The Five Faces of Oppression: Why Taylor Swift Should Go Out of Style

US Magazine

Today in the music industry there are countless artists both male and female, with work consisting of songs about anything from love to shootings to singing about a dog. Each person has their own taste in music, however a common occurrence I notice when people talk about music they say which genres they like, and automatically criticize the types of music they don't like. While many people may criticize rap music for notoriously being vulgar, degrading towards women, and violent, I feel we should take a closer look at the music that is popular alongside this supposedly preposterous genre of music.

Taylor Swift is an apparent role model for female youth. She has won over 300 awards for her music which is primarily about her feelings toward past relationships and guys she's dated. Much of the female population enjoys her music because she characteristically represents that men are the enemy or the cause of a lot of female pain, which is quite often the way young women feel. However, by using this appeal to sell her albums, she is also displaying the five faces of oppression Young discusses in her article. 

Exploitation and Powerlessness- Swift's songs characteristically talk about her past relationships, sometimes even including the real name of one of her exes. She includes specific details from the relationships like times and experiences to write her songs, and although these details make the songs personal and help the audience relate to her, they exploit the men she's dated in the process. Chances are Taylor did not check with these men to see if it was okay to expose these details to a world-wide audience, nor did she allow any of them the opportunity to tell their side of the story, leaving them powerless. While they're not in a relationship anymore, there is some form of confidentiality to be upheld, as many of the guys are famous, just as Swift is. In a sense she is being extremely immature in publicly trashing these guys with her songs. It's a subtle way of destroying their reputations and status with the public. As a result, they are left powerless because any response on their part would be viewed negatively.

Marginalization and Violence - Not only does Taylor Swift tend to exploit the men she's dated, she generalizes her experiences to all men. This is her way of making the songs relatable and marketable, however it marginalizes the male population as a whole, while sometimes even getting violent. In her most recent hit "Blank Space" she has lines saying, "You look like my next mistake," "Boys only want love if it's torture," and refers to guys as "players." Even in her older song "Picture to Burn" she says she'll tell all of her exes friends he's gay to get revenge for cheating on her. These examples of verbal violence and marginalization of men show she is degrading men just as much as male music artists degrade women, just in a less vulgar manner. 

Cultural Imperialism - This leaves us with cultural imperialism. How could sweet little Taylor Swift's songs be displaying this form of oppression you ask? Let me ask you this. How is it appropriate culturally to teach girls such a strong double standard? That it's not okay for guys to sing/rap about the female body and sex, which are both natural parts of existence, because they're degrading women, yet it's okay for females to sing about how terrible guys are and that there are no worthwhile men in the world. Even though there is no single person that is the oppressor, Taylor Swift songs are an example of an oppressor. She writes as the epitome of the sweet, angelic little girl who can do no wrong.  How is it fair that she is teaching the younger generations of females that men are nothing but heartbreak and hurt, when we ourselves break their hearts as well?