Blank Space Defying Gender Stereotypes

Taylor Swift’s famous song, Blank Space, is continuously at the top of the billboard charts week after week. However, after the music video came out, the song caused quite the controversy. 

The music video starts off with Taylor Swift in the perfect fairytale relationship; riding on horses, eating in fancy dining rooms, and carving initials into a tree. Halfway through the video, Taylor Swift turns crazy and is seen wrecking her boyfriends clothes, phone, car and more. Some would say this is a reference to Taylor Swift’s clinginess, however, some would say she is mocking how society views her.

Taylor Swift receives much criticism for singing about her feelings, however in the Blank Space music video, Taylor Swift is able to make the point that women are all portrayed as “crazy” by their exes, and ultimately how feminine emotions are equated with craziness.

In the music video, Taylor is seen ruining all of her boyfriends stuff. In one repeated line of the song, Taylor says, “Got a long list of ex-lovers, they’ll tell you I’m insane.” In today’s culture, men will talk about their exes by saying, “they’re crazy” and Taylor is able to make fun of this culture stereotype through her video. She also uses the line “Boys only want love if it’s torture” to display how men martyr themselves in the relationship. In the Blank Space video, Taylor portrays the idea that women are oppressed in today's culture because men force women into seeming like the crazy one in the relationship.

The Blank Space music video tells a true story because it tells a truth about American culture today, and although it portrays stereotypes, it uses these stereotypes to make fun of America’s misogynistic culture.