Observations about Taylor Swift lyrics and sexism in male-dominated industries

EDIT: I wrote this post a long time ago and realized I never posted it, so here it is:

So, surprise! I’m a Taylor Swift fan (ie. a Swiftie) and have been for about 7-8 years (mind you, I’m only 17, so almost for about half of my life, I’ve been a Swiftie). I believe that especially as a young adult, going through puberty and internalizing quotes I saw on the internet or things I heard influencers say more than the advice my amazing parents were so desperately trying to give to me, music and video clips was one medium through which I was affected. Usually, while writing my posts, I try to link the number of observation to the content (such as writing about the COVID-19 pandemic in Observation 19, or writing about superstitions in Observation 13). So while trying to come up with possible topics related to the number “22”, I immediately thought of Taylor Swift’s song, “22”!! Apart from talking about how specific lyrics of hers affected me, and how I believe they affected others, I also want to dive a bit into the toxicity which I believe exists in the media, especially toward successful, independent women who don’t necessarily try to undermine their successes and are not humble, per say. So let’s get into the lyrics!! I’m planning on picking 1 lyrics from each album, though I don’t think it will fit into this blog post. So watch out for more! (If you told 5-year-ago-me that I would be able writing my interpretations of Taylor Swift lyrics on the internet, on my personal blog, I would have truly laughed in your face.)

“I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere / Fell behind on my classmates and I ended up here”

“this is me trying”, folklore

So I believe this quote especially speaks to me as a perfectionist and as an overachiever who experiences burnout quite often. I’ve learned how destructive it can be if I don’t listen to my body and my brain and take a break, so whenever I experience feelings of burnout, I do my best to stop and give myself a break. However, that’s not always possible as sometimes, I don’t have the privilege of taking a break. And listening to this song the first time, I was unable to take these specific lyrics out of my head, because this is exactly my fear. I believe that oftentimes, we reduce academic success to grades, though it’s so much more beyond that. Your high school and college years are supposed to be a learning experience, where you grow not only intellectually but personally and mentally as well. It’s where you get introduced to different ideologies, grow your own passions about the topics that especially interest you, and attain general knowledge that will help you throughout life. It’s where you learn to think critically not only in academic contexts but in everday ones as well. However, as a senior who’s currently in the admissions process, where you are more or less reduced to your transcript and your resume (and not even that sometimes), falling behind on my classmates is honestly a nightmare. It truly sounds embarrassing and dramatic to admit it because not only are we all taking different classes (such as psychology, economics, business, film, visual arts, information technologies, computer science, biology etc.) all with different difficulty levels, we are also not applying to the same schools, and don’t have the same exact goals or plans, so there’s not even a correct basis for comparison! But I simply can’t help it, and I know others are feeling this way as well. However, it’s one of my aspirations to quit this unhealthy comparison in college, which I don’t think will be too hard as college is a more laid back, independent place compared to high school in terms of the attitudes of people (from what I’ve heard).

“We’re the new romantics / Come on, come along with me / Heartbreak is the national anthem / We sing it proudly”

“New Romantics”, 1989

This doesn’t have any deep meaning to it, it’s simply such a human lyrics in my opinion, which is why I love it! It embraces heartbreak, an emotion that people will do their best to not experience, closing themselves off to the world, not letting people in, doing their best to not care about people or animals or anything really. Swift almost romanticizes heartbreak and embraces (or even is proud of) the fact that heartbreak will happen, that it’s a natural, almost healthy part of being human, especially of being young. These lyrics and this song in general simply brings me so much joy and relief because it reminds me that not only am I not supposed to have everything figured out by now, it’s also okay to not be in the best place. It’s okay if you’re inevitably experiencing heartbreak one way or the other, whether it’s due to breaking up with your high school sweetheart, due to leaving your hometown to study in some other city, country or even continent (which it probably will be in my case) or due to simply growing up and leaving your childhood years, the mere innocence with which you looked at the world, behind. But it’s okay, because with change comes growth, and with growth comes beauty. Being young is when you’re allowed to make your mistakes, go through the intense highs and lows, and overall be human. It’s beautiful I think. 🙂

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail / Strategy sets the scene for the tale”

“Mastermind”, Midnights

“Mastermind” is also my favorite song from Taylor Swift’s newest album, “Midnights”! The first line of these lyrics didn’t make much sense the first time I heard them, but they make more sense the more and more and I hear them. I’ve begun to adopt this mentality now. This isn’t necessarily because I’ve heard these lyrics but also because I have had more workload than I’m used to for this past year, which has taught me to “work smarter not harder””, one part of which is planning to reduce procrastination.” One part of this new process of working smarter has been extensive planning, because I’ve found that both in short-term activities (like planning the structure of an exam) and in long-term activities (such as planning for a year-long or two-year-long project) planning is absolutely essential, and though it may not seem like it, it always gives you more time in the end! This isn’t necessarily a deep lyrics, simply one that’s catchy and that I think should be internalized by more people everywhere!!

