www.npr.org Open in urlscan Pro
2a02:26f0:3100::1735:2a99  Public Scan

URL: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/05/27/479462825/taylor-swift-aryan-goddess
Submission Tags: taylor swift eras woke progressive right wing right wing extremist conservative human rights european election Search All
Submission: On March 08 via manual from US — Scanned from FI

Form analysis 0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Accessibility links
 * Skip to main content
 * Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

NPR 24 Hour Program StreamOn Air Now
 * Hourly News
 * Listen Live
 * Playlist

 * Open Navigation Menu
 * 
 * 
 * Newsletters
 * Sign In
 * NPR Shop
 * Donate

Close Navigation Menu
 * Home
 * News Expand/collapse submenu for News
   * National
   * World
   * Politics
   * Business
   * Health
   * Science
   * Climate
   * Race
 * Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture
   * Books
   * Movies
   * Television
   * Pop Culture
   * Food
   * Art & Design
   * Performing Arts
   * Life Kit
   * Gaming
 * Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music
   * Tiny Desk
   * Hip-Hop 50
   * All Songs Considered
   * Music Features
   * Live Sessions
 * Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows
   Daily
    * Morning Edition
    * Weekend Edition Saturday
    * Weekend Edition Sunday
    * All Things Considered
    * Fresh Air
    * Up First
   
   Featured
    * The NPR Politics Podcast
    * Throughline
    * Trump's Trials
    * Pop Culture Happy Hour
   
    * More Podcasts & Shows

 * Search
 * Newsletters
 * Sign In
 * NPR Shop

 * 
 * Tiny Desk
 * Hip-Hop 50
 * All Songs Considered
 * Music Features
 * Live Sessions

 * About NPR
 * Diversity
 * Organization
 * NPR Network
 * Support
 * Careers
 * Connect
 * Press
 * Ethics

White Supremacists Call Taylor Swift An Aryan Goddess : Code Switch Haters (of a
multicultural society) gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Meanwhile, Swift will
continue to bask in her utterly unremarkable whiteness.


CODE SWITCH

Race. In your face.
 * Podcast
 * School Colors
 * Perspectives
 * About Us
 * FAQ


 * Twitter
 * Facebook


NPR


CODE SWITCH

LISTEN & FOLLOW Fill 10 Created with Sketch.
 * NPR App
 * Apple Podcasts
 * Spotify
 * Google Podcasts
 * Amazon Music
 * RSS link


CODE SWITCH


TAYLOR SWIFT, ARYAN GODDESS?

May 27, 201612:26 PM ET

Leah Donnella

Enlarge this image

Taylor Swift, a pop star who is extraordinary for reasons entirely unrelated to
white nationalism. Taylor Hill/FilmMagic, Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic, Getty Images


Taylor Swift, a pop star who is extraordinary for reasons entirely unrelated to
white nationalism.

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic, Getty Images

So, this is happening: Some white supremacists have anointed Taylor Swift an
"Aryan goddess," claiming that she secretly espouses far-right beliefs and is
waiting for Donald Trump's ascension to the presidency to make her true views
known.

For the record, Swift has no affiliation with any white supremacist groups. She
has never publicly made any white supremacist remarks, nor has she ever been
accused of making them in private. There is no reason to believe she has any
interest whatsoever in any of this.

So where did it come from? Vice's women-centered website, Broadly, did a deep
dive into the history of the Swift-neo-Nazi fantasy and its satirical roots;
it's worth a read if you're interested. It quotes Andre Anglin, who is behind
the Daily Stormer website, lauding Swift's "sculpted Aryan form," as well as the
community manager of the Taylor Swift for Fascist Europe Facebook page, who
praised Swift's "Nordic blood" and the fact that she's not "having gang-bangs
with colored gentlemen" as reasons for her adoration.



In other words, it seems, the criteria for Aryan goddesses boil down to this:
Swift is white, she looks white, and she hangs out with mostly white people.


