In one of the most revealing and surprising segments of Taylor Swift’s documentary ‘Miss Americana’, Taylor talks about having struggled in the past with an eating disorder and her body image. I reached out to the singer to get a better understanding of what those problems were like for her growing up in the spotlight.
Bea: Hi Taylor. Thanks for coming.
Taylor: No problem.
Bea: Congratulations on your documentary. It’s absolutely brilliant.
Taylor: Thank you so much! When did you watch it?
Bea: I haven’t watched it.
Taylor: Oh… How do you know it’s brilliant?
Bea: It’s just what people say, Taylor. Don’t make this awkward.
Taylor: *Silence*
Bea: I did read about it though, and I was shocked and sorry to learn you had an eating disorder.
Taylor: Yes. It’s not something that I’m proud of.
Bea: That’s not your fault. It’s a disorder. I had one too, growing up.
Taylor: It sucks. I don’t know a lot of girls who didn’t grow up with some type of body issue.
Bea: I don’t know any! And technically boys have them too.
Taylor: True.
Bea: Though I don’t see anybody walking up to boys, telling them how brave they are for not wearing makeup.
Taylor: *Laughs* I get that comment a lot.
Bea: Isn’t that crazy? You have what we all want: smarts, power, a pair of even tits; and yet society demands you are more. More beautiful. More blonde.
Taylor: Yeah… All my life I’ve felt this pressure to be nice, to have flawless skin, shiny hair and the abs of a lesbian gym owner.
Bea: I just want people to look at me and not think I’m for sure a virgin.
Taylor: *Smiles but unfortunately doesn’t say: ‘of course you look like you’ve had coitus.’*
Bea: I just wish someone had told me the list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful is so damn long. I may have chosen to be a man instead.
Taylor: Oh, hell no. I would not want to deal with the whole ball’s situation.
Bea: Good point.
Taylor: Should we wrap this up? I can already see tomorrow’s headlines being: “Taylor Swift Doesn’t Want to Have Nuts” after people read this conversation.
Bea: *laughing* Thanks for coming, Taylor.
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