“At 14 there’s just so much you can’t do / And you can’t wait to move out someday and call your own shots (…) In a big city, they just dropped me off / So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on”

“Never Grow Up”, Speak Now

These lyrics make me tear up all the time and I’m not even a very emotional person (I didn’t cry during The Notebook, for a measure). But I believe these lyrics make me emotional because they speak to me so much. Even though I grew up in one of the most bustling, busy, “big” cities in the world, I think we don’t realize it when we’re in it. But when you go someplace else, especially if it’s not within your own country and thus doesn’t have the same culture, norms, rules etc., you experience this so much. For example, I went to the US over the summer and there were so many culture shocks I experienced on the daily! One being how the waiters don’t wait for you to order the bill but they simply bring it to your table! This would be considered incredibly rude where I’m from, and I was startled the first time it happened, but I soon realized they don’t consider it “rude”, simply a matter of business. So though I used to dream about moving to NYC (funnily enough, usually while listening to “Welcome to New York” by Taylor Swift), it’s approaching faster than I want it to now (NYC is simply an example by the way, I just mean the general concept of moving to a city with a culture different than your own). Though “calling my own shots” was the biggest dream I had as a small child whose mom would turn her night light on every night, and though moving out and gaining independence still remains one opportunity I’m very grateful of being able to take, I know I’ll listen to these lyrics and dream of having my night light turnt on the first night I spend in a new city. Anyways, perhaps this was too dramatic, but it’s one thing I can’t stop thinking about since it’s closer than I ever though it would be at the moment.

“I’m so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man”

“The Man”, Lover

Finally, though I believe this speaks for itself, it’s about the sexism Taylor experienced in the past. However, I believe it speaks to all women. I haven’t been in many positions where I directly observed my male counterparts being praised for the same thing I was expected to do, which is what I think the message of this song is, but I did slightly experience it in school. I was the president of our school’s student council, and my school is incredibly progressive and promotive of equality compared to the other schools in my country; and even in my school, I was the first female president in a decade. And I had been in the council for two years before my final year as president, so I had observed my male peers as presidents. I believe they all did a great job, but I observed, throughout the year, that when some mistakes they made were made by me, such as forgetting to announce something 14 days in advance but instead 11 days in advance, I received a lot more “backlash” than they had. I know that my friends didn’t do this intentionally, because I truly know they would never try to undermine me (I know I sound gullible but trust me.). I realized, instead, that it was internalized sexism, from being exposed to tons of ads about razors, kitchen tools, children’s vitamins, snacks or anything really, of women being housewives and men “bringing home the bacon” from when they were just a child, or from seeing pink baby onesies saying “Waiting to be saved by Superman” and blue ones saying “Superman”, or from being told/implied by their parents who were told by their parents who were told by their parents that our jobs as females is to find a nice, smart, preferably “well-off” partner and create a family or that their jobs as males is to become lawyers and doctors and engineers, and eventually find a woman good enough for them, though that is sure to be hard. I know this view sounds too dystopian to be true, but I observe this kind of behavior every day. Inflating men’s egos from the moment they are BORN until it’s too inflated for anyone to tolerate it, and undermining women’s self-esteems and self-perceptions until they start to believe that their sole purpose is to reproduce and give and give and give. I believe growing up to be someone with a high ego or low self-esteem in such cases is equally the parent’s and the child’s fault, and even more of the parent’s if the child didn’t have any other sources of information such as social media.

I’m grateful to my family for not opposing such stereotypes on me, though I’m saddened by the knowledge that I too, grew up around such razor, kitchen tool, vitamin and snack ads, that I too, saw such onesies and that my parents too, slipped up sometimes and imposed the stereotypes they were imposed onto me, perhaps one word or sentence they uttered changing my perception of the world as an innocent child. And even if that internalized sexism is recognized, it doesn’t necessarily stop even the most feminist of feminists from unintentionally viewing women as “weaker”, more dependent. It’s kind of like how even though we recognize the impossible beauty standards created by the cosmetic industry, we still feel bad when we get a new stretch mark or when we see ourselves from an unflattering angle or when the tons of skincare products we use don’t work. Sometimes that sexism, or that inherent desire to adhere to beauty standards, or whatever other -ism or rather screwed up issue created by capitalism/consumerism it may be, is so deep-rooted that recognizing it exists isn’t enough to stop it from coming into motion and affecting our actions and decision-making. This is simply a sad truth about the world. However, I believe recognition is the first step of the change, of a shift to a more inclusive world, and I’m happy it’s occurring.