The Effect of Gender on Taylor Swift’s Career

Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter who has had massive success over the past fifteen years. Originally starting as a Country singer, Swift released three albums from the ages of 16 to 25. In 2014, she released her album entitled “1989” which marked her transition to pop music. In 2020, Swift released two albums, “Folklore” and “Evermore,” marking her eighth and ninth albums. Throughout her career, she has gone through many highs and lows, and has been criticized harshly. Taylor has earned eleven Grammy awards (pictured below) and has won Album of the Year three times, making her the only female to hold this accolade. This paper seeks to analyze the theme of gender and how it has influenced her musical transformation.

Taylor Swift was exposed to the music industry at a very young age. When she released her first album in 2006 at the age of 16, she says she didn’t notice any sexism in the music industry. However, as she got older, she, “realized that was because I was a kid. Men in the industry saw me as a kid. I was a lanky, scrawny, overexcited young girl who reminded them more of their little niece or their daughter than a successful woman in business or a colleague.” ¹Chappell, Carmin. “Taylor Swift Says This Was the Moment She Noticed Sexism in the Music Industry.” CNBC. CNBC, August 8, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/08/taylor-swift-says-this-was-the-moment-she-woke-up-to-sexism-in-the-music-industry.html. Due to her being so young when she entered the music industry, she grew into a woman at the same time that she grew into stardom. Swift says that, “as soon as I started playing stadiums — when I started to look like a woman — that wasn’t as cool anymore.” ²Chappell, Carmin. “Taylor Swift Says This Was the Moment She Noticed Sexism in the Music Industry.” CNBC. CNBC, August 8, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/08/taylor-swift-says-this-was-the-moment-she-woke-up-to-sexism-in-the-music-industry.html. This experience of Taylor’s perfectly aligns with the idea of “Girling at the parlor piano.” In her piece, Ruth Solie ascertains that the extent to which women were allowed to practice the piano was to entertain guests when hosting at their home. ³Solie, Ruth A. “Girling at the Parlor Piano,” Music in Other Words: Victorian Conversations. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004. The second a woman sought to learn the art for another purpose, such as to perform professionally, learning was no longer encouraged. Similarly, the second that Taylor Swift started performing on a larger scale and was no longer a kid playing for fun, she experienced sexism and discouragement. Though the idea of “Girling at the parlor piano” is outdated, it is evident that there are connections to modern-day musicians such as Taylor Swift.

An example of sexism that Swift has faced comes from when she was growing into a woman and began to date boys. During this period, and still today, she was dubbed a “serial-dater” and “self-centered,” among many other names. Taylor Swift is infamous for using exes to write songs about; this is something that she has been heavily criticized for. However, as she points out, “I think frankly that’s a very sexist angle to take. No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says that about Bruno Mars. They’re all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life, and no one raises the red flag there” ⁴Dockterman, Eliana. “Taylor Swift Calls Critics of Her Songs About Exes ‘Sexist’.” Time. Time, October 20, 2014. https://time.com/3524641/taylor-swift-feminism-critics-sexist/ While on the surface it may seem that she is rightly criticized for this, the question of why other artists, particularly men, are not criticized for the same can be raised. This is similar to the idea of how a madrigal was exclusively for men in the Renaissance period. In these madrigals, men would jokingly sing about sexual innuendos and would, “boast about their conquests”⁵Avidlistenerblog. “Bromantic Singing: Madrigals and Authenticity.” The Avid Listener, July 27, 2020. https://theavidlistenerblog.com/2020/07/27/bromantic-singing-madrigals-and-authenticity/.  As the culture shifted, women began to “infiltrate” madrigals by participating in them. When women sung madrigals, the lyrics shifted from boasting about sexual conquests because it was not considered lady-like. Thus, similar to how women could not sing about their love life in the same way as men, Taylor Swift is often criticized for the same thing that her male counterparts openly do. Is singing about exes and “sexual conquests” only okay for men to do, even beyond the Renaissance period into the current day? In response to all of the criticism about her dating life, Swift put out a song entitled “Shake it Off” on her album “1989” in 2018. The full music video can be viewed below:

In her song, Swift details how she recognizes the criticisms that people have for her; for instance, people may say that she “goes on too many dates,” but she is just going to “shake it off.” Additionally, the upbeat tempo of this song shows critics that she will not let them get her down. Taylor singing in a higher, more feminine pitched voice also proves to critics that she is a woman and that will not change.

