Taylor Swift is arguably the biggest name in music today.
At 30 years old, she has won nine Grammys and has been nominated for 35.
Globally, her music has reached unparalleled levels of recognition.
She has created an empire and fought for artists’ rights against vampiric streaming devices, like Spotify, that take advantage of less established musicians.
Few artists rival her in fame or output, yet her new single “The Man” claims that her achievements are limited due to her gender.
She believes that she has unduly faced a double standard that has prevented her from being taken seriously in the music industry.
While there are surely double standards in the music industry, she is not so severely affected by them unless she feels that she is.
“The Man” tells girls and women that their journey will never be as easy as a man and that they should feel sorry for their gender.
This song is encouraging the sexist remarks it claims to abhor.
This victim mentality negates the work that women in the music industry have put in to be seen as equals.
The two highest earning artists in the past decade were women: Adele and Taylor Swift herself.
Pop music is and has been controlled by powerful “alpha” women like Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Nikki Minaj, Katy Perry, Cardi B and Beyoncé.
These women have controlled 2010s and have had significant cultural impacts in the past decade.
These women are not the victim that “The Man” may lead the listener to believe.
In fact, they’re the opposite: Lady Gaga has been a fearless activist for animal rights and the LGBTQ+ community, Billie Eilish has fearlessly expressed an androgynous persona, and Adele has fearlessly borne her soul and the trauma of a failed marriage in her music.
They are all incredibly respected artists that have been fearless and female. They did not claim to fall short due to their gender. They expressed themselves as women and people.
The aforementioned women have also enjoyed recognition and fame for their talents, not for their relationship status.
Swift states that this is not a luxury for women.
Women cannot date several men without being labeled a derogatory term.
Many of these women, like Ariana Grande, existed beyond their relationships and actually propelled the careers of the men they’ve dated, such as Saturday Night Live’s not-quite-ready-for-primetime player Pete Davidson.
Grande might have had her love life discussed (as all celebrities do) but had never been defined by it.
Ariana Grande actually wrote “Thank You, Next” as an anthem for her past relationships in order to put them to rest. She never was diminished as boy-crazy.
Swift, who has constantly fought paparazzi for calling her out on her relationships, on the other hand, constantly addresses the comments, like in the “I’ve got a long list of ex-lovers” lyrics in “Blank Space.”
Since she responds to the comments, the media asks in order to get a response and a quote from her.
All women are not shamed for their relationship habits, just as not all men are free to womanize.
She directly calls out Leonardo DiCaprio in this song for getting no backlash for his playboy ways, but that is not the case; social media has been lit ablaze with memes and references to DiCaprio’s womanizing of young models. DiCaprio is not beyond criticism.
This is also endorsing toxic masculinity by stating that men are characterized as hustlers and womanizers that invalidate other less “alpha” men.
Swift is promoting archaic gender stereotypes in her newest single “The Man” and is conflating the double standards faced by women with issues she has with the media.
Within this song, she claims that she worked harder than necessary to succeed, and maybe she did.
But, if she did, it is not because of her gender– other women in the industry are not plagued by these issues anymore.
Feminism has evolved, and her reluctance to acknowledge that discredits all the work that prior women have done.
These issues may still exist to some extent, but it is important to let young women believe that they can be successful in this industry and to not rehash and reaffirm stereotypes, as Swift has done in this song.