By Eliana Buenrostro
To many, Taylor Swift is a breath of fresh of air, a nice change from the many overproduced sexualized pop stars. She plays guitar and writes her own songs. Swift has been lauded as a role model for young girls and she might be single handedly responsible for bringing pop country songs to the forefront of youth culture. The truth is that Taylor Swift is talented. She can write great pop songs with catchy melodies and lyrics that resonate with anyone with any capacity for emotion. The problem is with the image she creates for all her devoted followers to admire.
Swift frequently gives herself the image of the pure virginal girl, while her counterparts are left to be enemies with sexualities. Her lyrics revolve around the idea that a girl or woman’s value is somehow tied to her sexuality. Her songs are another part of a culture that values an image of purity over a healthy sexuality and places girls who are upfront about their sex lives within the label of a “slut” or “whore.”
In “You Belong With Me” she assigns her character the role of “quirky outsider” (she wears t-shirts, sits on the bleachers, and listens to different music) who is more deserving of her crush’s love than the popular girl. Instead of concluding that maybe the guy just doesn’t want her, she makes the other girl the enemy. The other woman wears short skirts, high heels, and frequently hangs around other boys. So she must be promiscuous. Swift establishes the idea that if a girl gives any hint of being sexual that she is less valuable than the woman who has no incidence of being sexual. She is making that girl with the boyfriend who has sex, the girl to be berated and ostracized. The girl we are supposed to look down on for owning her sexuality.
And this isn’t an isolated incident in just one song and music video. In the song “Better Than Revenge,” Swift attacks the girl who has supposedly taken her boyfriend from her: “she’s not a saint…she’s better known for the things she does on the mattress.” By writing this she places emphasis on what the other woman does sexually, therefore immediately vilifying anything related to her sexuality. It takes away the fact that sexuality is complex and reduces her to a sexual object. In doing this she also takes away all the blame from the man in the relationship, as though he is incapable of making his own decisions about who he dates.
In Swift’s mind, all it took was the so-called vixen to take him away. She purposely pits women against each other as if there weren’t enough girl hate permeating popular culture. The truth is that this mode of thinking and labeling hurts all women. Because girls aren’t called sluts because they’ve been acting like “sluts.” There is no set definition for this word. Girls are called sluts when they have stepped out of line in what is considered appropriate sexual behavior for a girl. That is to be sexy, but not sexual.
Girls must be desirable and appealing to male eyes, but in order to be worth chasing they must be virgins. It’s not about what would make us happy, but about what men would like to see. There is no room for women to have complex and individual sexualities. In fact, girls don’t even have to be having sex to be called a “slut.” According to Indiana University of Pennsylvania professor of psychology Dr. Maureen McHugh, “the label slut is not really about objecting to the sexual behavior of a girl, but is used as a weapon to hurt girls and women. It is frequently not about the sexual behavior of the target. It is a form of relational aggression.”
Swift thinks she is sending a positive message to girls in her songs, but instead she is actually normalizing the idea that it’s acceptable to hate on someone for being sexual. The research conducted by McHugh concludes that “girls have begun by eighth grade to monitor the sexual conduct of other girls, and 70 percent of students have experienced some kind of non-physical sexual harassment, including sexual rumor spreading — known as ‘slut bashing.’”
The model for the majority of Swift’s songs revolve around the idea that romantic relationships It has girls chasing the simple ideal of marriage. In “Love Story” – a song about a guy she can’t be with – the shocking conclusion results in a marriage: “He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said marry me Juliet…I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress.” The song is about a romance that almost cannot be, but what I find to be problematic is that she doesn’t make any decisions for herself. Her idea of romance is waiting for a guy to come and save her: “Romeo save me, they’re trying to tell me how to feel.” A resounding number of her songs are all about the ideal romance, which is to say almost all of them. In Swift’s world the only thing that matters is the fairytale romance.
Swift is considered to be a role model for young girls because she is supposedly that outsider looking in. Yet her narrative consists of bringing other girls down, giving limiting views of sexuality and aspirations that rely solely on romantic love. But women are so much more than their sexuality and constricting norms don’t allow us to focus on achievement, personality and intelligence. Those are the attributes that truly matter.
A little too harsh a characterization if you ask me. Fine, by all means offer her some feedback, sensitize us to the underlying negative assumptions/messages, but don’t summarily dismiss all of her work and all of who she is on the basis of this one perspective. A little broader lens please.
Yeah you’re right. Taylor is a lousy role model for young women. Young women should look up to women like Amy Winehouse. You know, the alcoholic, drug addicted slut that committed suicide. She’d be a perfect roll model according to your article. Women should just say, fuck you world, I’m gonna do what I want and I don’t care what you think. All female junkies and alkies unite and SPARK up your life; while it lasts.
I think that everything posted was very logical. However, what about this? suppose you typed a catchier post title? I ain’t suggesting your content is not solid., but suppose you added a post title that makes people want more? I mean Role Model Taylor Swift Sings the Wrong Messages | SPARK a Movement is a little vanilla. You might look at Yahoo’s front page and see how they write news titles to get people to click. You might try adding a video or a pic or two to grab readers interested about what you’ve got to say. In my opinion, it could bring your website a little bit more interesting.
