Taylor Swift has decided to use her platform as Maxim magazine’s June cover girl to address feminism, and says her music is unfairly categorized as whiny because of society’s systematic misogyny.
The 25-year-old singer, who has won seven Grammy’s and is worth an estimated $200 million, explained to the men’s publication why she believes there is a double standard when it comes to how others analyze her music.
“A man writing about his feelings from a vulnerable place is brave; A woman writing about her feelings from a vulnerable place is oversharing or whining,” she said. “Misogyny is ingrained in people from the time they are born.”
“So to me, feminism is probably the most important movement that you could embrace, because it’s just basically another word for equality,” she added.
The seemingly impressionable mega star, who hadn’t previous identified as a feminist, told the Guardian last August how one of her closest friends, Lena Dunham, put it into perspective for her.
“Becoming friends with Lena – without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for – has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so,” she said at the time.
Approximately two months after she spoke to the Guardian, Swift told David Letterman how “empowering” Dunham was, while explaining how the two became friends.
“She direct messaged me, and she said ‘We need to be best friends. I feel like you’ve been my best friend in my head for months and almost years now. So, I need to see you in person; then I will lavish you with complements in person,'” Swift recounted.
Fortune Magazine named Swift as the world’s most influential female leader in March, citing her savvy business nature.
According to Fortune:
In the past year, Swift racked up an impressive list of savvy business moves. Back in November, she pulled her entire catalog from Spotify, saying that the streaming service doesn’t adequately compensate artists. Since then, she’s proved to be one of the savviest brand creators going.
The singer also:
Took steps to trademark some of her key phrases (think “This sick beat”), devalued paparazzi snaps by posting her own photos to Instagram, and, just this week, made the news for buying up any adult-sounding web domains that include her name. She’s become a massive cultural influencer-exemplifying the exact model of leadership that forms the basis of this years list.
While Swift speaks of a double standard surrounding her music, it has yet to affect her album sales or stop her from selling out two or three stadium shows every week.
Just this past Sunday, the “Shake it Off” singer nabbed eight recognitions at the Billboard Music Awards, including top female artist, top artist, top Billboard 200 artist, top Billboard 200 album, top streaming song, and top Hot 100 artist.
Watch: Taylor Swift Likes Lena Dunham- David Letterman
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