Taylor Swift Research Portfolio by 201410817

Taylor Swift Debut 2006

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 13:32:09 UTC

Taylor Swift's debut country album released in 2006, simultaneously debuting her hard-working, sweet, country girl persona.

Sweet country girl persona

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 13:49:06 UTC

Swift was 17 when her first album was released. The country genre mixed with her Southern accent emphasised her young, sweet, innocent, country girl persona.

Tim McGraw 2006

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 13:56:50 UTC

Swift released Tim McGraw single, citing lyrics 'you said the way my blue eyes shine put those Georgian lights to shame', while the music video shows her laying in a field wearing a white dress, and then playing guitar in a barn reinforcing her sweet, country girl persona.

Country music

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 14:00:19 UTC

Country music is often associated with 'authenticity' as their image is imbued with a sense of labour and hard work i.e. writing, performing and recording their own material while playing instruments (Wilkinson, 2017)

Fearless 2008

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 14:04:17 UTC

Swift released her second country album, Fearless, selling more than 10 million copies in the US. This album emphasised her innocent, sweet Southern Belle persona, through her mention of her close family connection in 'The Best Day' and her Christian faith in 'Our Song'.

You Belong With Me music video

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 14:15:45 UTC

You Belong with Me won MTV best female video award

MTV Kanye West interruption

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 14:30:28 UTC

During her MTV acceptance speech for best female video award Kanye West interrupted Swift's speech, stating 'Taylor imma let you finish, but Beyonce had the best video of all time' This seemed to strengthen her innocent star persona slightly as she appeared shocked and sad highlighting her innocence and naivety, enabling fans and people to feel empathy for her.

Boyfriend

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 15:01:54 UTC

Taylor Swift's relationships have played a part in her star persona. The media constantly reported who she was dating and gave her a reputation of dating a lot of men, slowly shattering the innocent, country girl persona she had crafted since 2006.

Boyfriend

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 15:11:21 UTC

Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner dated in 2009 and Swift's dating life became inextricably linked with her star image and persona as her music was stereotyped as being 'love songs' or 'break up songs'.

Won Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 15:14:32 UTC

Swift won her first Grammy in 2010 stating in her speech: 'This is my first Grammy you guys! I mean this is, this is Grammy! I live in awe of the people that I was nominated against in this category'. This emphasised her image of authenticity and hard work associated with country music.

Red (2012)

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 15:38:05 UTC

Swift released Red her fourth studio album, and first pop album which started the shift to her new pop persona. The red lipstick demonstrated here became synonymous with her new sexy, zany persona and ultimately this era/ genre of her music, demonstrating how her music guides her shifts in persona.

Transformation to Red (2012)

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 15:44:10 UTC

Swift's performing at CMTV awards can be seen performing with an electric guitar, supporting a low cut top and shorts. This image demonstrates her transformation from her previous country, sweet, southern persona to a new zany, pop persona and embracing her new image.

Red Lipstick

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 15:53:38 UTC

Swift discusses her new album, sporting red lipstick that later became synonymous with this era. She has dropped her southern accent and fully embraces this new genre of music by changing her star image to evolve with her fans.

Zany Persona

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 15:58:25 UTC

By 2012, Swift has reinvented her star image by changing her persona to fit in with the 'zany' persona presenting herself as comical, clumsy and a goofball trying to adapt to the world of commercial entertainment (Wilkinson, 2017)

Love life/ Feminism

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 16:16:55 UTC

This article discusses her success alongside her love life and demonstrates how her love life (usually private) has become synonymous with her star image, as she became known for having a 'lot' of boyfriends.

Authentic

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 16:33:58 UTC

Swift has been established as an 'authetic' hard working artist, known for writing and performing her own songs, playing her own instruments and inviting fans to 'secret sessions' at her house.

Love Story

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 16:35:16 UTC

Penned her as a helpless 'damsel in distress' while still reinforcing the southern belle, country girl persona she established a few years previously. The music video shows Swift running around a castle in a ballgown, likening her to a princess as she sings about Romeo and Juliet, further enhancing her young, innocent, country girl persona.

Kanye West 'Famous'

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 16:55:21 UTC

West released 'Famous' in 2016 citing lyrics 'I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? Because I made that b***h famous.' This sparked a feud between Swift and Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, with Swift stating she never agreed to these lyrics. This severely impacted her star image as the public appeared to turn on her.

Taylor Snake

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 17:04:25 UTC

As a way to regain control of her image and persona, Swift deleted all her Instagram posts and tweets and then posted a ten second clip of her snake. This gave fans and the public an insight in to her new music and her incorporation of the snake, demonstrated her regaining control of her star image and new persona.

