Taylor Swift, Badass:

The reason that people—in particular 20-something women—seem to take issue with Swift, it seems, is that they feel she merely whines about boys, which they then construe as being “weak” and “anti-feminist,” since she’s a romantic and falls hard. (Hell, wasn’t Adele’s 21 all about a miserable break-up?) Plus, she dresses conservatively and, with her tousled blond tresses, lipstick, and squinty blue eyes, resembles a grown-up American Girls doll. Oh, and she deals mostly in country music—a genre that’s much maligned by indie snobs.

Unlike her female solo artist contemporaries—the Katy Perrys and Adeles of the world—Swift doesn’t sing about kissing girls and doesn’t chain-smoke or curse. She appears to be, on the surface, a paragon of chastity and virtue. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t a feminist. It’s all really a matter of audience. Swift’s target audience is 10- to 18-year-old girls. She’s a hell of a good role model for that age group. I attended a recent Swift show at the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan and, at her stellar live performance, chops aside, by the looks of things the audience was comprised almost entirely of young, wholesome girls—either in groups, or with a parent in tow. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

1. rbnhdofhippo likes this
2. galoor reblogged this from newsweek and added:

   She’s playing to her audience…she plays what sells.

3. galoor likes this
4. malobbyists reblogged this from oddbodkins
5. dreamingoutloud-always reblogged this from cellogirl4life and added:

   Yeah, at first I didn’t like swift but after watching the music videos of “White Horse” and “Mine” I respect her a lot...

6. dreamingoutloud-always likes this
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8. marchnovemberruffian reblogged this from wasarahbi and added:

   Taylor Swift is not a modern musical genius. She writes songs that are always,alwaysfocused on boys and men, and the...

9. sevenbooks reblogged this from thesassyhoe
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12. toniwithaneye reblogged this from newsweek and added:

    I like this perspective.

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14. room42 likes this
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16. sunny1 reblogged this from jessica-messica and added:

    this whole thing is silly she said herself she doesn’t identify as a feminist so

17. jessica-messica reblogged this from likeghosts and added:

    How brave! Why without this feminist’s work how would these young suburban girls ever learn to uphold the judgmental...

18. kristahouse likes this
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21. swmlazybism reblogged this from newsweek and added:

    Still better than the tax-dodging Adele. Whiny cunt.

22. wantedforbeingshameless reblogged this from newsweek and added:

    The counterpoint was more accurate. “Sorry, Taylor” is right!

23. lbukl likes this
24. teamlimabean reblogged this from newsweek and added:

    agree with counterpoint.

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33. 2bpencil reblogged this from newsweek and added:

    Why is Taylor Swift even considered a feminist? All she does is (see above) write whiny songs about how boys generally...

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45. syssana reblogged this from wasarahbi and added:

    Checkmate. But seriously, there are a lot of problems with the subtext within her songs, especially when they reach such...

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