about to play my Ace (ah)/We need love/But all we want is danger/We team up/Then switch sides like a record changer/The rumors are terrible and cruel/But honey, most of them are true

Suspicions Confirmed

A higher percentage of lesbians smoke and are overweight than straight women.  I think this, because it’s what I’ve encountered personally.  It’s what I’ve seen at the gay bars, at Pride, in LGBT organizations, in my friend and dating life, on the streets, on television, in movies, and per what I read about famous lesbians.  Now, research backs up my theory.

And it makes sense because marginalized populations are more susceptible to vices.  Anyone who faces discrimination must have a bit of self-hate to overcome.  Plus, if you’re already stigmatized for being gay, what’s the difference if you smoke as well?  Also, the gays have a larger disposable income.  And so they are targeted by advertisers.  And they have more time without kids.  And gays generally want to be around like-people (we all do) so where do you hang out?  Well, at gay bars–where smoking is commonplace.

And the weight issue?  Well, as a feminist, I do not prescribe to the strict beauty standard set by the patriarchy.  And I would guess most lesbians don’t either.  And without that constant pressure, we look–well, more portly as a group.  My guess is that lesbians take more stalk in a personality than physical attributes.    Also, I think a little self-esteem and boundary issues play a part.  Maybe lesbians let themselves go a little.  To prove they don’t need to please men?  To protect themselves with a physical layer of insulation?

Anyway, here are the facts from other sources that back up my claims:

-A new study from Community Marketing, Inc. provides insights about how gay men and lesbians spend their money and live their lives.  Gay men (27 percent) and lesbians (23 percent) smoke cigarettes at higher rates than the national averages for adult men (22 percent) and women (17 percent) (3).  Among homosexuals: 37% of women smoke; 33% of men smoke.  Among heterosexuals: 18% of women smoke; 24% of men smoke (4).

-Researchers say that lesbian women are more likely to smoke, drink and to be overweight, putting them at greater risk of health problems than other women, HealthScout reported April 17 (2).

-Roughly 56 percent of lesbians are current or former smokers, compared to 36 percent of straight women, and gay women are slightly more likely than other women to drink alcohol. Furthermore, about 28 percent of lesbians are obese, compared to 19 percent of heterosexual women (2).

-In all, 11,876 women were involved in the study. Eighty-seven percent of the women surveyed were self-defined lesbians, while 12% considered themselves bisexual. (The researchers used the term “lesbian” to collectively refer to both groups.) (5).

-Nearly three in 10 lesbians surveyed were obese, compared with about one in five women overall; nevertheless, lesbians were less likely than average to consider themselves overweight (44% vs. 56%). Although there was no significant difference in current alcohol use between lesbians and women overall, the same was not true for problem drinking. More than 12% of lesbians reported having a history of problems with alcohol, a rate far higher than the 4% standardized estimate of women nationally who reported having five or more drinks almost every day. Lesbians were also more likely than average to currently use tobacco (21% vs. 16%) or to have used tobacco in the past (34% vs. 20%) (5).

-A comparison of these data with standardized estimates for all U.S. women suggests that lesbians and bisexual women are significantly more likely to be obese, smoke cigarettes and abuse alcohol (all known cancer risk factors). Furthermore, they are significantly less likely than average to have ever used oral contraceptives and to have ever been pregnant or given birth to a live infant (all shown to be protective against ovarian and endometrial cancer). Lesbians and bisexual women are also less likely than American women overall to have health insurance and to undergo cancer screenings (5).

These figures come from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Published in the August issue of Tobacco Control, they’re based on a review of 42 studies about tobacco use among sexual minorities.

-The massive study was led by Elisabeth P. Gruskin, a public health researcher with Kaiser Permanente, and supported by the California Department of Public Health. Between July, 2003 and March, 2004 it dialed 187,000 telephone numbers in California, screened 31,000 households for eligibility, and completed nearly 3,000 survey interviews with adults, comparing those with the results of existing surveys of all Californians (1).

-Partly due to the tobacco industry’s relentless campaign to target gay men and women through bar promotions, sponsorships, andadvertisements in the queer press, LGBT adults and youth have roughly 40%-70% higher smoking rates than the general population; and bartenders and cocktail servers in LGBT oriented nightclubs are disproportionately exposed to secondhand smoke (7).

-According to the summary of an earlier report from the CDC, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2001:  Estimated smoking rates for lesbians, gays, and bisexuals ranged from 38% to 59% among youth and from 11% to 50% among adults. National smoking rates during comparable periods ranged from 28% to 35% for adolescents and were approximately 28% for adults (4).

-I’ve just learned from NPR’s All Things Considered that in California, gay men and lesbians are 70 percent more likely to smoke than the general population (4).

-The 898 women participating in the survey divided fairly evenly: lesbian 34.2 percent, bisexual 29.3 percent, and women who have sex with women (WSW) 36.5 percent. The 1052 men showed stark division, with 85.4 percent identifying as gay, 7 percent as bisexual, and 7.6 percent as men who have sex with men (MSM). This gender dichotomy reflects what seems to be a real difference in the way men and women experience sexual orientation (1).

-gay culture may be more accepting of lifestyle choices. Lesbians may also be less concerned about smoking and drinking because they’re less likely to have children, and more tolerant of weight (2).