GOATS AND SODA


TAYLOR SWIFT IS DREAMING OF A VERY WHITE AFRICA

Swift's whiteness has been scrutinized before. BuzzFeed made a quiz about the
all-white "boyfriends" in her music videos. In 2014, Jezebel wrote an article
urging Swift to befriend a black person — two weeks later, it celebrated the
fact that she had seemingly added two to her roster (Beyonce and Jay Z). In
September, our friends at Goats and Soda yikes'd at her "Wildest Dreams" music
video, which is set somewhere in Africa but contains roughly zero black people.

Again, to state the obvious: None of this means, or even remotely suggests, that
Taylor Swift is into white supremacy.

To state what might be slightly less obvious: None of this is even slightly
remarkable.

Most white people in the United States spend most of their time with other white
people. A 2014 study from the Public Religion Research Institute showed that for
every 91 white friends a white person has, he or she has one black, one Latino,
and one Asian friend. Neighborhoods across the country are, and stay,
segregated. In 2016, public schools in the United States are still being
federally mandated to desegregate. This isn't a Taylor Swift thing. It's a
housing segregation/workplace diversity/general American history thing.



That is to say, it's entirely possible as a white person in this country to not
interact with people of color in any meaningful way, ever. And not just
possible. Fairly likely. Pointing out that a white person chills with other
white people isn't pointing out some extraordinary trait or behavior. (Nor is it
a terribly compelling condemnation or rebuke.)


CODE SWITCH


IN CHICAGO, NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE MORE BLACK DON'T GENTRIFY

As we've seen time after time, individuals can have the most progressive views
possible about race and still live in a world that is veritably drenched in
segregation. The fact that Taylor Swift operates, at least publicly, in
predominantly white spaces doesn't really suggest anything notable about her
politics.

It does, of course, suggest something notable about ours as a country. But that
is a conversation for another time.

 * Taylor Swift
 * white people
 * Donald Trump
 * United States
 * White

 * Facebook
 * Flipboard
 * Email







MORE STORIES FROM NPR

RACE

JAPANESE AMERICAN MUSICIANS ACROSS GENERATIONS DRAW IDENTITY FROM INCARCERATION

RACE

THE MINTY PAST AND CLOUDY FUTURE OF MENTHOL CIGARETTES

RACE

HOW AGEISM AGAINST BIDEN AND TRUMP PUTS OLDER FOLKS AT RISK

RACE

THE LONESOME HEARTS OF 1937

RACE

WHAT TAYLOR SWIFT'S ICON STATUS SAYS ABOUT WHO GETS TO BE A 'GIRL'

RACE

A FORMER CHURCH GIRL'S SEARCH FOR A NEW SPIRITUAL HOME


POPULAR ON NPR.ORG

SCIENCE

SCIENTISTS TAKE A STEP CLOSER TO RESURRECTING THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH

CULTURE

'RUST' FILM ARMORER FOUND GUILTY IN DEATH OF CINEMATOGRAPHER

ASIA

TAYLOR SWIFT'S SINGAPORE LEG SPURS BAD BLOOD IN SE ASIA. NEIGHBORS CAN'T SHAKE
IT OFF

MOVIES

WARNER BROS. SHELVED 'COYOTE VS. ACME.' HERE'S WHY SOME FINISHED FILMS ARE
MOTHBALLED

TECHNOLOGY

HOW THE PORN BOTS TOOK OVER TWITTER

NATIONAL

DONOR GIVES $40 MILLION FOR YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK EMPLOYEE HOUSING


NPR EDITORS' PICKS

NATIONAL

GEORGE SANTOS, EJECTED FROM HOUSE AND FACING FRAUD TRIAL, WILL RUN AGAIN IN N.Y.

