Hey guys, welcome back to TNTH!
As I’m writing this, the world is anticipating the new release of a lot of new music… well, maybe just me. Kelly Clarkson is supposedly dropping new music before the year ends, Demi Lovato is dropping her album, Tell Me You Love Me, on September 29th, Camila Cabello is releasing her debut album, The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving, sometime in September, and Fifth Harmony is releasing (or released by the time this post is published) a self-titled album on August 25th. But on August 23rd, the internet was freaking out over the announcement Taylor Swift made; she’s coming out with a new album on November 10th entitled Reputation and she’s releasing a new single on August 25th. (Edit: The single is entitled “Look What You Made Me Do”).
I’m not the biggest Taylor Swift fan. It’s not that her music is trash (it’s actually some the catchiest songs in the pop genre), it’s just that I’m not very fond of Taylor Swift as a person. But that’s beside the point. Because of the ranking she has in the music industry, everyone is assuming that any other new music dropping on that specific day will do subpar to this new single. I was watching a Fifth Harmony interview on YouTube that a radio/internet show was doing, and one of the men asked the girls if they feel a type of way that Taylor’s new single is dropping the same day their album does. The girls just all looked at him and outspoken 5H member Lauren Jauregui answers, “why would we? Can’t be both succeed and be at the top?” In another interview that the girls did, the interviewer kept asking questions about the tension that 5H and former member Camila Cabello and if they’re worried about the new music both artists are putting out in the next month, and the girls were just not having it. Because they did not answer, they were called being “divas.”
Although this is just one example of “pitting women” as Taylor Swift once stated, the idea that women have to compete to be at the top is universal, celebrity or not. It’s the reason why we easily get mad at the other woman when our partners have an affair. It’s the reason why we always compare ourselves to other women and sometimes tear them down so that we feel better about ourselves. In some sort of twisted way, it’s in our nature to feel like we can’t be supportive and cheer on other women and genuinely want to see other women be on top of the game.
I personally see women who are in the same community (writers, YouTubers, artists, etc.) afraid to be supportive of other women in that field for the sole reason that the other women’s blog, YouTube channel, or music could do better than their own. Listen, being a woman in any industry is hard enough, so why are we treating each other as if we’re the top dog in these so-said industries anyway? Why can’t we rise to the top together to form something bigger than the both of us? Why can’t we support and defend each other so that women are respected more in these industries?
In the case of Taylor Swift and 5H’s new music; both will most likely do good because they are both top-selling artists in their respected communities. Statistically, one will be higher on the charts than the other. But if both of their music is turning out to be successful, then do the numbers on the Top 100 Billboard Chart really matter? Let women support and defend each other without the undertone of “being a diva” be the result of you not understanding how it could be possible.
Personally, in my own life – I am here to support every creative project that everyone has, including the women that are doing their thing. Put that makeup on and record yourself in a video, girl. Write that blog post about global warming and stupid Donald Trump, girl. Record that song that you wrote all night, girl. Do your thing and make your mark on the world, but don’t forget to support other women. Live with the mindset that all women should have a chance to win, that all women should have unconditional support from other women because we are women in a man’s world, sadly. Let’s all support each other the same way we all support the living life out of Beyonce.
Because who runs the world? Girls.
-Liz (
Letters From Liz. 