Taylor Swift has 3 albums, and you choose 3 songs from them and label her a boy obsessed, slut-shaming virgin? To say I completely disagree with this is an understatement, and as much as I find your articles to be insightful and interesting, I think this one is taking it way too far and overanalyzing the lyrics of an artist who is the best role model out there right now. You could literally choose ANY other young female artist and find something legitimate to complain about, Taylor Swift is at the bottom of list in terms of setting a bad example. Instead of trying to defend her myself, I will leave you with some of her songs that give the opposite message of what your accusing her of, and maybe you can go and beat up on someone who deserves it like Miley Cyrus or something.
– Change
– Fifteen
– The Best Day
– Mean
– Long Live
– Never Grow Up
– A Place In This World
– Cold As You
– The Outside
– Tied Together With A Smile
1. Fifteen is not a good song to be listed if you’re trying to make her look good.
2. Bashing another celebrity to defend one, does not help prove your point.
3. it isn’t just a couple of her songs, it’s her attitude, the way she victimizes men.
4. in “a couple” of her songs we have heard: slut-shaming, sexism, and promoting girl to girl hate
5. She does not have to be anybody’s role model, but if she were, she is a horrible one, nowhere near “one of the best”. she sends horrible messages to young girls, or really anybody.
6. “a couple good songs”, oh wow she has some good music? ok that MUST make her a good person, because she has some good songs. and those good songs TOTALLY make up for all the hate and victimizing. she must be a saint.
7. Yes, the number of men she has dated does not matter, that does not make her a slut, she has the right to date as many men as she want and sleep with anyone she wants. it is NOT OK to victimize the majority of these men, or even shame the men she liked for not liking her back. it is not ok to be obsessive and controlling.
8. have you ever wondered ‘hm, taylor swift really does complain about her exes in her songs a lot, and its never her fault? HM. maybe, it’s not always their fault, MAYBE…sometimes it’s actually HER!’, once again she is not a saint.
9. “someone who deserves it like miley cyrus” if you want to bring miley into this, if you want to compare the two, miley cyrus has done very little. She actually hasn’t done anything, her life is none of your business. and yeah, taylor’s life is NONE of our business either, but she publicizes and spreads negativity. that is not ok.
I completely disagree with your interpretation of Swift and her music on several points. Hopefully you have no opposition to healthy disagreement.
1) In my opinion the idea that the song “You Belong With Me” was written to make the girl with the healthy sexuality look promiscuous is a little far fetched. Swift clearly says in the song that she think the boy should be with her because they have more things in common. She says that the girl gets mad at the boy because she doesn’t understand his humor, that Taylor knows the boy better than the other girl, that Taylor and he have known each other for longer, and that Taylor and the boy always enjoy the time they spend together. Completely irrespective of the sexuality of any of these teens, Taylor makes a pretty solid case as to why she’s the better match for this guy. And you would be hard pressed to find a young person who hasn’t felt that the person they’re in love with would be a good match for them. Expecting a 16 year old girl to have the emotional maturity to realize that maybe he sees things in his girlfriend that Taylor doesn’t understand is a little much (I’m not implying that you are doing this).
2) As far as “Better than Revenge” I’m not a huge fan of this song. I’ve always said that in a love triangle it isn’t the “other woman’s” responsibility to respect a man’s wife/girlfriend. Taylor’s boyfriend should have behaved better because it was his job to respect Taylor and be honest with her. However, I personally think that having sex with a person that you know is already in a relationship is pretty promiscuous. When I say promiscuity I am referring to the definition of the word that refers to immoral sexuality. Thus, I don’t think it’s hard to imagine that a woman would think that only a slut would knowingly sleep with a man that already has a partner. My only issue with this song is Taylor choosing to place no responsibility on the boy in question.
3) I also disagree with your interpretation of “Love Story.” You say that Ms. Swift makes no choices for herself in this scenario as she begs for Romeo to save her and waits for him to free her from her father. I think you’re overlooking some important details in the song though. The fact that Taylor is ASKING this boy to save her implies that she is making her own decisions, because she’s knowingly going against her father. In this song she (through lyrics of course) begs Romeo to save her, begs Romeo to take her away, and sneaks out to meet him. Basically I see this song as a scenario in which the girl is calling the shots. She’s asking this boy to get into trouble with her, instead of him being the one to beg her to come away with HIM.
Anyways, sorry for the long-winded comment. I just feel that in this particular instance your only real evidence as to what Taylor thinks is her song lyrics and some of them are being taken out of context here. I enjoyed your article.
I don’t think Swift purposely writes songs to shame other girls. It’s definitely part of larger societal climate that makes it acceptable to pick on girls for different reasons, including being sexual. Society tells girls that it’s not acceptable for girls to be sexual and let alone flaunt it, so that’s why I find that kind of name calling so awful. By no means is she the only one doing this but she does contribute to that ancient ideal. Not to mention she has a certain about of privilege in being allowed to write songs this way. I had already written a lot so I didn’t go into how her being a thin, white, straight, woman doesn’t make her all that different or special than others.
