“Live out a narrative that we find interesting enough to entertain us, but not so crazy that it makes us uncomfortable.” – Taylor Swift on the Media
Taylor Swift is known for her reinvention of herself through eras of her music, of which she says is necessary or you are out of a job. She says female artists are “constantly finding new facets of (their)self that people find to be shiny.”
Contrary to the past two weeks’ entries, Taylor’s Reputation Era has not been the only time she’s drastically reinvented herself. We have talked about her multitude of eras that coordinate with her albums, but what we have not touched on is the way in which these eras coincide with the media’s perception of her.
In Swift’s first 4 albums, she writes and sings songs that depend heavily on her personal experiences with heartbreak. And for the first 6 years of her career, the media portrayed her as an innocent, young teenager obsessed with serial-dating boys and writing songs about them as revenge when things don’t work out.
These first years were critical to not only the way the world would view Taylor as an artist, but to how she viewed herself. From being portrayed as this “good girl” from the start of her career, Swift felt the need to be the person “everyone wanted (her) to be.” Accordingly, this inner desire explains as to why Taylor continued her heartbreak streak for so many albums.
Alternatively, with her 5th studio album “1989,” Swift chose to go with a different persona. Journalists critique’s of her breakup-oriented songs and portrayal of her as “red flag” for men pushed her to focus her next album on moving to a new city and spending time with her friends, even switching her genre to pop.
However, the media was still unsatisfied with her, arguing that now she posts too much and talks too much about her friends. Additionally, claims came out believing Swift to be a manipulator and accusing her of always playing the victim.
At this point, Taylor realized that the media is not satisfied with her reinventions and instead, solved the problem by disappearing from the limelight before her Rep era comeback, where she got to do it all again.
Re-Invent. New Album. Silence. Repeat.
Ever since the age of fourteen, Taylor has been living her life like this. And now, at thirty-one, she has decided that it’s not fair. Even as she has truly become the media’s chameleon, changing her looks and personality to match the headline of the day, Swift recognizes that this isn’t a feasible job for any woman to maintain.
And while mutating eras is a great way to promote new music, no woman should have to choose between alternating who they really are for the media and unemployment.
But some still may ask, who is the real Taylor Swift? The Hopeless Romantic? The Pop Princess? The Lying Snake?
In the end, follow the words of Taylor, herself, and Call It What You Want…
Wow I love this blog! I think it’s super cool that you went over the Taylor eras and her growth to become where she is today. What’s your favorite album?
https://sites.psu.edu/kutzavitchktaylorswift/2021/09/24/from-red-vintage-to-pastel-love-to-cottagecore-the-eras-of-taylor-swift/
This is a link to a post where I ranked the eras of Taylor Swift but, as of right now I have been enjoying Folklore/Evermore because they gives me fall vibes. However, my all time favorite album is Lover.
I love how you talked about how hard it was for her to be in the spotlight from that young of an age. I could never imagine trying to please everyone, let alone the media.
This was really interesting to me, and I agree with what you are saying. I feel like no matter what Taylor does, there is always someone or people who are going to hate on her because she is popular. People want to dislike those who succeed, especially when these people are female. The media constantly wants to find things to talk about, and because Taylor is so popular she is an easy option which makes it difficult for her daily life.
I think the main lesson summarized very well by your post is that you can never please everyone, especially when it comes to the media. Swift has attempted numerous times to change herself to match what she thinks others want from her only to discover that the best person that she can be is herself. What I find powerful is the fact that Swift was able to deal with outside pressures of celebrity and pressures from the media while figuring out on her own who she was. It is hard enough to figure out who you are as you grow up without constant attention and analysis to your every action and word!