In her 20 years of music making and song writing, Taylor Swift has matured from the naïve love songs of “Our Song” to ones that host social commentary like “Blank Space” and Lover’s “The Man.” This maturation and shift in Swift’s music is analyzed by Koki Kobayashi, a student at the University of Notre Dame, who bases his analysis on Nancy A. Walker’s A Very Serious Thing: Women’s Humor and American Culture and Gloria Kaufman’s Pulling Our Own Strings: Feminist Humor and Satire. The former of which Kobayashi remarks, “offers a history and analysis of feminist humor and its purpose” (Kobayashi). Both Walker and Kaufman’s works introduce American authors that have historically utilized feminist satire which compels Kobayashi to conclude that satire, utilized by Swift, is not a new outlet to critique stereotypes and inequality. Kobayashi remarks that the satire in the music videos for “Blank Space” and “The Man” allow Swift to further emphasize the feminist theme in both songs. He argues that “the use of humor in music videos is an effective means of promoting feminism, as it subverts gender inequality…in a format that is easily consumed” (Kobayashi). Though part of Kobayashi’s analysis is based on the “Blank Space” music video, he argues that the reception of the video implores Swift to augment the feminist satire in “The Man.” It is implied through Kobayashi’s remarks that Swift’s crass and aggressive character in both videos primarily serves as a satirical critique of society’s “ideal” woman who is characterized by sensitivity, gentleness, and a subdued personality. Interestingly, humor, which Swift heavily employs, and the directness of Swift’s message is seen as a direct contrast to the ideal. 

Kobayashi structures the article in a timeline-like manner. He begins by introducing the #MeToo movement which serves as an integral cultural and historical context for the release of “The Man” and is also significant to Swift. In 2013 “Swift underwent a sexual assault trial…Despite winning her case, Swift was cruelly belittled by the media and faced criticism from the public…The injustice Swift felt during the sexual assault case…caused her to take a larger stance against gender inequality” (Kobayashi). This “larger stance” cited by Kobayashi begins with her response to criticisms made against her in the form of “Blank Space” and is later manifested in the explicit societal critiques made in “The Man.” As the critique of gender inequality soon became affiliated with American politics, so did Swift. Though at this time Swift had yet to publicly endorse a candidate, she soon became outwardly implicit. The release date of the music video for “The Man” is an example of the implication of Swift’s affiliation and stance. February 27, 2020, the release date for the video is also the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling of the 19th Amendment which finally gave women the right to vote. Through the lyrics and music video of “The Man,” Swift begins to take a more publicly explicit stance on American politics. Kobayashi compares the direct message of “The Man” to the implications and assumptions that have to be made by the audience in “Blank Space.”

Swift’s explicit feminism is made even more evident as Kobayashi provides context to several allusions made by Swift throughout the lyrics and music video. The most obvious reference to gender inequality in Swift’s lyrics cited by Kobayashi and a variety of his sources is an explicit call out of Leonardo DiCaprio’s actions, many of which are celebrated by the media. The line “I’d be just like Leo in Saint-Tropez” alludes to the various parties DiCaprio hosts at his summer home and his “refusal to date women over the age of 25” (Kobayashi). Interestingly, this lyric strips away the question of the opening scene of the music video. What appears to be a scene of a boss walking into an office is, in conjunction with explicitly naming DiCaprio, an allusion to another opening scene. Though Kobayashi manages to take an unbiased approach for most of the article, he begins to waver as he appears to take on a more negative tone in response to the obvious patriarchal characteristics of society. This accidental unveiling of underlying bias allows for the reliability of Kobayashi’s analysis to be questioned, however holds little consequence as his sentiments are reflected in the other sources he cites. According to Swift, the scene is an homage to the opening scene of The Wolf of Wall Street, conveniently starring DiCaprio, in which an “alpha male” walks “through an office, bossing his employees around, and receiving applause” (Kobayashi). In both of these direct references Kobayashi notes that Swift attempts to demonstrate how one man, celebrated by the media, and idolized by many perpetuates many societal double standards. Further, Kobayashi says that Swift inadvertently asks her audience to reflect on how normal men have also perpetuated the societal double standards.

As Kobayashi continues to analyze the rest of the music video and the lyrics to “The Man” he provides several counterarguments and poses the question “what would happen, or how would society react if this was a woman instead?” Through an analysis of the music video with a satirical feminist lens Kobayashi implores his audience to reflect on the often overlooked double standards of the actions of men. 

Kobayashi’s analysis, based heavily on ideas introduced by Walker and Kaufman’s respective texts, reflects the construction of Kobayashi’s argument. While he is able to make a compelling argument, he relies heavily on the sources he cites and rarely introduces ideas of his own, preferring to build on the ideas and concepts introduced by other writers. Though the development of other’s arguments does lend itself to the reliability of Kobayashi’s argument, it is unfortunate that Kobayashi does not necessarily contribute to the claim that Swift’s “The Man” has a growing cultural influence. 

Furthermore, through the article’s publication in Americana, an undergraduate student publication, the reliability of Kobayashi’s article is questioned. Conversely, the article’s inclusion on CurateND implicitly declared that the article is peer-reviewed though most likely by other undergraduate students who also contribute to Americana. Additionally, much of Kobayashi’s interpretation of “The Man” relies on interviews from blogs and publications and a limited amount of “academically” published sources. Though he references blogs and publications that often carry an implicit bias, Kobayashi consistently only uses direct quotes from Swift and rarely includes any additional notes added by the writer. In particular, although Kobayashi uses an interview of Swift from Maxim, Kobayashi uses only a direct quote from Swift rather than the provided additional commentary of the interview. This practice allows Kobayashi’s claims and arguments to be constructed on a basis of reliability since these quotes can be perceived as using a primary source. 

In addition, the structure of Kobayashi’s writing seems to reflect Swift’s lyrical and sonic maturation from “Blank Space” to “The Man.” Though Kobayashi relies heavily on gossip blogs and interviews for his analysis of the satirical commentary in “Blank Space”, he transitions to using neutral commentary when analyzing “The Man.” In this transition Kobayashi mirrors the shift between responding to targeted criticism to commentary on criticisms made against the female population. While typically the usage of gossip columns and blogs might diminish an argument, in this case it enhances Kobayashi’s claims made towards the purpose of “The Man.” This division of sources used by Kobayashi is admirable as it not only provides concrete validity and allows for his claims to be supported by another source, it also inadvertently forces the audience to “care.” Whereas gossip blogs and publications discussing a public figure can often be brushed off as lies and allows for a separation between the stereotypes projected onto a singular person rather than a whole population, neutral articles, often published by valid publications like The Washington Post forces audiences to reflect on the generalization of stereotypes onto a whole population.