Taylor kicked off her career in 2006, and the first decade of it was defined by both soaring success and controversy — starting with an encounter with Kanye West at the 2009 MTV VMAs.
As she was accepting the award for Video of the Year, the rapper stormed the stage and declared that Beyoncé should have won instead. At the time, it was universally agreed that Taylor was the victim in this situation, with then-president Barack Obama even branding Kanye a “jackass.”
But before long, the autobiographical nature of the songwriting that had initially set Taylor apart from other artists, earned her a reputation as a serial dater. And, as her star power grew, the love interests that inspired her songs went from high school boyfriends to her fellow celebrities, reducing her craft to tabloid fodder.
Taylor also faced criticism over the ethics of presenting a one-sided view of her relationships that vilified both men and women in the public eye, including John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Camilla Belle, who she was accused of slut-shaming in one of her songs.
But while actively encouraging speculation around her love life was a key component throughout Taylor’s early career, she had a change of heart in 2014 that coincided with the release of her fifth studio album, 1989.
During this promotional cycle, Taylor admitted that she’d discovered the true meaning of feminism, and was quick to utilize it by calling misogyny on the public perception that surrounded her love life — an apparent bid to detract from the serial dater narrative that she’d now become renowned for.
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