Swift's Response to West (2016)

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 17:10:19 UTC

Swift is seen trying to regain control of her star image as she releases a statement regarding her feud with West/ Kardashian to Instagram. This statement received a mix response with users commenting 'Bye' and '#West2020' indicating that this attempt at regaining control of her image was unsuccessful.

Snake comments

hslmacdo — 2023-10-30 17:12:35 UTC

Swift faces backlash and bullying on Instagram, affecting her star image as people seem to turn on her and call for her to be 'cancelled.'

'Taylor Swift: the hardest working, zaniest girl in show business' Wilkinson, 2017

hslmacdo — 2023-11-01 16:23:46 UTC

This study looks at how Swift has successfully shifted her image from authentic, country singer-songwriter to zany, authentic, pop star.

Apple Music Advert

hslmacdo — 2023-11-01 16:28:59 UTC

Wilkinson (2017) highlights Swift's zany pop persona shine through here, as she falls off the treadmill. This can be categorised as 'comedic' and 'goofy' which are aspects of the zany persona and make her appear more authentic and relatable.

Shake It Off Music Video (2012)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-01 21:22:11 UTC

Swift demonstrates stereotypes of different music genres in this music video, in a comedic and goofy manner, to show she is doesn't fit on to just one category and highlights her zany star persona.

Shake It Off Comments

hslmacdo — 2023-11-01 21:27:43 UTC

This song was received well, with comments stating 'This is the best musical remedy for depression or the blues I've ever seen or heard.', 'I love this song, looks like she didn't plan for the act and this makes the song so cool' and 'I love this video because she seems like she's having so much fun and she didn't even plan the dances'. However, she clearly did plan out the whole music video, but this demonstrates how her fans often view her as authentic and her star persona being her true self.

Reputation (2017)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-01 21:33:40 UTC

Taylor Swift released the album Reputation in 2017, following her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and subsequent 'cancelling', and proved a new way for her to alter her star image. She incorporated the 'snake' comments in to the album and world tour, and her lyrics cite her revenge and how she 'trust's nobody'.

Look What You Made Me Do (2017)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-01 21:36:49 UTC

Swift released 'Look What You Made Me Do' as part of her Reputation album. This demonstrates another shift in her star image as in the music video she is sat on top of 'dead' Taylor Swift's and cites the lyrics 'Sorry the old Taylor can't come to the phone at the moment. Why? Because she's dead', showing her physical and mental shift in persona as she leaves her previous persona's in the past, as she now has a new era and new 'reputation'.

Reputation Successful Image Control

hslmacdo — 2023-11-01 21:38:48 UTC

Despite being incredibly on the nose about her changing star image and persona, Swift's Reputation (2017) album was well-received with critics calling it an 'aggressive, lascivious display of craftmanship' and fans stating how proud they were of her for taking control of her image and reputation and 'taking the world by storm' (YouTube, 2017). This highlights how Swift managed to take back control of her image and shift into her next pop persona.

Taylor Swift, Song Writing and Feminism

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 14:57:18 UTC

Hard work persona- 'real talent', authentic

Swift and politics

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:00:56 UTC

LGBTQIA+ in You Need To Calm Down - Rainbow capitalism, discusses Swift's political stances and statements and how this has affected how she is perceived.

Taylor Swift: Love and Business, Swift as a Celebrity, Businesswoman and Advocate

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:05:32 UTC

Fans have grown up with her, feel like they know her because of her lyrics and she knows them etc.

Taylor Swift: White American Girl-Next-Door

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:11:22 UTC

girl-next-door, quintessentially American, paradoxical persona and image: girl-next-door/ millionaire, the hopeless romantic/ savvy business woman, silly teenager/ serious adult singer song-writer.

long been comfortable with conflicting personas

Taylor Swift R.I.P

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:17:20 UTC

This image shows the extent of the backlash Swift faced and the 'death' of her career.

Reputation Intact

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:29:23 UTC

Discusses how Blank Space was a response to the media's obsession with her dating life, normally portraying her in a bad light for dating a handful of men.

Blank Space (2014)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:36:39 UTC

Swift released 'Blank Space' as a way to control her image. At the time of release she was very well-known for having a lot of ex-boyfriends and the media portrayed this in a very negative light and 'Blank Space' appears to be Swift's way of having people laugh with her instead of at her. Citing lyrics 'got a long list of ex-lovers' and 'cause you know I love the players' she gains control of her criticised love life and incorporates it into her own image, owning it.

Swift and music

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:38:00 UTC

Swift generally tells stories through her music, and uses songs and music videos to control her narrative, image and shift her persona.

