Discourse and Discography: The Pushback of Female Writers, Characters, and Pop Stars

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Discourse and Discography: The Pushback of Female Writers, Discourse and Discography: The Pushback of Female Writers,

Characters, and Pop Stars Characters, and Pop Stars

Amara D. Stroud

Murray State University

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HONORS THESIS

Certificate of Approval

Discourse and Discography: The Pushback of Female Writers, Characters, and Pop Stars

Amara Stroud

November 2020

Approved to honor fulfill __________________________________

the requirements of HON 437 Dr. Andrew Black, Professor

Approved to fulfill the

requirement of the Murray State __________________________________

Honors Diploma Dr. Warren Edminster, Executive Director,

Honors College

Examination Approval Page

Author: Amara Stroud

Project Title: Discourse and Discography: The Pushback of Female Characters, Writers, and Pop

Stars

Department: English and Philosophy

Date of Defense: November 6th, 2020

Approval by Examining Committee:

______________________________ _____________________

Dr. Andrew Black Date

______________________________ ______________________

Dr. Julie Cyzewski Date

_____________________________ _______________________

Dr. William Jones Date

Discourse and Discography: The Pushback of Female Characters, Writers, and Pop Stars

Submitted in partial fulfillment to the requirements for the

Murray State University Honors Diploma

Amara Stroud

November 2020

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1

Critical Feminism………………………………………………………………………………....4

Critical and Historical Context…………………………………………………………………..7

Experience

a) Educated Through Experience

i) Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and his Wife of Bath…………......10

ii) Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next”....................................................................15

b) Idealism of the Woman’s Body

i) Jonathon Swift’s “The Lady’s Dressing Room”................................................20

ii) Lady Mary Montagu’s “The Reasons that Induced Dr. S to Write a Poem

Called The Lady’s Dressing Room”……………………………………....…………......23

iii) Billie Eilish’s “idontwanttobeyouanymore”....................................................25

Performance

a) Margery Kempe’s autobiography…………………………………………………...…...32

b) Lady Gaga’s “Do What U Want”......................................................................................38

Assumption

a) Anne Finch’s “The Introduction”......................................................................................44

b) Katherine Philips’s “A Married State”..............................................................................49

c) Katy Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm”.............................................................................52

Reputation

a) Queen Elizabeth I’s “The Speech to the Troops at Tilbury”.............................................59

b) Taylor Swift’s “The Man”.................................................................................................63

Conclusion: A Room of Their Own……………………………………………………………...71

Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………...75

Discography……………………………………………………………………………………...86

Discourse and Discography: The Pushback of Female Writers, Characters, and Pop Stars

Condemn me not for making such a coil

About my book: alas, it is my child.

- Margaret Cavendish “Excuse for So Much Writ Upon My Verses”

Living in a world where no one's innocent

Oh, but at least we try

Gotta live my truth, not keep it bottled in

So I don't lose my mind

- Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, “Rain on Me”

In surveying women in literature and media, the long-lasting implications of publishing

and expressing one’s truth have been met with skepticism. As men have traditionally controlled

both the literary and musical realm, talented women have been silenced by harsh criticism in the

form of manipulated publications and lawsuits. Though many of their works have received less

exposure than that of their male counterparts, women have always been pushing back, defying

societal standards, and responding to one’s critics so that their work is taken seriously. Since the

pushback from feminist critics, the inclusion of English women writers in the literary canon has

grown leaps and bounds compared to early literary anthologies. While may seem less relevant,

contemporary female pop artists experience similar circumstances concerning their careers. Not

only are these women constantly under a public lens, but they also are critiqued as to how they

present themselves and those around them within their music. The need to be self-conscious, for

women, has always been an issue. Consider the quotes above. Margaret Cavendish, a well-

respected naturalist writer, philosopher, and scientist, began publishing in the mid seventeenth

century. Though her work still inspires scientific debate today, her published works did not go

without being criticized. Her “Excuse for So Much Writ Upon My Verses'' focuses on her

dedication of not being written off by critics for expressing her thoughts. Her book – which is as

dear to her as her own child – is something she is dedicated to as it encompasses her emotions

and feelings. Because the information she publishes is so personal, she feels the need to

apologize to her audience. What was once personal experience is no longer kept in private;

Cavendish is outwardly expressing what has occurred in her life. This conflict between private

and public identity can also be seen in the modern pop sphere as well - especially in Lady Gaga

and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me.” While the intention of the song is to celebrate the triumph of

stressful, private matters, “Rain on Me '' also expresses the need to share these feelings publicly.

