Writing from a male perspective is inherently queer [Queer Lyrical Easter Eggs- Pride 2]

 

Betty:

“You heard the rumors from Inez [it’s not an accident that this rhymes with Perez.  As in Hilton, a mean, gossip that was known to ‘out’ closested celebrities].  

“You can’t believe a word she says/most times, but this time it was true.”  James/Taylor and Betty/Karlie/Dianna/(insert any woman) are more than friends–they’re actually lovers. Taylor comes out right there.  But with a lot of plausible deniability built in. 

But I spy inconsistencies.  “Betty, one time I was riding my skateboard when I passed your house it’s like I can’t breathe.”  This might sound like a stereotype, and I apologize.  But I’ve known teenage guys, and the ones I have had contact with don’t have the emotional maturity to go breathless about a girl.  The ones I know might think a girl is cute, or have a crush, or want sex, but I’ve never known them at a teen age to get like, no breath about it.  That seems very female to me.  But I’m female, so it’s difficult to go outside my own perspective–just as it was probably difficult for Taylor.  

Taylor was named after James Taylor.  And Karlie Elizabeth (Betty is a nickname for Elizabeth) Kloss is the other female in this story, Betty.  And Taylor mentions the cobblestones, streetlight, and also the garden of the romantic Lover album.  Hello, “Cruel Summer” fame “sneaking through your garden gate just to seal my fate” then Karlie Kloss sells her condo, and featured in the real estate ad is a garden?  And there’s pictures of Taylor going in and out of a garden gate in that same neighborhood.  

Lesbian poets attempted to veil a sapphic inspiration under the guise of writing from a male’s perspective:

https://kit10phish.wordpress.com/2023/04/02/taylor-swifts-gay-moments-folklore-betty/

Writing from a male perspective is inherently queer (whether the writer identifies that way or not). It’s kind of a queer tradition to deviate from gender norms and heterosexist traditions. As you can see a lot of queers use male pseudonyms for various reasons. Two of those reasons: Obscure same sex attraction in the content or remove oneself from the narrative within the song. And the other is to embody the opposite gender in the text without tipping off the audience. Taylor might have written James “from a male perspective” within the song Betty for these very reasons.

Taylor even covertly confirms that she’s James in the “Cardigan” music video–she puts on that cardigan at the end.  And has a knowing look. 

Yup, I’m James.