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Taylor Grift and the appropriation of black women’s work

Taylor Swift, a blonde woman who sings songs, opened Wednesday’s Billboard Music awards with a live rendition of her new single ME! It was a very pink, very poppy performance and, in many eyes, it was also very plagiarized. As scores of people on social media immediately pointed out, Swift’s production – from the lighting to the entrance to the use of drum lines and a marching band – was highly reminiscent of Beyoncé’s iconic 2018 Coachella show. #Mayochella immediately started trending, and Swift was given a new nickname: Taylor Grift.

It’s not entirely clear whether Swift copied Beyoncé. As an army of Swifties have vociferously pointed out, Beyoncé did not invent drums or marching bands, and Swift actually used a marching band during her 2009 tour. But even bearing these caveats in mind, it’s hard not to notice the striking similarities between the two performances. Not to mention, this isn’t the first time that Swift has been accused of copying Beyoncé. (Swift, by the way, hasn’t commented on the debate.)

Does any of this matter if you’re not a diehard Bey or Swift fan? Well, yes. This controversy is about more than one performance; it’s about the long history of black women’s achievements being ignored, appropriated and undermined. This happens everywhere, from pop culture to politics to daily life. A 2010 study, for example, published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, found that black women are the demographic most likely to go unnoticed in social situations. Even the irritating phrase “women of colour” erases the unique issues black women face.

The commitment with which some people refuse to acknowledge the contributions of black women is sometimes mind-boggling. Last year, for example, Rebel Wilson claimed to be “the first ever plus-sized girl to be the star of a romantic comedy” while promoting the movie Isn’t It Romantic. When people reminded Wilson that Queen Latifah and Mo’Nique had starred in romcoms a long time ago, she blocked people on Twitter and announced the whole thing was a “grey area”, before eventually apologizing.

Caster Semenya wins 800m in Doha two days after losing case against IAAF Read more

Then you’ve got Caster Semenya, whose achievements have so infuriated the white gatekeepers of sport that they refuse to even acknowledge her as a woman, and are forcing her to chemically change her body so she is slower.

The examples are endless; my word count is not. Suffice it to say that the current Swift v Beyoncé debate is reflective of a lot more than one song. Even if Swift didn’t copy Beyoncé it’s important to listen to why people are upset; don’t just shake it off.

Women control Europe’s biggest defence budgets

Penny Mordaunt recently became the UK’s first female defence secretary. Mordaunt apparently once delivered a parliamentary speech on the welfare of poultry, just so she could say the word “cock” in the House of Commons. Nice to know the woman in charge of Britain’s weapons is a mature, thoughtful grownup. Mordaunt’s appointment, as Quartz points out, means that the six biggest military budgets in Europe are now overseen by women. Truly a huge step forward for feminism when European women finally a get chance to bomb women in the rest of the world!

The world wide witch web

Romania’s witch community has gone online, livestreaming rituals on Facebook and building up their follower count. They have also teamed up with international witches to put a curse on corrupt Romanian lawmakers. (No doubt some of these politicians are already screaming “witch-hunt!”)

Sexual assaults in the military increase almost 38%

Incidences of “unwanted sexual contact” in the US military increased from 14,900 in 2016 to 20,500 in 2018, according to a new report by the Pentagon. The report defines “unwanted sexual contact” as anything from groping to rape.

This week in ‘the criminal justice system doesn’t care about women’

A former school bus driver in New York is not getting any jail time for raping a 14-year-old girl. While absolutely disgusting, this verdict isn’t unusual. Statistics show that out of every 1,000 rapes, 995 perpetrators walk free.

Women are taking more blue-collar roles

“The share of truck drivers, electricians, plumbers and mechanics who are women recently touched the highest level in at least 25 years,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Between 2000 and 2018, there has been a 23% increase in American women working construction jobs, and a 43% increase in women becoming truck drivers, delivery people and warehouse workers. Why is this happening? Well, “women are increasingly being drawn into blue-collar jobs because the pool of men willing to take those jobs is shrinking”, an economist told the Journal.

More women on Everest

Twenty per cent of the permits issued to foreigners wanting to climb the world’s highest mountain this year have gone to women, says Outside magazine. Climbing has traditionally been dominated by dudes, but the gender gap is slowly shrinking.

Medieval nun fakes death to pursue life of lust

I missed this story when it came out in February; it recently came to my attention on Twitter and, though old, is too good not to share. Historians working at the University of York have found evidence have found evidence that a 14th-century nun created a dummy of her dead body so she could escape her convent and, according to an archbishop at the time, pursue “the way of carnal lust”. When is the movie coming out?