Taylor Swift, Sexism, and Internalized Misogyny
Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.
by MICHAELA VARVIS ★ MARCH 14, 2021
From the moment we’re born, we girls are conditioned to memorize a pre-existing not-so-secret set of rules on what’s allowed—a “girl-code,” if you will—but one that’s less “sisters before misters” and more downright degrading. Girls are taught to be polite, not be too loud, say sorry, and not say no. As girls become women, there is an added pressure to “act like a lady” and not do things that could potentially damage our image, our character or—God forbid—our precious reputation.
Taylor Swift is no stranger to harsh criticism from the press; specifically about her dating life. Swift has spent her life in the spotlight since she was 16, and a long, successful A-list music career leaves plenty of room for slander and criticism. While she has a pretty standard amount of past relationships, the media is quick to judge her based on her detailed songs about her experiences and paint her as a crazed, heartbroken girl who can’t seem to find love. It’s no secret that SO many men in Hollywood have dated way more people than she has, yet her love life consistently manages to be at the butt of every joke and the front of every magazine.
Credit: Buzzfeed
Netflix’s new series, “Ginny & Georgia,” is not the first to make a sexist joke at Taylor’s expense, but it is the most recent. In the show, one female character says to another female character, "What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift."
Taylor responded to the tasteless joke with the following Tweet:
This is yet another example of women being shamed for literally just existing and living their lives. The idea of young women going on dates with multiple people is beginning to become more and more normalized, but Taylor Swift, as a public figure, faces constant scrutiny for her not-so-intimate personal relationships. It’s extremely difficult for young women to grow up seeing celebrities be criticized for these behaviors because it makes it seem wrong or taboo. Many young women already struggle with internalized misogyny and sexism as a result of growing up in a patriarchal society, and seeing the way some of their favorite celebrities are represented and mistreated in the media only exacerbates the problem.
In her 2020 documentary, “Miss Americana,” Taylor herself admitted that she has had to “unlearn” the internalized misogyny that has been implanted in her brain from a young age. This can be heard in some of Swift’s older songs, such as “Better Than Revenge” and “You Belong With Me,” where she sings about other girls in a negative, slut-shamey, and “I’m Not Like Other Girls” kind of way. In the documentary, she explains, "I'm trying to be as educated as possible on how to respect people, on how to de-program the misogyny in my own brain. Toss it out, reject it, and resist it… Like, there is no such thing as a slut. There is no such thing as a b*tch. There is no such thing as someone who's bossy, there's just a boss."
Taylor Swift is a privileged and wealthy white woman, but that does not mean she is immune from receiving absurd amounts of criticism from people about her dating history and life choices. In honor of Women’s History Month, and every other month after that, we should be uplifting other women instead of tearing them down because the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.
Cover photo credit: Vulture