When I was a teenager, I would hear people talk about sexism in the music industry, and Iād be like, I donāt see it. I donāt understand. Then I realized that was because I was a kid. Men in the industry saw me as a kid. I was a lanky, scrawny, overexcited young girl who reminded them more of their little niece or their daughter than a successful woman in business or a colleague. The second I became a woman, in peopleās perception, was when I started seeing it. Itās fine to infantilize a girlās success and say, āHow cute that sheās having some hit songs. How cute that sheās writing songs.ā But the second it becomes formidable? As soon as I started playing stadiumsāwhen I started to look like a womanāthat wasnāt as cool anymore. It was when I started to have songs from Red come out and cross over, like āI Knew You Were Troubleā and āWe Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.ā The angle was different when I started saying, āI knew you were trouble when you walked in.ā Basically, you emotionally manipulated me and I didnāt love it. That wasnāt fun for me. I wanted to say to people, āYou realize writing songs is an art and a craft and not, like, an easy thing to do? Or to do well?ā People would act like it was a weapon I was using. Like a cheap dirty trick. āBe careful, bro, sheāll write a song about you. Donāt stand near her.ā First of all, thatās not how it works. Second of all, find me a time when they say that about a male artist: Be careful, girl, heāll use his experience with you to getāGod forbidāinspiration to make art.
