The famed Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce relationship went public in September, vastly increasing the media focus on Swift at NFL games. As a result, Swift’s stereotypically feminine fanbase, the “Swifties,” have boosted the NFL’s weekly viewership by 53% and strengthened a growing female audience within its traditionally male-oriented brand.
Despite this expansion in NFL outreach, members of the 51% male fanbase have angrily rejected the integration of new fans, seeing them as a pink, sparkly threat to their beloved sport’s long established masculinity regardless of its 35% female viewers rate. Football fans are angered at Swift’s few second, sporadic appearances in NFL broadcasts and social media, going as far to rename their X (formerly Twitter) handle to “NFL (Taylor’s Version),” threatening the toxic masculinity of the male-oriented audience and revealing the deep rooted misogyny within the community.
Ranging from hateful posters at games to loathsome comments and hate trends like smashing her records, NFL fans have resisted merging with Swift and her fans, demonstrating the insecurity within the NFL following. In the past, there have other instances of the underlying misogynistic complacency in the multitude of unaddressed and hidden sexual assault allegations made toward players and those in higher powers within the organization.
Swift herself fell victim to public sexualization with the spread of lewd football related AI generated images of her on social media as retaliation for the attention being given to her by the media — later having to be handled by the Swift public relations team proving that even the most influential women cannot escape situations like these.
Additionally, sexual assault allegations like those of Buffalo Bills player, Matt Araiza who was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor and initiating a group assault with said minor were brushed under the rug in attempts to uphold the NFL’s reputation which silences and vilifies women as a result. For women without Swift’s social capital, standing up to big corporations like the NFL is simply not viable.
Swift’s immaculate power and success have grown exponentially this year with her “Eras Tour,” turning her into the poster-child of female achievement within pop culture and entertainment media. This undeniable fact of her influence fuels the one-sided battle, threatening and highlighting the misogynistic culture within the NFL and many of its followers.
As Taylor Swift’s and the NFL brands have become intertwined with one another, misogynistic football fans have treated Swift and her fanbase maliciously. Despite being one of the most influential women of the 21st century, Swift isn’t in control of the NFL’s attention on her therefore shouldn’t be pinned the blame on. As the NFL itself seeks engagement from Swifties, the NFL fanbase alone promotes misogynistic culture against women but especially targets Swift because of her social capital. As a society the need to condemn fan bases with hateful undertones grows now more than ever, especially those with such influence on modern culture.
