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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Casper Libero chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Taylor Swift spent years turning her pain into art. Now that she has decided to transform happiness into music, the world seems unsure of what to make of it, perhaps because it always expected her to remain sad. After delving into confessional lyrics and emotionally raw moments in The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor has decided to turn the page.
Her new album, The Life of the Showgirl, is light, passionate, and full of love, a reflection of a woman who has not only survived her own storms but is finally happy to be standing. Even so, this lightness provokes strong reactions. Part of the public and many music critics don’t seem ready for a smiling Taylor instead of a crying one.
Since its release, the album has been the target of comments ranging from “shallow” to “too romantic,” “too light,” or “not as serious as the previous ones.” Critics accuse the album of being “silly” or superficial, ignoring that Taylor has always written songs about what she experiences, and that depth is not only found in sadness, but in the sincerity of someone who speaks about what they feel.
In a recent interview, she said that The Tortured Poets Department was written during one of the worst moments of her life and that, for this reason, she did not feel the need to promote it as much, since when it was released, she was no longer in that state of melancholy.
Now, the scenario is different: Taylor is in a stable relationship and seems to be living a moment of fulfillment. It is natural that her songs reflect this. Still, The Life of the Showgirl has been labeled “silly,” “shallow,” and “too romantic,” as if happiness needed to be justified.
This resistance is nothing new in the singer’s career. When she released 1989 in 2014, Taylor was criticized for abandoning country music and embracing pop. Today, the album is considered a modern classic, winner of Album of the Year. The same thing happened with Lover (2019), another joyful and passionate album, which received mixed reviews for being “too cheerful” or “too light.” The pattern repeats itself: the public seems to prefer Taylor sad. When she writes about pain, she is “profound”; when she talks about love, she is “superficial.”
In a recent interview, Taylor admitted she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to write good songs if she wasn’t sad, as if sadness were her only creative fuel. But The Life of the Showgirl proves that she can write well at any stage of her life. There are tracks like “Eldest Daughter” and “Ruin the Friendship”, which offer reflection and vulnerability, showing that even on her lightest album, there is still depth. Taylor remains the same storyteller she always was, just with a lighter and more passionate storyline.
Throughout her discography, we can see that Taylor always mixes more serious and profound songs with more fun or “silly” tracks. On the album Red, for example, we have profound classics like “All Too Well” and “Sad Beautiful Tragic”, but also lighter songs like “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “Stay Stay Stay”.
In TTPD, some tracks are considered silly or fun, but they coexist with deep and reflective songs. Upon the release of The Tortured Poets Department – The Anthology, songs like “So High School”, a track that many consider fun or juvenile, were also criticized. Many fans and critics pointed out that while Taylor wrote “beautiful” songs for ex-boyfriends, she was questioned for writing something lighter or more cheerful for Travis Kelce. The same pattern repeats itself in Lover, with songs like “London Boy”, which received criticism for its lightness and idealization of London.
And this selective criticism goes beyond music. When Taylor appears at her fiancé Travis Kelce’s games, she is accused of “showing off” or “taking the focus away from the sport.” When she dances on stage, as in a viral video from the Eras Tour where she has fun on the set of Fearless, she is called “forced” or “ridiculous.” But what’s wrong with a 35-year-old woman having fun with a song she wrote as a teenager? When Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, or Harry Styles have fun, they are praised. When it’s Taylor Swift, it becomes a debate.
Behind this criticism lies a pattern of misogyny disguised as musical analysis. Women in the industry are held to a higher standard of depth, attitude, and consistency than men. When Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, or Sabrina Carpenter write about their relationships and personal feelings, they are accused of “talking too much” or “romanticizing too much.” When men like John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, or Shawn Mendes do the same, they are celebrated for their authenticity and vulnerability.
The public also shows discomfort with any change in the singer’s narrative. When she writes sad albums, people complain that she is “stuck in the past” or “always crying.” When she writes about happy or loving moments, they complain that she “talks too much about her personal life.” The reaction shows that, for many people, a happy woman is still a source of discomfort.
Ultimately, much of the discomfort with Taylor Swift stems from external expectations: female artists are expected to be vulnerable, emotional, and profound, but not to celebrate or show joy. The Life of the Showgirl is as courageous as folklore, evermore, or TTPD: it’s difficult to allow yourself to be lighthearted when the world expects pain. Perhaps the world hates to see Taylor Swift having fun because seeing a woman no longer needing validation from sadness, from applause for tears, is a paradigm shift.
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The article above was edited by Helena Maluf
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