Body positivity activists have successfully bullied Taylor Swift into removing a scene from her new music video because it is “fatphobic.”
According to a Boston Medical Center definition, fatphobia is “also known as anti-fat,” and it “is the implicit and explicit bias of overweight individuals that is rooted in a sense of blame and presumed moral failing. Being overweight and/or fat is highly stigmatized in Western Culture. Anti-fatness is intrinsically linked to anti-blackness, racism, classism, misogyny, and many other systems of oppression.”
WATCH: TIKTOK INFLUENCER TELLS WHITE PEOPLE NOT TO SEE BLACK PANTHER SEQUEL
Swift’s representatives did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
The original music video for “Anti-Hero,” which premiered on Oct. 21 along with Swift’s new album Midnights, featured a scene in which the award-winning singer stepped on a scale, which in turn read “fat.”
A week later, the scene is no longer in the video.
Upon its release, online critics were quick to point out nonpolitically correct aspects of Swift’s art.
According to a TikTok user, Swift is reinforcing the idea that being overweight is bad. “Being fat is not a bad thing,” she told viewers.
@reynacohan @Taylor Swift super disappointed in the absolutely unnecessary harm you have decided to cause. Also @Haley Osier spoke on this as well & is why I even knew it was a thing. #antifatbias #fatphobia #greenscreen Anti-Hero – Taylor Swift
Notably, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the leading cause of death in America is heart disease. The CDC further says that conditions putting people at high risk include “diabetes, overweight and obesity, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity.”
The CDC also says that high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol are the “key risk factors” for heart disease. It notes that both can be direct results of obesity and an unhealthy diet.
One Twitter user called the scene “a s***** way to describe her body image struggles.”
“Fat people don’t need to have it reiterated yet again that it’s everyone’s worst nightmare to look like us,” she continued.
Taylor Swift’s music video, where she looks down at the scale where it says “fat,” is a shitty way to describe her body image struggles. Fat people don’t need to have it reiterated yet again that it’s everyone’s worst nightmare to look like us.
— Shira Rose (@theshirarose) October 21, 2022
Another TikTok user said Swift should know better, adding that the scene is “really triggering.”
@im.an.adult Replying to @im.an.adult original sound – im.an.adult
Many users on both sites also came to Swift’s defense, explaining that the scene was an artistic choice to represent her own struggles with eating disorders. However, their defense did not save the scene from being cut, presumably due to the online backlash.
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According to Billboard, Midnights has already sold more than 1 million albums in the United States. Midnights also boasts the fifth-most streams in one week by an album.
