Imagine being one of the world’s highest paid celebrities, having your net worth be over 400 million dollars, receiving 11 Grammy Awards, while only being 31 years old. It all sounds crazy and unimaginable, but the genius behind this is Taylor Swift. She is the definition of a girl boss.
You might know her from the songs “You Belong With Me” or “We’re Never Getting Back Together”. One thing that you might notice is that almost all of her songs are about her boyfriends and past exes. Sadly, for this reason she gets ridiculed. Since she’s a woman and her songs are about getting heartbroken by men, she seems to be boy-obsessed with her “excessive amount of boyfriends”. On the other hand, artists like Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, and John Legend gets praised for the songs they produce about past relationships. This hatred for Taylor Swift stems from the patriarchy. Why don’t we hold this grudge on male artists in the music industry like we do to the women artists?
Men overpower the music industry. Most of the popular producers are male, the top charts are usually filled by men, and bands are typically male based. Sadly, if female artists produced the same type of songs or even worked with the same producers as the male artists do, they still would not get the same amount of recognition.
Taylor Swift has been in the music industry since 2006. She is a genius in music production and writing. Since she has been writing her own music for years now, she knows what works best for her and her intended audience: teenage girls going through heartbreak. Her songs empower women, help them navigate through a heartbreak, and encourage them to get back up on their feet.
Men who listen to Drake, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars and much more look up to these artists. While these artists create music about their sexual relationships with women, demeaning women, and even exposing their past relationships, they still get praised for it. In society, men congratulate other men for becoming sexual with another woman. On the other hand, when women do the same acts as men, they are called “whores”, “hoes”, and even “sluts”. It is a male world.
The fact that Taylor Swift is called these names in the media is outrageous to me. She even was brought up in a misogynistic comment in a Netflix show called “Ginny and Georgia”. The show included a line that said “What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift”.
Now let’s get this straight. Taylor Swift gets criticized for her love life, while Bruno Mars gets praised for his. They both sing about the same exact thing, but the reactions for it are the total opposite of each other. The expectations for women are completely different than for men. Men in America are expected to have many sexual partners. They are seen as “manly men” if they do so. On the other hand, women in America are expected to be submissive and innocent. This view on women is created by men. So, when Taylor Swift flaunts about her boyfriends and flaunts about how confident she is men across America are appalled. What Taylor Swift is doing is going against the expectations of women and making her own expectations for herself.
Even though Taylor Swift will still receive hate for her songs, she continues to write them, while hoping to empower young girls and women. This is why Taylor Swift is the ultimate girl boss.