In George Eliot’s Middlemarch, the main character, Dorothea, is married to Mr. Casaubon⁶Eliot, George. Middlemarch. Radford, VA: Wilder Publications, 2020.. Throughout the novel, Mr. Casaubon tries to control who Dorothea can and can’t see. Dorothea really wants to learn how to play the piano, but because that falls outside of her household duties, Mr. Casaubon does not want her to. In addition to limiting her musical ability, this narrative exemplifies how women are supposed to follow a man’s direction even when they do not want to. In the past two years, Taylor Swift has spoken out against her former record label, Big Machine Records. Scott Borchetta, the owner of Big Machine Records, sold all of the rights to Scooter Braun without giving Taylor the opportunity to purchase the rights to her music. Not only did this limit Taylor’s artistic freedom, but it also is another instance of a man controlling what a woman could do. Mr. Casaubon tried throughout Middlemarch to limit the music that Dorothea could make, and Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun also limited the music that Taylor Swift could make. In 2019 when the American Music Awards announced that Taylor was going to be named artist of the decade, Scott Borchetta initially did not want Taylor Swift to perform a mix of her old songs because he considered that re-recording her music, which, under contract, she was not allowed to do until recently⁷“Taylor Swift’s Been Cleared to Sing Her Own Songs – CBBC Newsround.” BBC News. BBC. Accessed April 18, 2021. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/50471382#:~:text=She%20said%20her%20old%20bosses,cleared%20to%20perform%20her%20music.. After months of negotiation, she was cleared to sing a mashup of her songs to celebrate her achievement. Since, Taylor Swift has started re-recording her music and re-released her second album, “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” on April 9, 2021. The album features six new songs that Borchetta originally did not allow Taylor to put on the album. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) can be found below:

In her early career, while under the thumb of Big Machine Records, Swift perpetuated misogynistic ideals. Her third album, “Speak Now,” features a song entitled, “Better Than Revenge.” The song chronicles a girl in love with her boyfriend who cheats on her with another girl. The song actively slut shames the girl, and not the ex-boyfriend, repeatedly. Lyrics such as, “She’s not a Saint and she’s not what you think she’s an actress, whoa, She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress, woah” depict this slut shaming. Other lyrics in the song chronicle a “typical” teenage girl who tries to buy sophistication with vintage dresses and going to a private school. The full song can be found below:

Some fans explain this as a young Taylor dealing with internalized misogyny. Whatever the reason behind this song, it links back to the themes in madrigals where women were treated as objects. Additionally, it perpetuates the idea that women are supposed to act a certain way, as described in Ruth Solie’s and George Eliot’s pieces. This song features guitars, drums, and other masculine sounding instruments. This could add to the idea that Swift, in this song, is perpetuating the masculine belief (in the madrigal time period) that women are objects. Thus, in her early career, Swift succumbed, and sometimes perpetuated, sexism in the music industry.

As Swift has grown older, she has increasingly become more outspoken about this sexism. In her song, “The Man”, which debuted on her album “Lover” in 2019, Swift talks about gender biases and different criticisms that women face. In particular, the lyrics for the song chronicle sexual conquests and how men are praised for it. The music video can be watched below:

The song ascertains that if Taylor Swift were a man, she would be referred to as “an alpha type” and a “baller” who “gets bitches and models.” The content of this song relates back to madrigals as it is precisely what men of the time jokingly sung about. In this empowering song, Swift points out that she’s “so sick of running as fast as I can / wondering if I’d get there faster if I was a man.” By pointing out the gender biases in the music industry head on, Swift expressed her anger for the criticisms that she has faced for being a woman. She states that, “if I was a man, I’d be the man” instead of receiving all of this criticism. The music video for the song is particularly empowering as it is revealed in the end that the main character, a man, is Swift dressed up the whole time. In the ending credits, it details the writer, director, singer, etc., all of whom are Taylor Swift. This is Swift asserting her dominance and showing that she, too, should be able to do anything a man can do. In comparing the lyrics of “The Man” to the lyrics of “Better Than Revenge,” it almost seems like two different musicians wrote the two pieces; Swift has experienced so much sexism and it has caused her to create completely different music. The addition of masculine sounding instruments to this song, in contrast with Better Than Revenge, such as the drum and a heavy beat to the background, further challenges gender norms in music. Swift’s higher pitched voice is more “feminine”, yet the background music is more “masculine”. These two features being present in the song further the idea that Swift, and women in general, can do anything a man can do. This is something that I imagine women in the Renaissance period could have only dreamed of doing.

Taylor Swift has used her music both to encourage young people to vote and also to address gender biases in the music industry. In her song, “Only the Young,” Taylor Swift both acknowledges hurt that young people may have felt during Donald Trump’s presidency and encourages the youth that they are the future. This is yet another example of Swift’s musical transformation after years of experiencing sexism and being told what she could and could not do. The song can be heard below:

While people usually say it’s “not an artist’s place,” or maybe “it’s not a woman’s place” to speak out about politics, Swift decided that she would use her music and influence to convey whatever message she wanted. The background music conveys a sense of a war, with harsh beats and drums, and that is exactly what Swift wants young people to think. Though they may feel as though Trump had won a battle, using your voice in the future will help you win the war. A woman’s place is at a piano training classically. A woman’s place is to determine what she can and can’t do musically. A woman’s place can be, and should be, speaking about anything that a man can, not just “Girling at the piano parlor.”

In analyzing Taylor Swift’s career, it is clear that her gender has had an immense impact on the criticisms that she has faced. At times, her music exemplifies how this can affect a young person, and, as she got older, her music exemplified her anger and response to these criticisms. And, not shockingly, her response and anger were criticized, because, of course, anger is not a feminine trait. Through all this criticism, Swift has been able to persist. In the last year, she has released two albums and a re-recorded album with six new songs. She has won album of the year at the Grammys for the third time, making her the only woman to hold this accolade. Additionally, she was named artist of the decade at the 2019 AMAs. As said below, Taylor Swift is the music industry.

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