GLOBAL HEALTH

AN ISRAELI RESPONDER'S WORK ON OCT. 7 SHOWS THE CHALLENGES OF INVESTIGATING
ATROCITIES

NATIONAL

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE POLITICAL DEBATE AROUND DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

SCIENCE

FOR APRIL'S ECLIPSE, GOING FROM 'MEH' TO 'OMG' MIGHT MEAN JUST DRIVING ACROSS
TOWN

RACE

MALCOLM X IS SET TO BE THE FIRST BLACK PERSON IN THE NEBRASKA HALL OF FAME

MOVIES

WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE OSCARS: THE BOMB, THE BOMBSHELL, AND THE POSSIBLE COMEBACK


CODE SWITCH

Race. In your face.

READ & LISTEN

 * Home
 * News
 * Culture
 * Music
 * Podcasts & Shows

CONNECT

 * Newsletters
 * Facebook
 * Instagram
 * Press
 * Public Editor
 * Corrections
 * Contact & Help

ABOUT NPR

 * Overview
 * Diversity
 * NPR Network
 * Accessibility
 * Ethics
 * Finances

GET INVOLVED

 * Support Public Radio
 * Sponsor NPR
 * NPR Careers
 * NPR Shop
 * NPR Events
 * NPR Extra

 * Terms of Use
 * Privacy
 * Your Privacy Choices
 * Text Only
 * © 2024 npr




Sponsor Message

Become an NPR sponsor




COOKIE CONSENT & SPONSORSHIP CHOICES

We and our 143 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as
unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your
choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate
interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will
be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.
By clicking “Accept All,” you agree to the use of cookies, similar tracking and
storage technologies, and information about your device to enhance your viewing,
listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from
NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic. This
information is shared with social media, sponsorship, analytics, and other
vendors or service providers.


WE AND OUR PARTNERS PROCESS DATA TO PROVIDE:

Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access
information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and
content measurement, audience research and services development. List of
Partners (service providers or vendors)

Reject All Accept All
Manage Preferences



Your Opt Out Preference Signal is Honored


MANAGE PREFERENCES

We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the
delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our
website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent and
legitimate interest. You may exercise your right to consent or object to a
legitimate interest, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in
the link under each purpose. These choices will be signaled to our vendors
participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
User ID: b10dd634-d96b-41fa-bef6-8304441ed018
Accept All


MANAGE CONSENT PREFERENCES

STRICTLY NECESSARY OR ESSENTIAL COOKIES

Always Active

These cookies are essential to provide you with services available through the
NPR Services and to enable you to use some of their features. For example, these
cookies allow NPR to remember your registration information while you are logged
in. Local station customization, the NPR Shop, and other interactive features
also use cookies. Without these cookies, the services that you have asked for
cannot be provided, and we only use these cookies to provide you with those
services.

Cookies Details‎

PERFORMANCE AND ANALYTICS COOKIES

Performance and Analytics Cookies

These cookies are used to collect information about traffic to our Services and
how users interact with the NPR Services. The information collected includes the
number of visitors to the NPR Services, the websites that referred visitors to
the NPR Services, the pages that they visited on the NPR Services, what time of
day they visited the NPR Services, whether they have visited the NPR Services
before, and other similar information. We use this information to help operate
the NPR Services more efficiently, to gather broad demographic information and
to monitor the level of activity on the NPR Services.

Cookies Details‎

FUNCTIONAL COOKIES

Functional Cookies

These cookies allow our Services to remember choices you make when you use them,
such as remembering your Member station preferences and remembering your account
details. The purpose of these cookies is to provide you with a more personal
experience and to prevent you from having to re-enter your preferences every
time you visit the NPR Services.

Cookies Details‎

TARGETING AND SPONSOR COOKIES

Targeting and Sponsor Cookies

These cookies track your browsing habits or other information, such as location,
to enable us to show sponsorship credits which are more likely to be of interest
to you. These cookies use information about your browsing history to group you
with other users who have similar interests. Based on that information, and with
our permission, we and our sponsors can place cookies to enable us or our
sponsors to show sponsorship credits and other messages that we think will be
relevant to your interests while you are using third-party services.

Cookies Details‎

STORE AND/OR ACCESS INFORMATION ON A DEVICE 98 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE

Store and/or access information on a device

Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers,
randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other
information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported
technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each
time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes
presented here.

