“A man is allowed to react, a woman can only overreact,” she adds.
At the Golden Globes this week, host Jo Koy made a joke about Taylor Swift. It wasn’t a particularly great joke, nor was it awful either. It felt basic and bland, bordering on a cheap shot at a woman who seemingly gets criticised every day for just daring to exist.
During his monologue, Koy said: “the big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.”
You see why Taylor Swift didn’t burst out into a fit of laughter. The joke is not bad nor offensive, it’s just ... not that funny. When the camera panned to Swift, she was pouring herself a drink and taking a sip. She didn’t look offended, she didn’t look angry, she didn’t look upset. She looked unbothered.
Well, not according to a few people on the internet who immediately went bad at Taylor Swift for ... not laughing, I think? I mean, what an absolute b****, right? How dare she not laugh at the man’s joke?
Judging by the controversy that followed, you’d think she’d marched up to the stage and slapped the host, a la Will Smith.
The problem was not the joke, but the reaction from people to the joke. While Swift did not take offence, many took offence at her reaction, labelling it an “overreaction” and saying she looked “upset”. I usually avoid repeating myself in these columns but it does not feel like a waste to remind you that the woman simply poured herself a drink during it.
Even the people who didn’t think Swift looked upset thought she “should have laughed” or “could have smiled” as if Swift owed Koy - or anyone, for that matter - her smile.
I’m not breaking out my tiny violin for Taylor Swift. She’s obscenely rich and doesn’t need my sympathy. But it is exhausting to see this kind of thing constantly happening to women in the spotlight. It seems a woman can’t just exist without someone, somewhere deciding she’s doing it wrong.
The criticism around Taylor’s reaction merely proves her point: a woman can only overreact. It’s a sentence that, even in 2024, applies well beyond the confines of her industry and permeates society.
To the people who got offended about Taylor’s reaction, I suggest you follow her advice and shake it off.
