i don't know how to say this without potentially sounding like a biphobic ass, but while i think that if/when taylor comes out it'll be as bi, i don't think that'll make me stop thinking she's a lesbian. i feel bad for doubting someone's coming out, but like... all of the romantic interactions we've seen with men for her (definitely including joe) have seemed so scripted/convenient/stiff, she just screams lesbian—and most of the men scream gay. i think it'd be a way to cover for old beards tbh
If she comes out as bi, I think we should respect that. You can believe she’s a lesbian but if she outright tells us differently, I feel we should respect that and not doubt her. Bi isn’t an easier thing to come out as and she’s still LGBT+ 🤷♀️ We also should keep in mind that we truly don’t know what’s going on behind that scenes
Hey guys,
So I’m not big on theorising about the sexual orientations of celebrities given they are you know, real people but Taylor Swift released her 8th studio album, “folklore” recently. Not only does this album take me back to my days of high school, feeling very reminiscent of the old Taylor Swift, it also has an interesting song in it called “Betty” and before reading through this I advise listening to the song.
So a warning not to pass this point if you haven’t listened to the song.
So I have always had a suspicion that Taylor Swift maybe bisexual. But her public life has always been very boy crazy and while she has certainly show allyship in her songs, going as far back as the music video for “Mean” on the album “Speak Now”. There has really been nothing but I think she might be bisexual to back up this suspicion.
And really, in an ideal world Taylor being bisexual would not matter, but in the world we live in today where discrimination against LGBT people remains rampant, having arguably a superstar like Taylor amongst our ranks would be amazing. Plus I think, if Taylor is bisexual, “Betty” may reveal some of the politics in Big Machine and Nashville during the time of her early career.
So the song “Betty” focuses on what appears to be a Summer romances between Taylor and a girl called Betty, up until a point where Taylor refers to herself as being a guy called James. Which then suggests she is singing this song from the point of view of a guy called James and not her own point of view. So a romance between Betty and James.
And it may seem at this point the Bi Taylor Theory is proven moot but I need to dig deeper into this to get my thoughts across. So in the chorus there is a group of lines that goes like this;
“In the garden would you trust me
If I told you it was just a summer thing?
I'm only seventeen
I don't know anything but I know I miss you”
We here this 2 times before any mention of it being from the point of view of a guy called James. To me, it reads almost as if Taylor intended her romance with Betty to be an experiment but her feelings ended up developing into something more.
The song also mentions Taylor hating the crowds and seemingly describes a school dance where, Betty can’t find Taylor and Taylor maybe after building her confidence comes to find Betty dancing with a guy. Taylor also mentions the worse thing she ever did, was what she did to Betty. This makes me wonder if perhaps she outed Betty which would be a truly awful thing to do, but maybe I am also jumping to an awful conclusion. Maybe standing Betty up was actually the awful thing. Taylor feeling shame in her attraction to Betty, standing her up at the school dance and making Betty feel ashamed in who she is.
I did consider not including the outing theory as I wrote it, but I kinda like to show my entire thought process, as my followers will know.
Now, we can move onto James in which the lines go;
“I was walking home on broken cobblestones
Just thinking of you when she pulled up
Like a figment of my worst intentions
She said "James, get in, let's drive"
Those days turned into nights
Slept next to her but
I dreamt of you all summer long”
So this is the first indication this isn’t Taylor, but supposedly someone else’s point of view, a man called James, who while being infatuated by Betty is with another girl.
Now, perhaps Taylor was singing from another person’s point of view. But let’s imagine for a second she wasn’t, let’s imagine she was writing from her own point of view.
In this Taylor is 17 and near the beginning of her career in the country music scene. Taylor has a habit of writing song after song about her exes, romances and failed romances and I would assume, she would have written this song back then with the intent to either have the song released on either her debut album “Taylor Swift” or “Fearless”. Bare in mind, Taylor didn’t become a worldwide sensation until “Fearless”, she is still a small time country artist and Nashville isn’t exactly known for its liberalism. She has yet to have the level of artistic control she does now over her music.
Maybe Taylor threw that verse in to throw people, make it appear as if she were writing it from a guys point of view when in reality she was writing it from her own. And maybe Big Machine decided it was still a bit too on the nose and people would realise it was in fact her point of view she was writing from.
And for my final point, Taylor in the final verse sings;
“So, I showed up at your party
Yeah, I showed up at your party
Yeah, I showed up at your party
Will you have me?
Will you love me?
Will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends?
If you kiss me
Will it be just like I dreamed it? Will it patch your broken wings?
I'm only seventeen
I don't know anything
But I know I miss you
Standing in your cardigan
Kissing in my car again
Stopped at a streetlight, you know I miss you”
A key line I spot here is, “Standing in your cardigan”. Although certainly not impossible I don’t know many guys who are willing to wear their girlfriend’s cardigan. This further leads me to believe this is written from Taylor’s point of view, with the character of James’ being intended to throw people.
And now 13 years on, Taylor has a record deal with Republic and more creative freedom than she’s ever had. In fact more than probably most artists have. She has released an album that feels more in touch with her roots and one where the song of “Betty” doesn’t feel so out of place. She has made her allyship of the LGBT community very clear in the album “Lover” and show support for the Equality Act in the United States. Maybe now felt like the right time to release the song and hint at her possible bisexuality.
And I hear you asking, “Why didn’t she rewrite it to make it clear it is from her POV?” Maybe she is happy with how the song came out and maybe after 13 years the same level of emotions aren’t there for her to do a decent rewrite, but assuming this is a 13 year old song originally intended for “Taylor Swift” or “Fearless” I think it still quite eloquently gets the point across that Taylor is in fact bisexual.
And this is of course a theory and given this is a theory about a real person, I want to be quite clear that I could be wrong. If Taylor is straight, she is straight and there is nothing wrong with her being straight and fans should not pressure her into identifying one way or another.
I just felt like the song “Betty” raised some valid questions and I felt it was worth exploring and while it maybe great to have Taylor Swift as a bisexual icon. If she is straight she is still a pretty badass ally.
ok guys taylor hasn’t been seen kissing a lot of guys in public so why assume the men she was photographed with were boyfriends and the woman are/were just friends? we can and should consider she may be bisexual there’s nothing wrong about that you all need to calm down and stop calling us stupid and saying it’s just fanfic
