Taylor as Feminist and Role Model
Riding on her undoubtedly queen and diva status in the entertainment industry, Swift also manages to adopt the role of a feminist; and to a lot of young women, she is the perfect role model. However, her efforts in identifying as a feminist have inspired some and created controversy for others. In a way, her journey to becoming the pop queen that she is today represents the perfect American Dream for a girl. The middle-class, somewhat ordinary family background, the pure passion for music from the very beginning, the consistent hard work since she was 12, the rise to fame by writing and singing her own music, the building of a multi-billion dollar empire on her own terms — she has proved to America that girls can achieve their own successes, starting just with a simple dream and a heart of gold (and obviously talent). Although Kanye would disagree (more on this later), Swift’s success and fame is largely self-made. By example, Swift’s success is itself a testament to feminism.
However, when she spoke up about feminism on Twitter, notably responding to fellow artist Nicki Minaj’s rant on the lack of representation of black artists at award shows, she receives immediate backlash. Disappointed about the lack of nomination of her “Anaconda” music video, Minaj tweeted, “If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year.” Although Minaj did not point to anyone in particular, Swift read it as an attack on her, which led her to tweet Minaj: “I’ve done nothing but love & support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.” Here, we see Swift’s attempt at demonstrating her feminism to a fellow artist in public and social media, an act that would only be appropriate for figures of a respectable status in the public sphere. Although she has received understandable criticism for the sensitive comment, it is clear that Swift intends to exercise her responsibility as a successful female artist to speak up about sexism in the music industry. Choosing to do that in Twitter, a social media site widely consumed by both celebrities and the public, Swift understands how her comments contribute to her public image.
