Performative Activism? Cut the Sh*t and Do Better.
Does your silence call you a feminist, too?
I've unfollowed Taylor Swift.
It’s a bold move to make, because I loved Taylor and was a massive swiftie for a long time, but I grew extremely tired after a while. It’s not like a lot has changed after all these years — she’s still successful and breaks an impressive amount of records now and then. But what, then, has pushed me to unfollow someone I’ve admired for ages?
To put it simply, her performative activism is getting tiring, and it’s not just her actions, either. Her silence on important issues is growing undeniably loud, and it’s impossible to ignore the cherry-picking. I still listen to her music and I do respect her as an artist, but I’m afraid I can’t call her a feminist.
She has advocated for LGBTQ+ rights and violence against women, but she was silent during the Black Lives Matter Movement. She was silent on the legislation affecting transgender youth, and she has also been silent on Palestine. I’m not denying her success here- I’m openly emphasizing it- but if you have a large platform you should use it to stand up for the people who trusted you with it in the first place.
In 2020, Tumblr user ‘killinboys’ pointed out Swift’s lack of involvement in the BLM movement, writing, “Posting a black square with 13 hearts is simply not enough. You have a gigantic platform. There is more to be done. Innocent people are being murdered in the streets. You can’t just sit back and watch.”
This highlights the broader issue: as a self-proclaimed ‘feminist,’ I feel like Swift could be more vocal on her platform. And while I’m not asking her to choose between political parties, I am asking her to stand with the people.
It’s not just her, either. It’s people like Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Andrew Scott, Keith Urban, Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Rhianna, Drake, and many more A-List celebs and influencers. So many ‘feminists,’ yet what equality are they fighting for?
Many people also forget that it’s not just Palestine that’s in crisis. If you want to free Palestine, you should also want to free Congo, Myanmar, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Syria. If you didn’t know about these countries before, you do now, so don’t exclude them from your activism.
And yes, while I acknowledge that it’s not anyone’s responsibility to talk about every problem in the world, people are fed up with the rich getting richer while simultaneously contributing nothing toward a better cause. Whether any of these celebrities want to admit it or not, they’re all part of the problem. You can make a change when you use your platform for the better when you actually want to.
The best example of this would be the Creators for Palestine fundraiser, hosted by YouTubers like The Try Guys, Smosh, and other popular creators. They ended up raising over a million dollars before the livestream had even begun and ended up donating more than $1.5 million to charities supporting Palestine.
So the question here is, if YouTubers who film in their apartments can do it, why can’t the people who live in mansions? This pretty much reflects the larger conflict that comes to the surface when one wants to get involved in social activism: how to strike a balance between purpose and profitability while avoiding accusations of virtue signaling.
The recent backlash against Haley Kalil (@hayleebaylee on TikTok) illustrates this disparity perfectly Kalil posted an infamous video in which she is seen attending the Met Gala wearing an exquisite gown while lip-syncing to the words, “Let them eat cake." This phrase, famously associated with Marie Antoinette, symbolizes a disconnect from the struggles of common people. Though historians have questioned its attribution, it is often believed that Antoinette, the highly loathed queen of France, uttered these words during the French Revolution to mock the starving poor.
Just days before that video was posted, the United Nations Food Program announced that over 300,000 civilians in North Gaza were suffering from a full-blown famine. With the context of that audio, the video left millions of users feeling shocked and disappointed. The stark contrast between the opulence of the Met Gala and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza highlighted the importance of social awareness and sensitivity, particularly for those with large platforms like Kalil, who has almost 10 million followers on her social media accounts.
In her apology video published just days later, she states that she didn’t choose to highlight elitism. She also stated that she was “uneducated” about what was going on in Gaza and therefore had no right to talk about it.
To me, the excuses are getting pathetic. If you didn’t know about Gaza before, you can educate yourself now. If you can pick and choose the battles you want to fight in, then the truth is that you are privileged. And if you are privileged enough to do that, you are more than privileged enough to educate yourself.
It’s surprising how little the majority understands about social justice. Sticking to ‘safe’ issues is performative activism. Not picking a side because you’re scared of backlash is performative activism. Not advocating for what is right because “it’s hard” is performative activism.
Activism is not supposed to be convenient. As great as it is that we speak up for issues like reproductive rights and LGBT+ representation, it’s important to understand that none of that means anything if we get to pick and choose which groups deserve human rights and which don’t. Genuine activism takes courage, education, and a solid commitment to standing up for what’s right, no matter how tough it gets.
Don’t get me wrong- blocking and unfollowing celebrities won’t do much. I mean, it does work, that’s the whole reason you should do it. It’s just that it’s only one way of putting pressure on advertisers to support creators who genuinely care about basic human rights. We can’t force people to care when they don’t, and when we do we just make social movements like #callforceasefire a social media trend. There are way too many people making videos out there just to gain popularity and praise instead of focusing on what’s actually important- the people involved.
To keep the focus where it should remain, people should take the time to become knowledgeable on the topics they discuss. Wearing an orange pin won’t help much if you aren’t ready to actively participate in those difficult conversations.
It is also important to advocate consistently; sincere activists should maintain constant support and awareness, and have continuous conversations with their audience, rather than posting about hot topics on a random basis. Like how Zendaya posted about Palestine on her story last October and hasn’t said a single thing since then. That’s eight months of silence. If you’re going to do it, you should do it for the people. Not because of your public standing, and not because it’s a social media trend.
While it’s important to hold people accountable for their actions, we should stop nitpicking problematic celebrities who won’t change anyway and focus our time and efforts on helping those who need it.
Stand up for everyone who needs it by using your platform when it’s called for; not when it benefits you. Advocate for what you believe is right, but know that not everyone should be involved in conversations around social issues until they start holding themselves accountable.
You can find a resource guide here for Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia, and Myanmar. You can donate to international and local charities, as well as families that need your support. There are also materials for you to educate yourself further.
