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taylor swift at the 2025 grammy awards
taylor swift at the 2025 grammy awards
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CU Boulder | Culture

In Defense Of The Internet’s Least Favorite Women

Tatum France-Kelly Student Contributor, University of Colorado - Boulder
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at CU Boulder chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Taylor Swift recently came out with The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. The backlash against the album and Swift herself is particularly venomous. The criticism she receives is often directed at her character and personal life, rather than the uninspired production and corny lyrics of her newest release. As a long time Swift fan, I won’t take up any arms in defense of the album. However, I will defend its creator. 

Swift is no stranger to addressing her own controversy. She’s been a public figure since her teen years, and she’s been under direct fire nearly the entire time. The Life of a Showgirl comments endlessly on her experience with fame and infamy. Unfortunately, her whole “addressing the haters” bit usually comes off as cringy and childish rather than empowering or witty. 

Fame comes with endless scrutiny and dissection. Nearly all celebrities face backlash throughout their careers. However, women in the entertainment industry face a very specific, misogynistic genre of reproval. They are picked apart for their faults in ways that men aren’t, and must perform far above the standards placed on their male counterparts.

Amber Heard is another woman who has been slandered, beaten and berated by the internet. In 2019, Heard’s ex-husband, Johnny Depp, sued her for defamation following a Washington Post op-ed where Heard claimed to be a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” 

Depp claimed that Heard’s article damaged his career, as he was dropped from the production of Disney’s Pirates of Caribbean days after the article was released. However, rumors of Depp’s abuse had already been circulating prior to Heard speaking out. Heard filed a counter defamation suit. Then came the smear campaign. 

Fans of Depp took to the internet to defend their favorite abusers. Organized smear campaigns against female public figures aren’t new. They often target sexual violence victims.  If you’ve been anywhere on the internet, you’re familiar with the likes of Blake Lively, Amber Heard, or Monica Lewinsky. This harassment utilizes misogynistic sentiments to discredit survivors and dismiss allegations made against abusers.

This behavior is endlessly harmful. It discourages victims from speaking out, and vilifies them when they do. It inflicts lasting harm on the victim, and cements hateful sentiments in our cultural zeitgeist.

The internet is also deeply interested in putting women against each other. By creating divides between female celebrities, it limits the solidarity that can be formed in times when support is most necessary. These petty fights will often extend beyond personal conflicts, leading to newspapers, magazines and fans in online spaces picking sides. These women are dragged online, picked apart physically and berated for their actions.

Women are expected to be docile and forgiving, so any sort of public disagreement often gets blown out of proportion. Not only does this lead to the escalations of feuds between these celebrities, it also leads to the mischaracterization of individual women as “crazy” or, the worst thing a woman could possibly be; “rude.” 

One must question if these women would receive such harsh criticism if they were men. Male celebrities are allowed to continue their careers despite allegations of sexual misconduct, racism or abuse. Often, men’s scandals will bolster their fame rather than diminish it. 

Mike Tyson returned to boxing after spending three years in jail for rape. Chris Brown’s career remains strong despite his assault charges. Roman Polanski continues to direct and has been nominated for major awards, never facing consequences for reportedly drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. 

On the other hand, famous women can never win. They can either fire back and continue the cycle of endless action and reaction, or stay quiet and allow the internet to tear them apart through blog posts and TikTok commentary. 

These double standards are also experienced by ordinary women in the workplace. Women are paid less for their labor and their successes are diminished. While Swift may have many flaws, we have to understand that the artists we listen to on the radio and see on the TV are humans, and how we treat them reflects onto everyday civilians. 

The double standards surrounding gender in the entertainment industry are pervasive and we must acknowledge them if we are to erase them.

Tatum France-Kelly

CU Boulder '29

Tatum France-Kelly is a sophomore studying journalism and political science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In HCCU she finds an outlet to explore her interests and expand her writing skills. She loves to write about music, fitness, art and feminism.

This is Tatum's first year as a writer for Her Campus. Outside of HCCU, She is part of the Beta Iota chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta and CU Democracy Matters. She likes to read, play music, paint, and try out new coffee shops. She likes going to the gym and running.