List of IAB Vendors‎ | View Illustrations 

PERSONALISED ADVERTISING AND CONTENT, ADVERTISING AND CONTENT MEASUREMENT,
AUDIENCE RESEARCH AND SERVICES DEVELOPMENT 132 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE

Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement,
audience research and services development

 * USE LIMITED DATA TO SELECT ADVERTISING 93 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data,
   such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your
   device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for
   example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
   
   View Illustrations 
   Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection

 * CREATE PROFILES FOR PERSONALISED ADVERTISING 74 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit,
   content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about
   you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and
   other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or
   improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and
   personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present
   advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by
   this and other entities.
   
   View Illustrations 

 * USE PROFILES TO SELECT PERSONALISED ADVERTISING 72 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS
   PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising
   profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites
   or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests
   and personal aspects.
   
   View Illustrations 

 * CREATE PROFILES TO PERSONALISE CONTENT 38 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you
   submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with
   other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service
   or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or
   improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible
   interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to
   present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests,
   such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is
   even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
   
   View Illustrations 

 * USE PROFILES TO SELECT PERSONALISED CONTENT 29 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content
   personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other
   services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible
   interests and personal aspects, such as by adapting the order in which
   content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find
   (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
   
   View Illustrations 

 * MEASURE ADVERTISING PERFORMANCE 120 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you
   interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for
   you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For
   instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led
   you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to
   understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
   
   View Illustrations 
   Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection

 * MEASURE CONTENT PERFORMANCE 57 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact
   with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g.
   reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance,
   whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a
   product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you
   visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of
   (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
   
   View Illustrations 
   Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection

 * UNDERSTAND AUDIENCES THROUGH STATISTICS OR COMBINATIONS OF DATA FROM
   DIFFERENT SOURCES 66 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user
   profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your
   interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising)
   content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which
   target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain
   contents).
   
   View Illustrations 
   Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection

 * DEVELOP AND IMPROVE SERVICES 92 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction
   with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and
   to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of
   audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or
   improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
   
   View Illustrations 
   Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection

 * USE LIMITED DATA TO SELECT CONTENT 22 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE
   
   Switch Label
   
   Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such
   as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device
   type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example,
   to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
   
   View Illustrations 
   Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection

List of IAB Vendors‎

ACTIVELY SCAN DEVICE CHARACTERISTICS FOR IDENTIFICATION 24 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS
PURPOSE

Actively scan device characteristics for identification

With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be
requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed
fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes
explained in this notice.

List of IAB Vendors‎

ENSURE SECURITY, PREVENT AND DETECT FRAUD, AND FIX ERRORS 91 PARTNERS CAN USE
THIS PURPOSE

Always Active

Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent
activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure
systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct
any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery
of content and ads and in your interaction with them.

List of IAB Vendors‎ | View Illustrations 

DELIVER AND PRESENT ADVERTISING AND CONTENT 85 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE

Always Active

Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to
ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to
facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.

List of IAB Vendors‎ | View Illustrations 

MATCH AND COMBINE DATA FROM OTHER DATA SOURCES 69 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE

Always Active

Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with
other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for
instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card
in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in
this notice.

List of IAB Vendors‎

LINK DIFFERENT DEVICES 50 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE

Always Active

In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be
considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your
household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both
your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet
connection on both devices).

List of IAB Vendors‎

IDENTIFY DEVICES BASED ON INFORMATION TRANSMITTED AUTOMATICALLY 85 PARTNERS CAN
USE THIS PURPOSE

Always Active

Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it
automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of
your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the
purposes exposed in this notice.

List of IAB Vendors‎
Back Button


COOKIE LIST



Search Icon
Filter Icon

Clear
checkbox label label
Apply Cancel
Consent Leg.Interest
checkbox label label
checkbox label label
checkbox label label

Reject All Confirm My Choices