And I mean, not for nothing, but Swifties are just doing what fans are supposed to do. Spending shitloads of money on concert tickets, buying merch, and generally being moderately obsessive about the famous person that has their attention, for however long they’re part of a fan community.

You know what they remind me of, actually? Obsessive metalheads, who love a specific metal band. Importantly, most of them are not fans because they’re sexually attracted to the people in the band. They actually listen to the music, as the music that they listen to. And then they start identifying with the whole thing, as a subculture. That’s what I see, with the Swifties. Most of them are heterosexual women, who are into Taylor Swift’s music, both as music and as a subculture they can identify with, in a harmless way.

Note that metalheads have also been vilified in their time. Ironically, old people called them devil-worshippers, just like some old people are literally calling Taylor Swift a devil-worshipper and/or illuminati blood-drinker (seriously).

But we all know that’s insane nonsense, on both counts. For my two cents, being a fan of something on the level of “I really love this music and this musical artist” is a positive step above the groupie style fans, who just want to fuck their heartthrob singer/guitarist of choice. I’m not actually judging anyone for that behavior either, but I think that’s just less interesting and more annoying to see.

MAGA motherfuckers, on the other hand…they’re a fucking cult. They want to see their fucking leader take over the country and/or world, then proceed to smite and torture their (largely imaginary) enemies. That ain’t fandom. Or, if it is fandom, it’s the kind that’s taken SO FAR OUT OF PROPORTION that it takes on a quality of horror all its own, and doesn’t bear comparing to any normal variety of fandom.