Critiquing Taylor Swift

For my final project, I have been examining Taylor Swift through a feminist lens.  My criticism is not of Taylor Swift as a person - it is a criticism instead of her persona and the way she is portrayed as a role model for young girls and the problematic aspects underlying many of her song lyrics.

Some definitions readers will need to know up front:

Slut shaming: Simply put, the idea of shaming or attacking a women or girl for being sexual, acknowledging sexual feelings and pleasure, having sexual partners, or acting on sexual feelings. From Alon Levy's "Slut Shaming," he puts it as "The implication that if a woman has sex that traditional society disapproves of, she should be shamed or made to feel guilty or inferior." Though you've probably never heard the term before reading this (unless you're into feminism or sociology like I am), I'm willing to bet you've probably called a girl a slut at some point in your life, haven't you?

Rape Culture: We live in a rape culture. To understand what this means (well, first you can re-read my post from the beginning of the semester on sexual assault), let's look at the explanation found in "Transforming a Rape Culture" by Emilie Buchwald, Martha Roth, and Pamela R. Fletcher:

A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.

In a rape culture both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, inevitable as death or taxes. This violence, however, is neither biologically nor divinely ordained. Much of what we accept as inevitable is in fact the expression of values and attitudes that can change.


What's wrong with Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" music video?

In the video (and in most of her other songs/videos), Swift casts herself as the proverbial outcast - in this case, "the girl in the bleachers." How does she do this in this video? Putting on a pair of very round, large glasses. Certainly these "dorky" glasses erase everything else that make Taylor conventionally and undeniably  attractive: long blonde hair, fair (read: white) and clear skin, big doe eyes, and thin.

Part of Taylor's mass appeal is that even though she is a celebrity, she still considers herself to be the average, girl-next-store, perpetually boyfriend-less American girl. 

Here's the thing: Taylor Swift is beautiful. She, like many supermodels found in magazines, on television and the rest of pop culture, does not represent anything "average" about girls.  

For some reason, though, most of her songs are spent villianizing other girls who she allegedly can't compete with primarily because of their good looks and ability to gain the attention of boys Swift herself desires.


What's wrong with Taylor Swift's lyrics?

 
And that's just it: all of Taylor Swift's songs are about boys. That is all she writes about - and it is at this level alone that Swift resonates with teenage girls.  Without a boy, Swift feels incomplete, and she's waiting around for the day she meets her prince charming and then she'll never have any problems ever again.  Is this really the type of role model parents want for their young daughters?

In her single "Hey Stephen," Swift sings: "All those other girls, well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?"

In Taylor Swift's songs, beautiful girls are assumed to have nothing to offer but their beauty. Because somehow Swift considers herself to be less attractive, this is supposed to make her other traits more "genuine," since she automatically assumes someone who is beautiful must be superficial as well.


Why does Taylor Swift hate other girls?


In almost all of Swift’s song, especially this one, girls are only portrayed as obstacles in her way. These girls “steal” the men that Swift believes should be with her by seducing them with their good looks and sexual availability while Swift characterizes herself as modest and shy. The boy Swift desires is never criticized for dating or desiring a girl who is perceived as sexual, even though this would insinuate that the boys Swift wants to date must then also be having sex. This can be seen reflected in society as well, as men are rarely criticized for being sexual; only women are scrutinized and put down for acting on sexual feelings.


Slut Shaming and the Virgin/Whore Dichotomy:

Let me tell you something - good luck finding Taylor in any color dress but white. It doesn't matter if it's award shows or her music videos. White. Because she is perfect and pure and virginal. Just like in Better Than Revenge's music video, which I can sum up for you: Taylor shows up to a party looking awestruck and doe-eyed in a white dress, where her innocence and purity makes the boy realize that she is actually what he deserves, and he leaves his date (girlfriend) who is wearing a red, more revealing dress for Swift and her virginal beauty.

This is literally the virgin/whore dichotomy. Images, colors and everything. There is nowhere for women to fall but on one side of this spectrum.

Don't forget the wonderful lyrics to this song either, you don't even need the music video:

The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and...
I had it all, I had him right where I wanted him
She came along, got him alone and let's hear the applause
She took him faster than you could say "sabotage"

Oh, yeah. This guy was completely powerless to say no to this girl's sexual prowess. No fault lies with him. And sex is sabotage.

I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it
I underestimated just who I was dealing with
She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum
She underestimated just who she was stealing from

Read: Boyfriends are possession. Girls own them, and other girls can steal them. Boys are completely powerless, have no autonomy, and can't turn down sex, ever.

She's not a saint
And she's not what you think
She's an actress, whoa
She's better known
For the things that she does
On the mattress, whoa

That's right. Women who are sexually active are always deceitful. You can't be good in bed and have othe redeeming qualities, either.

Soon she's gonna find
Stealing other people's toys
On the playground won't
Make you many friends
She should keep in mind
She should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge

Boys are toys. Need I say more?


Why are these implications dangerous?

Swift is perpetuating the idea that choice of dress and sexuality are intertwined, and that sexuality is something to be shamed. The consequence of slut shaming is that this conception contributes and encourages rape culture, by supporting a rapist over a victim on the defense that the victim was "asking for it." The very idea of "asking for it" comes from clothing. If a victim was wearing clothes considered to be revealing, then it is often claimed that she was purposefully drawing attention to herself and did not have the right to turn away sexual advances. Also prevelant in Swift's lyrics is the idea that men, when given the chance to have sex, literally cannot turn it down. Though in her songs, Swift blames other girls for ruining her perfect relationship, in society this equates to men not being able to turn down sex even when the victim cannot give consent, thus leading to assault.


What is the effect on Taylor Swift's fans?

Another thing I'd like to point out (if anyone still thinks Taylor Swift doesn't really matter) is that some of Taylor's teeange girl fans are legitimately crazy. I have been on message boards and Tumblrs devoted to her fanbase and there have been huge, hysterical arguments over whether or not Taylor is still actually a virgin or not. It shouldn't matter! She shouldn't be a role model because she's a virgin, she should be a role model because she gives back to her fans and tries to be a good person while being a celebrity. It's not good to encourage girls to obsess over who's a virgin and who's not - these are indications of a much larger problem in society about teaching young girls they are only valuable if they are innocent.

(If anyone is interested in reading more about society's obsession with virginity and its affect on young girls, I highly recomment fourth-wave feminist Jessica Valenti's "The Purity Myth"!)

So what can be done about it?

The thing is that all media is problematic - it's not like you can turn off all media to avoid contributing to it or endorsing it. Songs are problematic, shows are problematic, magazines are problematic, you name it. Disney movies can be exceptionally problematic - that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them! Enjoy the media that you enjoy, but try and look critically at it, and realize the parts of it that aren't right.
There's nothing wrong with being sad that the guy you're in love with has a girlfriend; the problem is bad-mouthing the girl because the two of you are different and you think that makes you better. I compare Swift a lot to Adele - look at her song "Someone Like You." Her ex has moved on, and obviously she's heartbroken about it, but she doesn't blame his new girlfriend at all. I think that's a lot more genuine and less problematic.