-Tobacco companies also advertise heavily in gay magazines. . .  smoking is common in gay bars — often the center of lesbian social life (2).

-Likely explanations include the success of tobacco industry’s targeted marketing to gays and lesbians, as well as time spent in smoky social venues and stress from discrimination.” (4).

-As a matter of fact, childless households (whether gay or straight) spend, on average, 56 percent more on cigarettes and alcohol than their childbearing neighbors. (Among households where the parents have some education, the discrepancy is even larger.) Nor is there anything mysterious about why. First, parents have extra reasons to live long and stay healthy, both so they can be there when their kids need them and so they can enjoy the company of their grandchildren. Second, parents have extra expenses—starting with diapers and continuing through college tuition—that leave less disposable income for cigarettes. Third, a lot of parents don’t like the idea of smoking in front of their children (6).

-Among the general population, 68 percent of women had never smoked, while in the study population those numbers were 43 percent of lesbians, 51.3 percent of bisexual women, and 21.5 percent of WSW.  Gay men were more likely to smoke than the general population (27.3 percent vs. 19.7 percent), while the smoking rates for bisexual and MSM did not differ significantly from the general population (1).

-When data from the males and females were combined, the study participants were much more likely to be heavy daily smokers than the general population (G/L 22.2 percent, bisexual 22.6 percent, same-sex partners 29.7 percent) (1).

-People 18 to 24 are more likely to smoke than those who are older (24 percent vs. 20 percent), but they are highly motivated to quit (1).

–

1.)  http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=25854

2.)  http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/drugs/lesbians-more-likely-to-smoke

3.)  http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/08/03/636731/new-survey-provides-unique-insights-into-gay-and-lesbian-consumer-habits/?mobile=nc

4.)  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/07/gays-lesbians-smoking-study-.html

5.)  http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3318301.html

6.)  http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/everyday_economics/2003/08/why_do_gays_smoke_so_much.html

7.)  http://www.no-smoke.org/learnmore.php?id=461

Related articles

• Benefits of Quitting Alcohol and Tobacco Together (alcoholism.answers.com)
• You: Health campaign targets smoking in LGBT community (latimes.com)
• Lesbian and gay young people in England twice as likely to smoke and drink alcohol (allowinglove.wordpress.com)
• Study: Young gay people in England twice as likely to smoke (pinknews.co.uk)

“Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry.” Gloria Steinem

It’s International Women’s Day!  And truth be told I am SO excited–I honestly wish it were a widely known, legit holiday that everyone acknowledged.  I really wanted to celebrate this special day.  Originally, I wanted to pamper myself and get a massage or something like that.  Which I have never done before.  But Cool works, I have a quiz this afternoon to do more preparing for, and I work all day tomorrow.  Also, I’m sick, sick, sick, and the thought of anyone touching me, sounds fairly horrid right now.  Plus snarfing and coughing isn’t nearly as sexy as I would like to feel at my fist massage session.

Instead, I am immersing myself in strong female influences today.  This will include:  Listening to the female artists while reading feminist blogs, watching only pro-women portrayals on television (time allowing), and maybe finishing the day with some sort of Lifetime movie.  And for dinner–tacos.  And not (solely) because Cool thinks she’s hilarious bringing up some kindergarten joke of tacos vs. hot dogs–but because my mom ate tacos very night she was pregnant with me.  Every.  Night.  For 9 months–my poor father!

I have to mention that it was extraordinarily difficult to broach the subject of IWD without clinging to the trite cliche prevalent on the internet.  Picking a title–Women’s Day, Herstory–well, it’s all been done before.  And pictures?  How many Rosie the Riveters could I see?  With each one, the impact was a little less.  Not that those aren’t imperative images–I just wanted to be more original to have maximum impact.  To get the day started right, here are some of the most important women.  Remember them, respect all they have accomplished, and research the more unfamiliar.

Influential Women Everyone Knows (or should):

Really, this list is not all-inclusive.  There are so many examples of brave, strong, influential, important females past and present.  These are just the tip of the iceberg.  Mother Teresa, Rosie the Riveter, Harriot Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Elenor Roosevelt, Sally Ride, Sandra Day O’Connor, Madeline Albright, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Billie Jean King, Annie Oakley, Oprah, Hilary Rodam Clinton, Mia Hamm, Eve Ensler,  Lucille Ball, Candice Bergen and many, many more.

Lessor Known, but Just as Important Women:

Martha Graham-revolutionized dance.  “The Picasso of Dance.”

Mary Kay Ash- her sell-it-yourself goods allowed women to be independent

Joan Ganz Cooney-created Sesame Street

Virginia Apgar–created the Apgar Test to reduce infant mortality

Mother Jones-fought for child-labor laws and overall rights for mine workers.

(Famous and ) Especially Meaningful to Me:

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls

Naomi Wolf, author of “The Beauty Myth”

Margart Sanger–mother of Planned Parenthood

Women of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

I hope everyone has a great IWD and takes some time to appreciate women.  DO something to further women.  I went to Change.org and clicked “Women’s Rights” to sign a lot of petitions demanding fair treatment of women.  Also, get word out about this holiday!