I think you do make a good point on her character’s relationship in “You Belong With Me” with the guy. Girls do think that way about their relationship to boys and society in general. My issue is that often times girls use their differences or quirks as a way to consider themselves above other girls. I am by no means blaming the girls themselves and I think you make a good point about the age of the character. But the problem is that girls are told (by the media mostly) that it’s okay to fight with other girls and pick on each other for mundane reasons. Swift suffers from what we like to call “special snowflake syndrome.” When someone thinks those little differences or quirks make them better than someone and this includes thinking that she is somehow more deserving of the boy’s love over the other girl. I can’t pretend like I didn’t absolutely feel that way about myself when I was young, but Swift is much older than 16 now and those attitudes can be very harmful.
In general we like to refrain from the word “slut” because of the way it is used against women. I like to think there is no such thing as a “slut.” Sure there are people who engage in dangerous behavior and choose to hurt others but those slurs are always reserved solely for women. While I think she should be able to express how she feels about the situation, it is hugely problematic (as you mentioned) that she only singles out the woman.
As for “Love Story,” I see what you’re saying. I think that’s an important detail, but it doesn’t change the fact that she purposely made the setting of the song a time and place where women couldn’t really make decisions for themselves (as apparent by the video). The truth is it’s another part of a culture that tells girls that romance is being rescued and thinking in terms of what someone else can do for them. Fairy-tale and romantic comedy culture is packaged to tell women that personal autonomy just isn’t good enough.
Really though, thanks for taking the time to write all this.
Basically I think that there are more problems in society than Taylor Swift. She’s the best role model out there for young girls (as far as entertainers and celebrities go). My younger sister is fourteen and is absolutely obsessed with this woman. I mean, she truly idolizes her. And to be honest, I couldn’t be happier. I’d love it if she idolized Helen Keller, J.K. Rowling, or Margaret Thatcher, but realistically I know that fourteen year olds will idolize the people they see on television. Ms. Swift writes and composes her own music, and she constantly tells young girls that it’s just fine to be yourself. While I do disagree with you, I am however happy you wrote this article. It was well-written and pretty fair. My only complaint is that the only real insight we have into Taylor are her lyrics, and those are extremely open to interpretation.
Great job Eliana! I’m always saying these things about her music.
It’s just an image, it’s her ‘thing’, most celebrities and/or singers have that. Just look at her real life and all the boyfriends she went for, tall, dark and good looking. She used them for a while and went on to the next one. She’s shallow like all of us. Lastly, NOBODY is a role model unless they choose to be one.
My husband is more worried about her public persona as far as a role model to young tweens where she throws herself into these quick, intense relationships without a break. He thinks she projects an emotionally “needy” persona. Not professionally or financially but emotional.
On the other hand, she actually write her own stuff, whether we like it or not, a cookie for Taylor. Even my girls were cracking up about her buying the house next to the Kennedy compound. For all we know it may have been a steal…lol.
Your a liar. Taylor swift had co writers on all of her albums except her third album. So she doesnt write all of her own material. Get your facts straight
No, she dosen’t write all her own material, you are right. BUT each song is one of her story’s. Either way there is no reason to be rude.
Nah girl, don’t listen to all these haters. They’re basic. You break this down PERFECTLY. She’s a slut-shamer, through and through. Oh, and guess what Bob? Fuck you, fuck your slut shaming shit and fuck the world too. I will do what I want. I drink, I’ve done drugs. I’m also gonna be that doctor who helps you regain your fucking ability to move after some badass hot bitch in charge slams yo ass for such blatantly sexist shit (which I’m sure you say all the time). Shocker that you didn’t get the message AT ALL. Also, no cookies for basic whitebread slut shaming brats. Um, and also she encourages you to be ‘yourself’ as long as you aren’t having sex, or dating some dude she’s obsessed with. Nah, her and her image are huge problems that contribute to the way people treat and look at women and girls(including other women and girls). Y’all basic. Eileen is not. Keep writing the truth.
You guys don’t have to agree with what is stated in the article, it is the writer’s opinion. And to be honest, Taylor Swift herself is not a bad role model, but the way she slut-shames is a terrible message to young girls. She is polluting young children with the ideas that as long as they dislike the girl their crush is dating, it is okay to label her as a slut. Ahem, the “other girl” has feelings too and it is not okay to assume things based on what little you know of her. If Taylor Swift wants to be a good role model in her songs she can easily sing about that! Talk about inspiring messages such as “Stand In the Rain” by Superchick, that would be a powerful song after a break-up or other occurrence in her life. She is 22 and needs to take responsibility for the amount of power she has over her fans. Singing about the same break-ups makes her look weak and dependent on men to make her feel better about herself. I want a song about Taylor not needing a boyfriend because she is beautiful and happy the way she is. THAT would be a refreshing change.
Isn’t she a slut herself? She dated like 13 men in 3 yrs. Mile Cyrus* or whatever her name is been engaged to the same guy for 3 yrs. Go figure. This is one confuse and easily manipulated society.
6 guys in 7 years. six.