A scene in a music video for a song by Taylor Swift was quietly edited after criticism online for being Fatphobic.
In the disturbing scene, the 32-year-old stands in a bathroom in front of a set of scales while a version of herself, who appears to be her inner critic, looks on.
As she steps on the scale, the word “fat” immediately appears in big red letters on the dial, and she has a look of fear and judgment on her face.
Since then, filming for the anti-hero video has shown Swift going on the scale, with the word “fat” appearing in big red letters. Source: YouTube
The scene in the video, written and directed by Swift, quickly drew criticism online for portraying fatness in a negative light.
Some fans urged her to edit the video and apologize, similar to how When they were criticized for releasing songs that .
While both the Apple Music and YouTube versions of the anti-hero video have now been edited to remove the offending shot, Swift has not publicly addressed the criticism or issued an apology.
Why was the video criticized?
Many fans and health professionals saw the scene as a disservice to fat people and those with eating disorders or body image issues.
“Taylor Swift’s music video of her looking at a scale that says ‘Fat’ is shit to describe her struggles with her body. Fat people don’t need to repeat that it’s everyone’s worst nightmare to see that everyone’s worst nightmare to watch Like Us,” New York-based eating disorder therapist Shira Rosenbluth wrote on Twitter.
“Having an eating disorder does not excuse Fatphobia”.
Some fans defended the use of the word, saying Swift should be commended for being so open about her experiences with her eating disorder and body image issues.
But others pointed out that such complex diseases should not be reduced to a single word, and that the use of “fat” is not only offensive, but also reinforces the myth that only thin people can have an eating disorder.
Australian fat activist Nick McDermid – a “huge fan” of Swift – said she cried while watching the video.
“Why do we continue to perpetuate the narrative that fat is the worst thing you can be. And that fat is synonymous with lazy, unworthy, disgusting, despicable, or any other adjective that non-fat uses to describe to describe to describe to describe to describe to describe to describe to describe to describe How horrible their bodies are,” she wrote on Instagram.
“It’s kind of anti-wrestling, especially with such a large and impressionable audience, absolutely absolutely.”
Ms. McDermid acknowledged that while Swift’s intentions may not have been “to erase the lived experience of people with larger bodies or to perpetuate such vile anti-fat rhetoric,” that is the impact she believes the scene had.
“Intention does not equal impact. I really, really hope you take this feedback and do better,” she wrote.
Some social media users suggested alternative words that could have been used to describe Swift’s feelings without changing her fatness, including “unworthy,” “unwavering” and “not good enough.”
Readers looking for support with eating disorders or body image issues can contact the Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673. More information is available at
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/a-taylor-swift-video-was-quietly-edited-after-being-labelled-fatphobic-but-she-hasnt-apologised/zpfkjr8u1
