Personally, I love this song. Taylor Swift protests the familiar grievances against double-standards that all women face, knowingly and unknowingly. I remember while listening to this song, I kept thinking, “Wow, that’s so true! Why would a woman be labeled this when a man would be praised as that?”
The NYT article on this song opened up to a series of complex insights on the lyrics and just what they symbolise. For example, the wage gap that Swift has been extremely vocal about, and the references to the #METOO movement. Every lyric in the song holds so much meaning and overall anger at society.
One thing that stood out to me while listening was when she referenced her dating life. I’ve read many articles and seen many posts detailing Taylor Swifts dating life, all poking fun at her for never making a relationship stick and for writing songs about them. But I’ve never seen an article about a man in similar status to her, ridiculing their love life. Why is that?
The message Taylor Swift conveys in The Man will be interpreted differently by different people. Some will say she is exaggerating, while others will agree. In this case, I think this song is poetry because it allows for a broad range of opinions and interpretation. The message in poetry varies from person to person, and new viewpoints arise with every analysis of it. The reason why The Man is so powerful is because it makes us question ourselves about things we knew existed and things that we let happen unconsciously.
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