She isn’t just a folklore everyone talks about; a legend we can all dream about in our wildest dreams; or a girl wearing a cardigan writing a love story with teardrops on her guitar. Having been in the music industry since the age of 13, Taylor Swift has had the opportunity to grow as a singer-songwriter, but most importantly, as a female in a male-dominated industry. However, her career has not always been all glitter and kittens. She has had to undergo treacherous obstacles that have made her who she is today. 

Time and time again, Taylor has been degraded by men in this industry. From an interviewer wrongly placing his hands on her for a picture to Kanye West disrespecting her at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.  More recently, Taylor has lost her entire catalog of songs not once but twice without her consent.

Although Taylor begged to buy the rights to her records, she was denied the opportunity and only offered unrealistic contracts. In 2019, Big Machine Records, Taylor’s previous record label, was sold to Scooter Braun for 300 million dollars, giving him the master rights to Taylor’s first six albums. Then, in 2020 Scooter sold 100% of the master rights to Shamrock Holdings, once again without Taylor’s approval.

As she still has the publishing rights to the songs themselves, she promised her fans re-recordings of all six albums. Proving herself, she released Love Story (Taylor’s Version) this year, bringing back youthful memories through her carefully reinvented masterpiece that reached number one, once again. 

Putting aside the negativity that men in this industry have brought her, Taylor Swift has collected several titles for her hard work and dedication. In 2019, Taylor received awards for Billboard Women of the Decade and AMAs Artist of The Decade. Both well deserved, Taylor has proven to the entire world that, as much as it scares society, she is in the music industry. She has out-nominated and won not only in country and pop but now in the indie/alternative rock genre. 

By reinventing her musical persona, Taylor has achieved success and power beyond comfort level. Success, however, is often accompanied by hate, judgment, and especially in the music industry, sexism. Sadly, Taylor, along with many other female artists, has been the victim of sexism in the industry. She stated in an interview for CBS Sunday Morning, “There’s a different vocabulary for men and women in the music industry. If a man does something, it is strategic. If a woman does the same thing, it’s overcalculated. A man is allowed to react. A woman can only overreact,” but the blatant inequalities in the music industry have never stopped her from succeeding.

 When people told her she dated too much and only used men as inspiration for new songs, she wrote hit songs ‘Shake It Off’ and ‘Blank Space.’ She uses her lyrics to empower the next generation to fight for basic human rights and fight for a better future. For instance, ‘You Need To Calm Down’ was a national anthem for the LGBQT+ community and, ‘Only The Young’ was written to give hope to newly registered voters that if they try hard enough, this nation will acknowledge them. 

Overall, Taylor Swift has been and continues to be a role model for every little girl wanting to be a superstar, the twenty-year-old being afraid to speak up for herself, or even the thirty-year-old feeling as if she is too old or not fun enough. 

Taylor has shown that throughout life, people will judge and criticize you for being a successful woman, but you shouldn’t give them the satisfaction of defeat. Prove to them- how strong you are, but most importantly, prove to yourself that you don’t have to run as fast as you can to get there quicker.