A Response to Taylor Swift Backlash

Two things have prompted me to rejuvenate my blog:

1. Hearing Ke$ha's latest hit and consequently almost veering into oncoming traffic to end my misery.
2. This interesting, if over-long, article on why Taylor Swift sucks made me mad because I still love her.

This article does raise some good points -- Swiftie talks about rain a lot, it's true.-- and after a cursory listen, it's evident that Swift has a naive and elementary understanding of the world. But I think that's okay. Not all girls need to be sullied on a ping-pong table at too young an age or grow up in poverty to earn the right to make music.

The author paints Taylor as a virginal role model that Moms of America love, at odds with the more revolutionary, edgy and honest artists like Lady Gaga. Moms do prefer Taylor to Gaga, but unlike the petulant punk-rebels of the world, that doesn't make me like her less. As the writer points out, Taylor-the-person is different from Taylor-the-product. She, like her fellow female musicians (/all women?) are images crafted by 100 different hands. Conservative Christians can probably get behind her "Don't have sex when you're 15" message and the not-so-subtle, "good girls wear white" imagery in her videos. But who's fault is it that Taylor Swift perpetuates the Madonna/whore complex with the caricatures in the "You Belong to Me" video? Is it Taylor's? We were all raised in a society that holds that standard and it isn't fair to martyr this single musician for its existence.

It's also a leap to say that Taylor Swift's lyrics about waiting to have sex until you're sure you can trust the boy driving the hot rod is the same as condoning an abstinence-only lifestyle. And if her music has Christian elements, isn't that simply in line with the genre of country music? Morals aside, the reason I like her is because out of all the other pop stars on the top 40s charts, she actually has a sincere viewpoint. She's not a slutty robot. How many more songs are we going to have to hear about getting wasted in a club and be told to put our hands up because the beat is sick? Club pop is so, so tired.

Honestly, sincerity is a sad reason to like an artist. It's a low standard to be sure. But what are my options when the Black-Eyed Peas make songs that sound like SNL parodies (ahem, "Get out and smash it, like oh my God") and the extent of Ke$ha's lyrical genius is "Blah blah blah, that's what I'm talkin' bout"? She announces to everyone that she has nothing to say, and yet everyone is still listening! Excuse me if I find Taylor Swift a breath of fresh air.

I'm not saying that perpetuating destructive gender roles unknowingly makes it okay, and you can go ahead and criticize her for that. But please, do not try to tell me that Lady Gaga is a feminist. It's an impossible, much-argued issue, whether flaunting your sexuality makes you progressive or just makes boys happy, so we won't argue about her effect on sexual politics. I'll just point out that Madonna (not of madonna-whore fame, but of "Vogue"/ pointy bra fame) already revolutionized female sexuality two decades ago. Gaga is a rehash with a wig.

Team Taylor.