Taylor Swift: whether you love her or hate her, you’ve definitely heard of her. Swift’s record-breaking success over a 17-year long period is, arguably, unlike anyone else's in the industry. 

Early Life

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989 in West Reading, Virginia on an 11-acre Christmas tree farm. She always had a passion for music and singing, and even sang the star-spangled-banner at a 76ers basketball game in Philadelphia at age 11. Swift’s early start allowed her to be signed as a songwriter with Sony at the age of 14, eventually leading to a record deal with Big Machine Records, a label that would later come back to hurt her. 

Making it Big

Discovered by Scott Borchetta, Swift first signed to Big Machine Records in 2004; she was one of the first to sign to the label and one of the major reasons for the label’s success. Under Big Machine, Swift released her first 6 albums Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation, all of which went platinum multiple times. This success skyrocketed Swift to a secured slot as an icon in the music industry. Swift had sold out tours, screaming fangirls, Twitter stans, branded t-shirts, coffee mugs, backpacks, shoes, hats, keychains, and air—probably. Swift had made it, but of course, all this success didn't come for nothing. At this point controversy surrounded Swift from all sides, from doubts about her legitimacy to national news reports saying she sold her soul to the devil and joined the Illuminati. 

Hollywood Misogyny

Not that it's new information to anyone, but Hollywood kind of has a thing for young women. This ‘thing’ is what I like to think of as the ‘Hollywood machine’, if you will. This machine scouts out young female talent and skyrockets them to success beyond what they could ever imagine... then it chops them down. The chopping phase can include dating older men as a way to mature oneself in the eyes of Hollywood, pitting young women against other women in the industry, ostracizing them from peers, and ripping them down through critics. Taylor, unfortunately, faced all of these. Between the controversy and repercussions that came with her dating a 32-year old John Mayer at age 19, the pitting of her against Katy Perry, and the headlines that read “Taylor Swift: Why She Can’t Find Love” and “'Starving' To Be Skinny? Taylor Swift's Shrinking Frame Under Fire—Top Docs Weigh In”, Taylor was hit hard by the industry. 

Now that you’re all aware of how messed up Hollywood is to young women, you want to know why. This ‘Hollywood machine’ sees women, specifically young women, as sex objects to be admired for their beauty. Once these women step out of the Barbie-shaped boxes they had previously been trapped in, the industry no longer likes them or finds them appealing. Taylor Swift dated just as many men as any other female or male celebrity does, but since she used her experiences in these relationships as well as her own emotions and channels them into her work, henceforth breaking down her own Hollywood-box, she was no longer viewed in a positive light; and instead was slut-shamed and critiqued. 

This concept of not allowing women to be successful independently from men is neither new, nor a problem that seems to be coming to an end any time soon. At the 2009 Video Music Awards, Swift had won best female video, only for Kanye West to step up on stage and explain how he believed the award should have gone to Beyoncé. This act alone proved that the Hollywood machine, specifically its men, love to compare women to each other instead of allowing them to succeed individually. This event also had huge repercussions in the industry. From this moment on, the majority of Taylor Swift’s headlines and interviews were about this event, not her music- something that was winning awards in of itself. West even went on to include the line "I feel like me and Taylor might still have s*x / Why? I made that b*tch famous (God*mn) / I made that b*tch famous" in his song "Famous," thus further solidifying  this event in Swift’s story, to the point where, even to this day, she still gets asked about it in interviews. The attention that should've been given to any of her 9 albums with gold and platinum songs, or her other accomplishments in film, and songwriting was instead redirected towards an event that perhaps gave unsolicited publicity to Kanye West. 

Why?

Ah yes, the question we are all asking: why? Why does Hollywood have these misogynistic practices? Why do female celebrities get treated like this and why do we let them be mistreated like this? The answer is simple: power. For years, and for as long as Hollywood has existed, the men have had the power. The power to create stories and cherry pick every single aspect of them. As society moves forward and misogynistic practices become harder to preserve, the "Hollywood machine" resorts to pitting women against women and breaking down any sense of a woman’s credibility. 

Now, as you may have noticed while reading this, I am not the most unbiased source. I am a fan of Taylor Swift, a Swiftie if you will, so don’t just take it from me. Do your own research and be sure to take note when you see the machine in action. On top of this, always remember that they hate to see a girlboss winning. We are the only way to change this. We accept these practices because they are what we know and all we have ever learned. Well, I am here to offer another path, one that doesn’t involve tearing down independently successful women or exploiting them, and I implore you to join me.