Taylor Swift’s sexual assault case reveals feminism’s guilty secret

Despite Taylor Swift’s aspiration that her sexual assault trial last week should stand as an example for all women, what’s been notable outside the courtroom is how little support from the sisterhood Swift’s had.

When Swift’s pop contemporary Kesha faced her own sexual assault case last year – against music producer Dr Luke – female celebrities clamoured to express their support. An MTV line-up of Divas tweeted their wishes: Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson, Lily Allen and Lorde made #freekesha trend. Even Adele used the headline-grabbing moment she collected her BRIT for Best Female Solo Artist to holler her encouragement for Kesha. By contrast, Swift’s case was met with deafening silence from prominent women. Where was Girl Power when she needed it? 

Such silence is especially audible because Taylor herself is a self-styled queen of sisterhood feminism. She has surrounded herself with a “girl squad” of supermodels and singers, among them Cara Delevingne and Karlie Kloss.