Why Are We Satisfied (or Unsatisfied) by Taylor Swift?

By Josie Burnette

Jun. 1, 2026

I want to preface this essay by saying that my intention is not for this to be a criticism of Taylor Swift herself. To establish some credibility for myself here, Taylor Swift has been my top artist on Spotify Wrapped for three consecutive years. And, any belief that we (as a society) have any more right to judge celebrities than we do others is utterly misguided. Instead, I desire to interrogate the system that produced Swift.  

Taylor Swift writes music about boys, teenage angst, and relationships. (Some may go as far as to say that she writes about love — or, in its more cliché form, “true love.”) Her songs do what every great pop song is supposed to do: encourage your head to bop here and there, play to your natural impulse to badly harmonize with the singer during the best parts, and, of course, get stuck in your head. Even if that is what every pop song is supposed to do, is it what makes them great? If you take offense to that, or your first impulse is to point out that her hits are not her most lyrically sophisticated pieces, then that says more about you than it does me.

Swift’s song topics are not surface level in the slightest. While undeniably common, the topics she writes about are, at the same time, strikingly profound, as much as society likes to cast them as being shallow — yet another slight to women. 

The thing that makes Swift unique, however, is not her music, contrary to popular belief. 

While some might attribute her success to her ability to traverse genres, Swift’s popularity stems largely from her ability to be a businesswoman in addition to being an artist. That is the truth of Swift’s appeal: she is a version of an icon that is representative of masculine coded traits, but not in an overt way. She is an iconic businesswoman.

As a result, she winds up being confused for a feminist symbol. She is not.

This isn’t to say that she does not care about women — we know she does. It’s merely that the extent to which she engages with gender dynamics and feminism is limited to recognizing the unfair language used to describe men and women’s behavior. The backlash she receives is rooted in this very idea, which raises the question: why (or why aren’t) you satisfied with Taylor Swift? Your answer could say a lot about you.