Entertainment Column by ElliePeter

The infamy of Taylor Swift’s romantic relationships has plagued the media for years.

 There are constantly articles on who her newest fling is, or the drama that’s come with a breakup or who the next album will be about. 

From exes with zero bad blood, like Taylor Lautner, to exes who the entire Swiftie fandom has beef with, (cough) Jake Gyllenhaal and John Mayer (cough), someone always has something to say about Taylor Swift. 

Taylor Swift skyrocketed into fame in 2006, and only two years later would her first public relationship take the media by storm: Joe Jonas. 

While he didn’t have what it takes to be with Swift forever, he most certainly had the audacity. 

The 27-second break up call was brutal, but “Forever and Always” is my favorite Taylor song, so thanks to Joe for one thing. 

Since then, her relationships have been controversial, albeit inspirations for some of my favorite songs. 

There’s John Mayer, and while the reason for their breakup hasn’t been revealed, it still resulted in “Dear John”, one of the most powerful breakup ballads on teenage girlhood. 

And then there’s the true villain of this article, Jake Gyllenhaal. 

I don’t need to know Jake Gyllenhaal to know that I don’t like him. I trust Taylor Swift, and I know that what he absolutely deserves a 10-minute song. Give her the red scarf back, Jake. Haven’t you done enough? 

Some of her songs never go out of style, like the song “Style”, obviously inspired by her relationship with Harry Styles. 

Their month-long relationship was enough to inspire some of her greatest hits, like “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “Out of The Woods.” 

While she’s had a few more relationships over the years, her newest beau is none other than the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce. 

Now, I don’t know what a tight end is, but I do know that I am loving them together. 

Not everyone is a fan of Taylor Swift and her relationships. Whenever a new one drops, the media waits for the breakup, and her fans wait for a new song. 

But why does the media focus so much on whose fault it is, what’s the drama behind it, why she dates so much, why she dated the person and when she will settle down? 

The narrative of her being “boy crazy” or a “serial dater,” and  being slut-shamed has Taylor tired, as she said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. 

“I think the media has sent me a really unfair message over the past couple of years, which is that I’m not allowed to date for excitement, or fun, or new experiences or learning lessons,” Swift said. 

The difference between the responses to her and male celebrities are blatantly different. 

While Swift is being shamed, male celebrities are called “playboys” and praised for how many women they date. 

Take Nick Cannon, for example. He shares 12 children with six different women since 2011. While the internet often makes jokes about how many children he’s parenting, there’s not much concern over how many women he’s been with. Let’s be honest, if a woman had this many children with this many men, there would be a bloodbath of slut-shaming and concern for the children’s wellbeing. 

Next man on the stand is Leonardo DiCaprio. His infamous preference for women under 25 has sparked plenty of jokes online, although he’s still referred to as a “ladies man” and praised for pulling beautiful young women as he ages. 

His dating life has reached back into the 90s, beginning with Bridget Hall. Since then, he’s either dated or been romantically linked to 37 women. Not all of these rumors are necessarily true, but they’ve still added to his “playboy” reputation. 

This doesn’t mean that men don’t find any backlash from the media for being a “playboy.”

When Harry Styles was 17, he caught a lot of controversy for dating Caroline Flack, who was 31 at the time. This added to his “womanizer” reputation, a  nickname that has obviously made him uncomfortable in interviews. But Taylor Swift and other women in her industry don’t get the same praise about relationships. 

Women are often made spectacles in the public eye and ridiculed for having infrequent partners and dating a lot. 

Women should be encouraged to enjoy their lives as men are, and dating shouldn’t be such a controversy. 

For Grammy-winning artists like Swift, romance and breakups provide material for new albums and award-winning songs. This shouldn’t be something she’s shamed for. 

The double standard between men and women in the public eye is a continuous cycle that does nothing but hurt everyone involved. 

If a woman hasn’t found the right one for her yet, or even has no intention of marriage, she should be allowed to date without the opinion of the public weighing down her every move. 

If a man can do it, so can she.