Swiftian Feminity: Taylor Swift's Gender Identity and Branding

From Introduction: 'The public constructs Taylor Swift as if she were an idea, not a person, according to her gender and her gender expression. These constructions are intertwined with her breakout into fame as “America’s sweetheart” and “ultimate good girl.” As she grew up in front of the public, she began to be attached to or associated with her most current boyfriend, and as she dated more boys and men, the construction of her as a “serial dater” developed and became almost constantly employed in gossip magazines as well as radio talk. As Swift’s career progressed, her musical storytelling became more and more detailed, which added a layer to the serial dater persona that turned her into someone who dated guys just to write songs about them. An evolution can be seen in Swift’s career when she goes from eloquently describing her relationships to responding to commentary made about her personality, her gender, and other ways in which she expresses herself. Many of her songs allow for revealing analysis of themes involving gender, specifically how she responds to portrayals of herself based on her gender and her love life. A common theme Swift employs in her songs hinges on extreme caricatures that are created around her girlhood and womanhood, mainly those of the good girl and those of the serial dater. It is important to note that Swift exhibits what scholar Jack Halberstam describes as “the idealization of white femininity,” or what is upheld as the highest racially ranked form of femininity or girlhood: that of a white woman (1). Swift demonstrates an understanding of gender as “an interlocking system of performances and forms of self-knowing.” She deftly complicates her own gender as she entertains her audience, receives commentary and scrutiny from the media and processes these perceptions in interviews (1). In this way, her self-knowing connects to her presentation of identity (further addressed in the third chapter, on politics).'