“Yoko Ono is to blame for everything,” Def Con Dos sang in 1995 about the dissolution of a musical group in 1970.. And, although anyone who has seen the fabulous documentary Get Back intuits that the Japanese artist's role in the breakup of the Beatles was just watching with boredom how two alpha males butted heads until they burst, the phrase and the suspicion are still valid in 2024.
Today, Taylor Swift is Yoko Ono.
This Sunday the NFL Super Bowl takes place in Las Vegas between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, current champions and one of whose stars, Travis Kelce (nine-time all-star and one of the three best in history in his position, tight end) got a girlfriend at the beginning of the season. The point is that the couple in question is the most powerful woman in America at the moment.. Yes, she is Taylor Swift, the same one who just swept the Grammys, who could decide the elections if she openly supports Biden and whose The Eras Tour has raised a billion dollars during its first year. And there's still another one…
The story is beautiful, the stars from different worlds meet, fall in love and eat partridges, but sports fans don't work like that with their heroes' partners.. As soon as she appeared cheering him on in a box and giving him a kiss after a victory, the hate campaign began. First they blamed Kelce's gray start to the league on Swift and not on the injury he was carrying. Now that she is completing a sweeping playoffs, the complaint is that the singer appears too much on screen and “doesn't matter in a stadium” because she is not a “real fan,” despite being a declared fan of the Philadelphia Eagles since long before everything. this.
Conspiracy theories
“We're sick of seeing it!”, “it distracts from the game”, “it seeks attention” (as if it needed it). These messages have not only come from Twitter users and fan websites, but also media of the caliber of ESPN, Sports Illustrated or USA Today have given rise to criticism of this type and even conspiracy theories such as that dating It is nothing more than an advertising montage, which is a Democratic political maneuver (Kelce, face of the Pfizer vaccines and one of the few white people who followed Kaepernick and kneeled against racism during the anthem, was already singled out by QAnon) or that everything is rigged for the Chiefs to be champions. Even the presenter of the Golden Globes, comedian Jo Koy, made a joke about the topic that caused zero laughter and a cold look from the singer that Koy will not soon forget.
“Too many men still have a problem assuming that women are comparable to them and it bothers them especially when this power appears in spaces that they consider theirs, such as sports.. That's where that perverse and harmful discourse begins to belittle them, refute their merits and insult them, but it is nothing more than insecurity in the face of a strong woman capable of overshadowing a reference for them, incapable as they are of having a woman as a reference,” explains Octavio Salazar. , professor of Constitutional Law and author of The Man We Should (Not) Be.
Swift is not the first nor will it be the last. Supermodel Gisele Bündchen was blamed by fans and journalists for her ex-husband, Tom Brady, the best quarterback ever, retiring. Dallas Cowboys fans boycotted actress Jessica Simpson for going on a trip with team star Tony Romo on the days off before a playoff game they lost.. When Aaron Rodgers broke off his relationship with his parents and brothers, the media rushed to blame his then partner, actress Olivia Munn, even though they started dating when the four-time MVP had not spoken to his family for a year.
But we don't have to go that far, in Spanish football there is no shortage of examples. The initial spell of the kiss in South Africa did not prevent Sara Carbonero from being massacred from then on, both while carrying out her work as a journalist and as a result of the confrontation between Iker Casillas and Mourinho.. Again, a clash between two men turned a woman evil. Shakira endured entire stands insulting her while she was with Piqué. The singer Edurne exploded when her networks were filled with sexist comments after the Europa League final between Villarreal and United, in which her husband, David de Gea, did not save any penalties in the shootout. The actress Sara Sálamo was the focus of the anger of many fans during the last years of Isco, her partner, at Real Madrid.
“If I played badly, it was my fault and the level of insults and machismo was terrible. My boy knew me through my acting career.. I already made a good living, but I continued to receive belittlement every day, as if I were with him for being famous.. And then they started saying that it was in decline because of me, like I played. It was very unpleasant,” recalls Sálamo. Isco has once again performed at a very high level at Betis but, surprise, now no one holds his wife responsible for it: “Nothing, nothing, now I no longer influence,” she laughs.
“If I played badly, it was my fault and the level of insults and machismo was terrible”.
“It is much easier to hate women than to hold men responsible for their mistakes or failures.”. Misogyny in these social spheres causes women to be seen as threats and as terrible seductresses.. Pointing out the partners of these men as evil caricatures contributes to the dehumanization of women and reinforces the stereotype that a man is a fool capable of losing his mind over a girl and who lacks self-control,” analyzes philosopher and sexologist Loola Pérez.. And Salazar concludes: “It is a fundamental myth of patriarchy. From Eve in Paradise to the femme fatale of film noir, it is a stereotype that has been repeated a thousand times. “It is a very childish position and the arguments for these tantrums are very weak.”
And so weak. Do you know how much time the cameras focus on Taylor Swift during Chiefs games? According to a study by The New York Times, 25 seconds on average in broadcasts that last more than three hours. I repeat: 25 seconds. Now think about how many shots you have seen of Jack Nicholson on the Lakers court or how Drake became more of a protagonist than the players themselves in the 2019 NBA Finals between Toronto and Golden State. In Spain, any actor who is going to promote his latest series at a League match has more screen time. How many complaints did you hear? In any case, it won't matter.
“A very conservative league”
“The Taylor Swift effect exists and it's fantastic for us,” NFL chief Roger Goodell said this week.. And so much…. Since the artist's emergence, American football viewership in the US has increased by 53% among girls aged 12 to 17, 29% among adult women and 7% in total.. The estimated impact for the NFL brand for appearing linked to the singer in different media is 330 million dollars. Kelce's jersey has sold 400% more than last season.
“Although it is improving, the NFL is a very conservative league, both in terms of the owners and a large part of the fans, which is why I am not surprised by the reaction. It's unfortunate, but to be expected. However, owners, above all, think in dollars. Taylor Swift doesn't need the NFL, but for the league it is a goldmine and she is going to exploit it to the fullest. If 10% of those young girls who are coming for it stay, it will already have been a blessing,” reflects Rubén Ibeas, star commentator for the NFL in Spain.
Tomorrow is the Super Bowl and Taylor Swift will arrive on time after performing the night before in Tokyo. He will appear on screen and hatred and insecurity will once again plague the machosphere. “I wasn't aware of having pissed off a few parents. Well, they'll get over it,” she laughed when asked about the topic. History tells us that it is unlikely that they will pass, but the haters have lost this battle.
Whether they like it or not, she is the powerful one.