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<\/p>\nGilbert Flores \/ Billboard via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Related: Nicki Minaj’s Twitter Rampage Against SZA Is Mean And Exhausting To See<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n By nature of your clicking into this article, you\u2019re likely aware that Ms. Swift released an album called The Life of a Showgirl on Friday. Yet, before it came out, I was oddly nervous. Nervous in a way that I\u2019m not when it comes to other artists I enjoy. Nervous because of the firestorm of reactions it was bound to provoke, regardless of its quality. Related: 23 Shocking \u201cThen Vs. Now\u201d Photos Of Old Hollywood Heartthrobs That Will Make You Feel Very, Very Old<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Lo and behold, my fears were far from unfounded. People went out of their way to smugly declare how a fairly inoffensive 40-minute pop record was a crime to their ears. Taylor\u2019s new work has been called \u201cnaval-gazing<\/a>\u201d and her album a \u201ccharmless chore<\/a>\u201d in the opinion pages, with one one-star review<\/a> lamenting for the Folklore<\/a> days and calling it a \u201cparody album hallucinated by some porn-addled AI.\u201d People are welcome to have their earnest criticisms, but the extremity of some reviews do make me wonder if we listened to the same album. I would humbly argue that the storytelling on “Ruin the Friendship” is on par with the best songs in her career.<\/p>\n But reviews of Taylor have never been solely on the basis of her music. Case and point: Reputation, a spiritual predecessor of TLOAS in many ways, was evicerated by many, only for publications like Consequence<\/a> to later write, \u201cTaylor Swift of 2017 deserved better from the media at large, and this album deserves a much better score. Time has proven it.\u201d Right now, Taylor is overexposed and doing too well. The discourse around her has always presented a fairground mirror of society\u2019s most impossibly high expectations. I only wish it could be realized in real-time, rather than retrospectively. Advertisement<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Related: 13 Stars Who Got *Extremely Real* About The Shocking Ways They’ve Spent Their Money<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Much of this is demonstrated with reception<\/a> to \u201cActually Romantic,\u201d a song widely perceived to be a diss track aimed at Charli XCX<\/a>. Pitchfork<\/a> called the track \u201ccringey,\u201d \u201cmean,\u201d and \u201cdumb\u201d in a review dedicated to the track (despite it not being a single). In this discourse, Charli, one of the most openly shit-talking<\/a> women of pop, has been reframed as some kind of precious flower trodden on by the mighty heels of Ms. Swift, a take I would imagine she finds somewhat infantilizing. The worst the track gets is calling her a \u201ctiny chihuahua.\u201d Remember when Kendrick Lamar<\/a> played a song calling Drake a pedophile at the Super Bowl? Related: I Have Been Decoding Taylor Swift Easter Eggs For Over A Decade, So Here Are 15 “The Life Of A Showgirl” Clues And Fan Theories I 113% Believe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Maybe Taylor herself put it best: \u201cThey wanna see you rise, they don’t want you to reign.\u201d<\/p>\n Also in Celebrity: Here Are 10 Celebs Who’ve Publicly Admitted The Reasons Why They Regret Ending Their Marriages<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Also in Celebrity: I’m Convinced Not A Single Person Will Be Able To Pass This Celebrity Doppelganger Quiz<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Also in Celebrity: 17 Wild “Then Vs. Now” Photos Of Former Child Stars That Will Make You Feel Very, Very Old<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4ed8d6457b87b25f5ab7d0bd03969924.jpeg\"\/)
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I wouldn\u2019t be writing this if there wasn\u2019t a version of this that happened every time something beloved by women and girls reached stratospheric heights. From the Twilight panic to endless Fifty Shades of Grey discourse, there\u2019s a level of scrutiny given towards pop culture<\/a> that dares to be fun and for women that just doesn\u2019t exist on the other side of the gender line. It\u2019s more than just criticism; it\u2019s a whole media backlash complex. Right now, Sabrina Carpenter is the permissibly quippy girl-du-jour, but I\u2019m sure it won\u2019t take long for that to change. Don’t girlboss too close to the sun, ladies!![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1e0c11fe7fffbcd07a46be40e359082c.jpeg\"\/)
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