This new era held promises of something different, courtesy of her producers on this project.
Jack Antonoff, a close friend and frequent collaborator who worked on most of Swift’s projects, sat this one out. Instead, we had Max Martin and Shellback
Yet, despite this interpretation, the album still faced a wave of criticism online from fans and regular listeners. As a popular music figure, Taylor Swift inevitably draws controversy and debate, regardless of critical acclaim or the quality of her art. The central issue is not whether people debate her best songs or compare this album to her previous work. Instead, the key point is that valid musical criticisms often lead to personal attacks on Swift and claims about her supposed inability to create ‘good’ music at all. Taylor Swift is not someone who needs defending by any means. What needs attention is that female pop singers are consistently being shamed for their music.
The ‘criticism’ levelled against them, and Swift, is rarely based on specific musical evaluation. Instead, it’s permeated by a misogynistic undertone. A cultural belief: that anything created by and popular with women is inherently surface-level, disposable nonsense. Consequently, something to be shamed and dismissed by both men and women.
Almost immediately, many users on social media decided they weren’t a fan of this album (a fair stance to take). Yet their delivery of this opinion was somewhat worrying; many users range from stating things like, “What a great day being a loyal Taylor Swift hater”. Another video showed a woman listening to ‘Eldest Daughter’, a track from the new album; she seemed somewhat disgusted, asking, “What is this?” before saying, “She’s actually just a ‘pick me’”.
The term ‘pick me’ has gained popularity over the last few years. It describes women who differentiate themselves from other women, seemingly to gain validation, typically from men. Yet, over time, this term has been used as a means for women to tear each other down. Rather than address their own internalised misogyny. Ironically, a lot of women who claim that they do not like Taylor Swift or female pop in general do so to distance themselves from seeming too ‘feminine’ or ‘girly.’
This isn’t to say Taylor Swift has been the ideal feminist; there are cases where she hasn’t considered intersectionality in her own approach to feminism. Her stance, or lack of a stance, on certain issues is disappointing. However, both can exist simultaneously if we were to compare the treatment of musical criticism towards Taylor Swift to another music mogul in a similar space, like Drake. It’s clear it’s marked up completely differently. Following the aftermath of his rap beef with Compton artist Kendrick Lamar, Drake released an album which, like Swift’s, received some heavy debate. Yet most of this criticism remained focused on the music at hand, and didn’t diminish Drake’s past work as a whole. Nor did it discuss Drake's personal romantic relationships as a ‘reason’ for why the album wasn’t his best. Instead, they focus on vocal delivery, production issues and stylistic choices.
Additionally, this criticism does not open the floodgates for social media users to dissect Drake’s looks and personality. This type of behaviour also begs the question: are male artists the only ones deserving of valid critique and constructive criticism? As a society, do we expect instant gratification from female musicians, rather than allowing time for their music to marinate? Offering instant comments about their personality and lives, masked as album feedback.
All this to say, not every person who criticises Taylor Swift’s music is a misogynist. Some have valid reasons and are welcome to their opinion. But many people offer their opinion as a guise to tear another woman down and dismiss her discography without listening to the music. When this behaviour manifests, it seeps into the mechanics of pop music, dismissing the whole genre as a ‘waste of time’ and anything female-centred as frivolous. Hopefully, with time, listeners who deem a Taylor Swift song as their ’guilty pleasure’ music can see how very wrong they are about that. There’s nothing to feel guilty about.
Jessica Sansoa
Image: TAS RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
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