Taylor Swift has taken the world by storm and is smashing expectations for recording artists. After releasing her 10th album Midnights, Taylor Swift announced The Eras Tour in which she plays music from each of her 10 albums or “eras” in order to give the fans the experience of her whole discography in one show. After there was such a clamor to see the concert, Taylor released The Eras Tour Movie to give fans who were not able to acquire tickets the opportunity to see the show. Despite her massive success, there are still many people who do not understand why Taylor Swift is so popular because according to them: all she does is write about her love life.

  Thumbnail from the You Belong With Me music video 

Still from the We Are Never Getting Back Together music video

Although it is true that Taylor Swift has many famous love songs like You Belong with Me and famous break up songs like We are Never Ever Getting Back Together, there is a significant portion of her discography that is unrelated to her love life. Notably, in her lead single “Shake it Off” from 1989, Swift talks about how she brushes off the haters, and in her lead single “Anti-Hero” off of Midnights, Taylor sings about her experiences with fear, insecurity and self-loathing. However, the best example of Taylor Swift singing about something other than her love life is ironically called “The Man” from the Lover album.

In a famous interview with Jules Merrick and Sophie before her 1989 release in 2014, Taylor says that people tell her that “she just writes songs about her ex-boyfriends” but she believes “that’s a very sexist angle to take” because “no one says that about Ed Sheeran” and “no one says that about Bruno Mars” despite the fact that “they’re all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life”. Swift sings about this double standard in “The Man”, where she outlines how her actions would be perceived differently if she were a man and not a woman.

On the left, Taylor Swift. On the right, Taylor Swift’s transformation into a man for her The Man music video.

In the first verse, Taylor critiques the dating double standard in the music industry. In the opening lines she sings “I would be complex / I would be cool / They’d say I played the field before I found someone to commit to / And that would be ok / For me to do / Every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you” to emphasize this point. She references how men in the industry who date lots of women are positively perceived as desirable and glorious because they are able to attract many woman. On the other hand, Taylor is negatively perceived as jumping from one guy to the next. This idea is similar to the opinion presented by St. Francis Xavier that “women are generally inconstant”, placing the blame on them for sexual transgressions. A couple lines later Taylor asks “When everyone believes ya, What’s that like?” to critique how the media is so quick to discredit the experiences she shares regarding her relationships, but no one questions her boyfriends or her other male counterparts. This unfortunate discrepancy likely arises from belief such as Xavier’s that women are fickle and it is their fault, so they don’t get the right to complain.

The Man music video thumbnail

In the chorus, Taylor laments that “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can / Wonderin’ if I’d get there quicker if I was a man”. Despite being one of the most successful artists of our time, even Taylor wonders what role her gender played in her success, speculating that it actually inhibited her from rising to fame. To her, being a man in the industry seems easy, but she has to do so much work in order to reach the same level as her male counterparts. Adrienne Rich would likely agree with Taylor because the 8th definition of man’s power over women she uses is “to withhold them from large areas of the society’s knowledge and cultural attainments”. In other words, men are attempting to hold her back from the successful cultural attainments of her music, and without them withholding her she would have “got[ten] there quicker” as she says. This fact becomes evident when she continues “And I’m so sick of them comin’ at me again / Cause if I was a man / Then I’d be the Man”. Essentially, the male dominated society is exercising its power over her as woman to critique and discredit her, but if she were a man then she would not have to experience these setbacks, and would in fact be the the manliest man.

Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs, saying she did not deserve to win

In the second verse, Taylor starts off singing “They’d say I hustled / Put in the work / They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve”. This double standard is reminiscent of Sor Juana’s plight for education. Following Sor Filotea’s philosophy, men are allowed to be considered working or getting educated, seeing as it is a manly thing to exhibit determination, but women are meant to be docile so they are not afforded the same opportunities. Even if Taylor puts in work, it is not considered as valid as a man’s work because she’s a woman who is not supposed to be a business woman in the music industry.  She then elaborates “What I was wearing / If I was rude / Could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves” which means that even when she is demonstrating her wit and power she is still associated with femininity. People will associate her with fashion and her temperament versus her abilities. She then compares herself to Leonardo DiCaprio, singing “And they would toast to me oh / Let the players play / I’d be just like Leo / In Saint-Tropez” referencing how Leonardo DiCaprio is glorified for his tendency to take his young female lovers to his house in Saint-Tropez. On the other hand, Taylor Swift is often demonized for having many previous lovers.

The Man Taylor with all the “bitches and models” just “like Leo in Saint-Tropez”

In the bridge, Taylor asks “What’s it like to brag about raking in dollars / And getting bitches and models?” and suggests that “And it’s all good if you’re bad / And its okay if you’re mad”. These lines critique the socially acceptable actions of men in society. For men, it’s ok to flaunt wealth, be sexual, and be aggressive. Baldwin would argue that since aggression is a trait of masculinity and masculinity is inherently tied to sexuality, all of these actions make sense for a man to do. However, without masculinity, it would be odd to be overly sexual and aggressive. Taylor notes this oddity when she sings “If I was out flashin’ my dollars / I’d be a bitch not a baller / They’d paint me out to be bad / So it’s ok that I’m mad”. Since these behaviors are not typical female behaviors in society, they would be viewed negatively by the public because it would seem as if Taylor was not acting like a woman. This assessment speaks to the heavy influence gender roles have on our society and the perception of specific actions.

Taylor Swift demonstrating manly rage in The Man music video

Now the question still remains: why do people think Taylor Swift write break up songs? Could it be because break up songs are just a societal expectation for women, and writing break up songs fits into people’s preconceived notions of female artists? Could it be that people view her as inconstant because of the number of guys she dated? Do people reduce Taylor to her sexuality, thinking she can only write about love, because that’s all that could possibly be notable in her life? Are men using their power over her to silence her artistic voice? As sad as it is, the answer is likely a combination of all of these things. Man’s power in society runs rampant when unchecked, and pre-established gender roles help feed into a narrative of misogyny. No matter how hard Taylor Swift tries to dispel these terrible and cruel rumors, they will stick to her. In order to reverse their perception of Taylor Swift, people would have to actually listen to her music to understand her artistic voice, but as we know from Anzaldua, just because people write it does not mean that those in power will listen. Taylor writes songs to speak her truth into the universe, and it is on us to listen instead of making assumptions.