Taylor Swift Love Life

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:49:31 UTC

This article hints at the backlash Swift would receive due to the amount of exes she has. Discusses her negatively and how she has become the punchline of many jokes due to her dating history

Taylor Swift Public/ Private Life (2022)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:52:59 UTC

Swift comments on her love life and how she protects her love life fiercely now, emphasising how she has learned from past mistakes and in order to protect herself and loved ones she keeps her public and private life separate.

“Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and twenties, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely,”

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:56:58 UTC

“Being publicly humiliated over and over again at a young age was excruciatingly painful but it forced me to devalue the ridiculous notion of minute by minute, ever-fluctuating social relevance and likability.”

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 15:57:52 UTC

Sexist interview

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:09:14 UTC

In this interview, Swift gets asked "You're gonna walk home with more than just a trophy tonight, I think lots of men?" and she replied "I'm not going home with any men tonight, I'm going to hang out with friends then home to the cats." This demonstrates how Taylor's image, at this time, is inextricably linked to her love life and how she is known for having 'lots' of boyfriends. However feminism and misogny must be taken into account when discussing this aspect of Swift's image and persona as male artists would not and have not been treated the same way.

Feminism, Music and Public Persona

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:18:03 UTC

Looks at 10 interviews and discusses Swift's differing public personas, alongside her recent feminism and how her music impacts her persona.

Woman of the Decade (2020)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:19:39 UTC

Feminism

Sexism in Music Industry

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:21:21 UTC

She states how there is different vocabulary used for men and women in the music industry, further enhancing her self-proclaimed title and star image as a feminist.

Death of 'Old Taylor'

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:25:15 UTC

Lover (2019)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:28:57 UTC

The Man (2019)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:29:48 UTC

Takes a hit at sexism and misogny in the music industry and in day to day life, adapting her image to be inclusive, a feminist and an ally.

Start of the snake controversy

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:31:18 UTC

Kim Kardashian indirectly called Swift a snake, starting the snake comments and trolling.

Taylor Swift Miss Americana (2020)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:37:20 UTC

Swift discusses that she wants to make a political stand against Trump as she doesn't believe in his politics but her team disagrees as it will compromise her safety and her popularity. This portrays Swift as being 'authentically' an ally and feminist and the documentary appears to show her being her true self and wanting to take a political stand despite the effect it may have on her career.

Impact Swift has

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:41:07 UTC

This article details the impact Swift had on voters in 2018, after she posted on Instagram urging people to vote as there was a surge in voter registration. This article has a completely different tone to previous articles during the Reputation era, that were all negative and 'cancelled' her. This shows she has gained back control of her star image and incorporated politics into her persona.

Re-release of her music

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:44:24 UTC

Swift decided to re-release her old music as she the rights to her original music was sold without her knowing/ permission. She re-released music so she could own it and all albums have 'Taylor's Version' to distinguish it from the older songs, and the new albums did even better than the originals showing her popularity and successful star image.

Fearless (2020) & Evermore (2020)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-02 16:44:49 UTC

surprise albums Swift dropped during lockdown

Taylor Swift 'music face to watch'

hslmacdo — 2023-11-09 14:04:09 UTC

This article names Swift as an upcoming artists to watch after her debut album was released, demonstrating how her image was perceived positively when she first appeared on the music scene.

Authentic singer-songwriter

hslmacdo — 2023-11-09 14:22:11 UTC

Swift has cemented herself as a global pop sensation as well as an authetnic singer-songwriter

Calvin Harris Tweets

hslmacdo — 2023-11-09 14:30:19 UTC

Swift mentioned she wrote her ex-boyfriends song 'This Is What You Came For' and he replied with these tweets, further adding to her cancelling.

Instagram post

hslmacdo — 2023-11-09 14:39:13 UTC

Swift posted to Instagram asking for fans to vote, emphasising her current authentic, political persona

'You Need To Calm Down' music video

hslmacdo — 2023-11-09 14:53:56 UTC

Swift released this music video in 2019, taking a hit at the press and homophobes with the video including celebrities known for their allyship to the LGBTQ+, drag queens, lesbians, transgender people, gay people etc.

Key

hslmacdo — 2023-11-09 15:43:29 UTC

Pink- country girl persona

Green- zany, pop princess

Purple-cancelled and rebrand

Blue- authenticity/ current singer-songwriter persona

Swifties- VEVO Interview (2012)

hslmacdo — 2023-11-09 15:47:51 UTC

Taylor Swift discusses her fans and how she finds it 'adorable' that they called themselves Swifties. She also discusses her gratitude to her fans and how 'it's nice to have a group of people that have my back'.