"Midnights" is a Reminder, Above All Else
Reception for Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” reminds us of how societally ingrained it is to scrutinize young girls and women for their interests.
BY JOSHUA KLOSS WITH ART BY BROOKE LAMBRECHT
You’ve heard the news, right? If you’ve been on any sort of device connected to the internet in the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably heard that Taylor Swift’s newest album, “Midnights,” quite literally broke the charts following its release on October 21; so much so that Spotify even released a statement deeming it the most-streamed album in a single day in the streaming platform’s history. There’s also no lack of internet buzz surrounding the album; from high praise to criticism, some are taking to Twitter to renounce the amount of time for Lana del Rey’s feature on “Snow on the Beach,” others are trying to popularize popular tracks from the album on TikTok. Opinions from fellow University of Minnesota students said that they’re “pleasantly surprised,” but also that the album sounds “starkly millennial.” Overall, though, no matter what you thought of Taylor’s release, you may have noticed some unfair hate amongst the reception, something that reminds us of a broader failure in our society regarding men’s treatment of women and young girls.
Across the internet, opinions on “Midnights” vary widely. Take, for example, one user’s comment on a review published by The New York Post, a news media site some of you may be (unfortunately) familiar with: “She may have money and fame, but she got it because of her misery.” They seemed to have neglected to add, “caused by men.”
It is interesting to criticize Taylor Swift for profiting off of heartbreak when so many other artists do so without nearly as much backlash. Take Drake, for example, who raps about love and other similar topics as Taylor, such as lust, and human sexuality, but also about heartbreak. Take my word for it– whilst researching for this article, I was led down a rabbit hole of lists compiled by various music sites of Drake songs to listen to “when you’re in your feels.” I didn’t think there’d be so many! My point is, Drake and Taylor are oftentimes making music about the same thing, yet the fact that Drake doesn’t get nearly as much criticism as Taylor Swift brings up a discrepancy between how men and women are treated and the extent to which they are each respected and taken seriously. And although men are not immune to hate, it is interesting that a man and a woman can sing about similar things, yet the woman is the one who receives the most hate.
Given the right-leaning position of this website, you may not be surprised by this comment. However, I bring it up because it highlights one of the numerous ways in which men fail to take women seriously, an issue much more serious than your thoughts on Taylor Swift. Many of you reading this article have likely noticed that there seems to be a trend where the interests of young girls, whether it be a more broad interest such as “Twilight” or a niche interest such as gaming or sports, are harshly scrutinized, while boys appear to get none such treatment. And it’s ridiculous when you really think about it. Some girls have expressed that they feel like they can’t have anything without getting hated on. Take, for example, when boys laugh at girls for wearing makeup to school, yet they would probably call the same girl “ugly” if she didn’t wear any makeup (a scenario that was not uncommon for me to witness in my own middle and high school).
In my literary theory class, a chapter of our textbook defined feminism as “treating women with respect.” Though several classmates and I myself found that particular definition to be too simplified, undermining several aspects of the movement, it fits well when applied to this scenario. After all, why are women so often at the receiving end of unnecessary hate for what they like? Students here at the University of Minnesota agree with this sentiment, given that among the thirty-three survey respondents, more than ninety percent agreed that teenage girls and young women are unfairly scrutinized for their interests.
Let’s take a look at what some students have expressed when asked: What is an interest you’ve been belittled for liking?
One student actually answered with Taylor Swift herself. (I promise, this whole article is not about Taylor.) “I kind of stopped listening to her...because I didn’t want to be made fun of for it.”
There was no shortage of things that people felt hated for liking. Among some of them were “Mamma Mia,” Joshua Bassett, the color pink, and even enjoying “Drag Race.”
Another student expressed broader frustrations: “there’s such a strong pressure to like the right things.” Quite ironically, they noted that they had been “belittled for liking [things], and the people who belittled me also have things that they are belittled for liking.” While this resonates much more on a personal level and speaks volumes about how we treat our fellow bipeds, they also said that “there will always be misogynists who can’t stand the idea of teenage girls being happy.” And while not everybody who hates Taylor Swift or dislikes her new album is a misogynist, this particular response illuminates some societally ingrained problems that we, as students, have the power to learn about and address.
One student translated this problem perfectly. “Girls are belittled for liking things...you’re conditioned into being feminine, then condemned for fitting [that] mold.” And that is a serious problem, especially when girls are conditioned to like certain things, using those likes and interests to form identities, and then shat on for that identity.
Even when girls like things that aren’t traditionally deemed “feminine,” they still receive hate. One student said that she gets belittled by “family, friends, and strangers for liking Dungeons & Dragons. A lot of men who play don’t think it is a space for women...there’s also the stupid idea that only men can be nerdy.” So if girls can’t like “girly” things, and they can’t like “boyish” things, what can they like?
We need to address and fix the ways that we treat women, especially for men such as myself. For the men reading this article, I hope that you can consider the ways that you interact with and treat women every single day in your life, whether they be co-workers, family members, friends, or strangers. We have as much ability to uphold patriarchal attitudes as we do to dismantle and reject them. That starts with treating the women in our lives with at least as much respect as we treat the men in our lives.
And yes, you should listen to “Midnights” by Taylor Swift... okay, that’s not the call-to-action I want you to walk away from this article with, but my editor definitely thinks you should give it a listen, and I found the album pretty good myself.
But please, for the sake of humanity, be kind to others. Why belittle when we can uplift one another instead? Be kind to yourself, and be kind to others. Treat women and girls with respect, always. It’s really not much to ask.
After all, The Wake is watching.