'Some of My Best Friends': Tajja Isen calls out Taylor Swift's political 'lip service,' white fragility
Diversity. Inclusion. Representation. Identity. Antiracist. BIPOC.
These terms and ideologies have hit the zeitgeist in recent years, but when institutions that are built on not being any of these things use such social justice jargon, we're reminded that it's all just a load of bull. That's at the core of Tajja Isen's debut collection of essays, "Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service" (One Signal, 240 pp., ★★★ out of four, out now), which reminds us that this overused language is sometimes just that.
Isen's book also confronts the reader, reminding us we can be just as guilty of using the buzzword of the week and not following through with actions outside of social media posts.
Next month will mark two years since the death of Geroge Floyd. Floyd's death, which happened just a couple of months into a global pandemic while much of the country was in lockdown, ignited a racial reckoning as protesters poured into the streets nationwide, demanding racial equality.
It was a tipping point. Athletes, celebrities, media companies and even popular food brands shared their calls to action on social media in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and issued blanket statements promising to look within to change the system, or to change themselves.
Two years later, it's hard to tell if the work was done.
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"Take the flexible use of the world antiracism, whose colloquial meaning has been diluted from 'actively opposing violence' into a synonym for 'being nice and buying stuff.' Or elevating art by Black creators solely for what it says about trauma, but not for what it says about beauty or what it means to be alive," Isen writes, adding: "At other times, progressive language is closer to foundational myth…"
With a varied background in journalism, publishing and voice acting – and with a law school education – the Canadian writer's fascination with language comes as no surprise. Isen looks at the gaps between "what we say and what we do, what we do and what we value, what we value and what we imagine to be possible."
Isen's nine essays take on the cartoon industry ditching colorblind casting (in 2020, Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell stepped down from voicing their roles on "Big Mouth" and "Central Park," respectively, and Fox confirmed "The Simpsons" would no longer have white actors voicing non-white characters); issues with social media activism; the publishing industry's pursuit of diverse representation; flaws she noticed in the system while attending law school; and the pitfalls of nationalism.
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In the essay "Tiny White People," Isen tackles the "little white man" that "climbs up your back and breathes down your neck and farts in your ear" – the voice inside individuals from marginalized groups that feeds imposter syndrome and looks for validation from white audiences.
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Isen's title essay feels most relevant to the current state of pop culture and celebrity, and encapsulates the heart of her collection's message. In it, she discusses white femininity, white fragility and how it's "enviably good" at "metabolizing critique and converting it into a moral, political, or financial asset."
When discussing the increased scrutiny that comes with greater visibility, Isen uses singer/songwriters Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey, comedian Ellen DeGeneres and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian as examples of white womanhood at play.
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"Wanting to be thought of as good, after all, is not the same as wanting to be good, full stop," Isen writes of Swift's reasoning for breaking her years-long non-political stance in the 2020 documentary of her life, "Miss Americana."
In 2018, Swift made a rare political statement on social media during midterm elections, endorsing the Tennessee Democratic candidate for Senate and condemning Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn's anti-LGBTQ values.
"I need to be on the right side of history," Swift says in the doc.
Of the "queen of relatability," whose empire stood on the motto "Be Kind," Isen writes DeGeneres' fall from grace was a rude awakening. When reports surfaced that she was leading a toxic work environment, the talk show host called the allegations "misogynistic."
Her "deeply cynical" response was seen for what it was, Isen writes. DeGeneres' "reply frames the critiques of her workplace as a personal attack — one that involves at least tangentially, the way she's been discriminated against in the past. While the allegations were about abuses of power, her response emphasized her powerlessness."
Del Rey insisted she was "definitely not racist" after claiming Black performers like Beyoncé, Cardi B, Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj get a free pass for "songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes …" because how could she possibly be racist when "(her) best friends are rappers"?
But as the public increasingly grows weary of celebrity culture, we've also learned to not fall for the antics. "Now, when white women try to weaponize their tears to prove how they've been wronged, they become the subjects of grainy cell phone videos. They get quirky, alliterative viral nicknames that testify to their sin," Isen writes.
Isen covers loaded topics in a light-hearted way that breaks down the history of how society has gotten to a point where empty words have taken the place of "doing the work." She provides personal anecdotes and experiences, and most importantly, points the finger back at us, reminding the reader of the subtle ways we too can be at fault for doing a whole lot of preaching, but not putting it into practice for change.
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