Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic “I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for rights and causes that I believe need to be defended,” Taylor Swift wrote.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic
“I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for rights and causes that I believe need to be fought for,” Taylor Swift wrote.
CAT LADY – At first glance, the photo chosen by Taylor Swift to accompany her text of support for Kamala Harris might surprise. Taken from a series of images published by Time Magazinewe see the star posing with her cat in her arms. The singer drives the point home with her signature: “Taylor Swift, childless cat lady.” A subtle but clear message to Republicans, and to JD Vance in particular, Donald Trump’s running mate being known for his attacks on nulliparous women.
Taylor Swift’s text – who has long avoided political positions before endorsing a Democratic candidate in Tennessee in 2018 – was highly anticipated. The most influential pop star in the world chose the end of the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to share her choice on Instagram. “I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for rights and causes that I believe need to be defended.”she mentions in particular in her message.
While the star highlights the work she did to learn about the program and the profile of each candidate (and encourages her fans to do the same), she also underlines the personal significance of her choice with her nod to her status as a “cat lady.”
A Message to JD Vance and Republicans
Donald Trump’s running mate is known for his obsession with family and parenting. According to him, the “ parents should have more power […] than people without children”. In 2021, he even went to the point of suggesting that they can vote on behalf of their children and therefore have several ballots.
But it was a remark made in an interview that same year and unearthed shortly after his nomination that has dogged the Republican in this election campaign. At the time, he thus believed that the United States was run by “ a bunch of childless cat ladies who are unhappy about their own lives and the choices they’ve made.” And to cite as examples Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Republican has since defended himself, arguing that his comment was not aimed at people who don’t have children, but was rather a criticism of the Democratic Party which is, according to him, “ anti-child and anti-family ».
The cat woman, a menacing figure
The fact remains that this contemptuous attack reflects the permanence of the cliché surrounding the “cat woman”, perceived as both pitiful and threatening. As Mona Chollet points out in her essay Witches (ed. Zones), « Behind the famous figure of the “spinster with a cat”, a castaway supposed to be an object of pity and derision, we can see the shadow of the fearsome witch of yesteryear, flanked by her diabolical “familiar”.
Pairing single or nulliparous women with an animal declared as “ servant of the Devil » in a bull of Pope Gregory IX in 1233 is not innocent. It contributes to the suspicion surrounding all those who do not fit into the mold of the good mother promoted by conservatives.
“Why did you choose this animal to symbolize the abdication of these women when the cat […] is the animal par excellence that we never completely domesticate? This is what the author Marie Kock asks in her essay: Old Maid (ed. The Discovery). “The cat’s independence will always take precedence over the affection it can receive. It does exactly what it pleases without worrying about the opinion of its masters. And perhaps that is exactly what we reproach the cat lady for. To privilege her independence over the hope of affection, to not worry about the opinion of her “masters”. “
Reversing the cliché
Although this stereotype is still very present, many women have chosen to reclaim it for several years. With a leading figure: Taylor Swift, mother of three magnificent felines who fully claims her label of “cat lady” and has even made it a part of her identity. In a TV interview that has become cultshe enjoys listing all the cat species she knows (and she knows a lot!). And on TikTok, she happily highlights her obsession with her four-legged companions.
It is not insignificant that a billionaire star, with global success, adored by millions of fans and whose influence is no longer to be underlined, should re-appropriate a sexist cliché with such enthusiasm. The proof is in the pudding: Taylor Swift’s profile continues to disturb conservatives.
In a column published by Newsweek In June of this year, an editorialist did not hesitate to describe the singer as a bad example for young girls since she is not married and has no children. “We have to ask ourselves whether the choices she makes in her private life are the ones we would want our sisters and daughters to emulate?”the author wonders. While Elon Musk responded to Taylor Swift’s support for Kamala Harris on X by offering to “give a child” and of “keep your cats”.
On the Democratic side, we can only rejoice at this opportunity to seduce both the singer’s fans and cat lovers (there are many of them). Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate, understood this well. In his response to the singer’s text, he welcomed her support “as a cat owner [lui] Also “.
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