While Cavendish worries about the fate of her text, Gaga and Grande express that they have to

publish these emotional thoughts so that they are not driven mad by bottling up their truths. As

“An Excuse for Writing So Much Upon My Verses” received heavy criticism for its “lack of

social decorum,” as did many of Cavendish’s works, there was still praise that celebrated

Cavendish’s writing, her wit, and critical eye (Skouen 550). The effects of Gaga and Grande’s

collaboration directly parallel this publication as shouts of praise and criticism surrounded the

release of “Rain on Me.” With twenty-one million music video views in the first hour, it easily

moved up the charts. As views started to pour in, the music video’s comment section began

filling with notes from viewers who shared thoughts like “This is a disgrace to Bad Romance.”

Though over 350 years have passed in between the releases of “An Excuse for So Much Writ

Upon My Verse” and “Rain on Me,” the messages that these women produce and the criticism

that they receive are similar and show the consistent struggle that women face in publishing

meaningful works.

Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own explores problems similar to the example

mentioned above that women face in male-dominated fields. She focuses her lens upon the

agency of male writers and their neglectful attitude towards women. Perhaps Woolf’s most

famous example is her distinct speculation of Shakespeare’s sister. As Shakespeare’s legacy has

proved him to be the most recognizable writer to ever live, Woolf questions where gender plays

a role in his success. Woolf asks if this bard, who “certainly [had] the state of mind most

favourable to poetry,” had a sister who produced texts, would anyone know about her? (57)

From her point of view, if Shakespeare had a sister, she would not have the opportunity to be

recognized – let alone canonized – for contributions to the literary world while Shakespeare

himself produced easily recognizable work that remains in anthologies today. The opportunities

for women writers are far removed from that of male writers – especially for a woman who was

not granted the “goodwill of her father” (Woolf 58). Women who lacked nobility lacked agency

in publishing - or they had no opportunity to publish - as their work did not seem special in

comparison to other socially undistinguishable female writers. Woolf’s motive is to expose the

prejudices that not only she, an agent of literary change, faced but also that of women like her

whose voices were silenced by outside judges who prodded for errors. Her conscious efforts to

discuss these issues stirred up controversy as she remained dedicated to her privacy by removing

herself from the argument. Instead of sharing detailed and personal experiences of sexism, she

instead formats her discussion of women’s opportunities to be on someone who is accessible.

Shakespeare, as a universally praised figure, gives her argument more support than if she spoke

from her own specific viewpoint. Her removal of the self was not “marked by an absence of

details'' but rather the sensitivity of the female situation was measured by more flexible, abstract

claims (Fernald 168). In addressing direct problems with outside-the-box examples, Woolf plants

into her readers minds that the fine line between praised and doubted work relies solely on the

basis of gender. Her analysis of women’s publishing capabilities directly pushes back on the

status quo. Though Woolf argues that “it is time that the effect of discouragement upon the mind

of the artist should be measured,” men’s perceptions concerning women’s credibility and

capability as writers remain questioned (59). Her argument, though bright and invigorating, has

not altered the notions of critics today.

Woolf’s gender-based critique shows the complex fixation on feminine identity in

writing. Though writers like Cavendish began publishing centuries before Woolf and artists such

as Gaga and Grande, the bias that these women – and others soon to be mentioned – experience

is based on the conceptualized hierarchy of gender and the capability for women to defy gender

norms. Through characterization, personal narrative, and complex imagery in modern music

videos, women have received critical (and sometimes detrimental) comments that have altered

the public’s perception of them. However, these women – whether it be through a character’s

perception or the personal experience of a writer – continuously push back against career-

defining comments from spectators in order to relay the truth concerning personal experiences,

feelings, and beliefs.

Critical Feminism

Readings of literature from a feminist perspective help us understand the issues that pop

stars face as well. With the earliest writers focusing heavily on standards that their patriarchal

ancestors set into place, the necessity for women to conform to particular ideologies was seen in

both literature and life. With the expectations of women being followed closely by the male gaze

- a determining feature of visual art, in the words of Laura Mulvey, that “projects its phantasy on

to the female figure which is styled accordingly” - audiences are directed to the notion that

women are unable to control the portrayal of their bodies and thoughts (63). This male gaze that

Mulvey describes also occurs in written literature as well. Woolf also deals with this male gaze

as she claims that “women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses” (41). The male

gaze becomes problematic as narratives are skewed by those who cannot or make no attempt to

understand women. A male perspective complicates the specific narrative that women are trying

to write about which removes men from a situation in which they have always been present.

While removing this male gaze would allow for honesty, male critics keep producing inherently

sexist comments.

In works written by men, like Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and Jonathan

Swift’s “The Lady's Dressing Room,” the implications of men’s concerns are brought to light.

As he goes against the contemporary Catholic expectations of femininity, Chaucer develops his

“Wife of Bath”, character, Alison, as one that defies expectations as to what a woman should be.

Because most “Chaucerian women are often disempowered or objectified by the law,” the push

for Alison to be labeled as attention-seeking or a gold-digger is present even in scholarship

(Lipton). As individualism for women is not supported by medieval society, the male critique of

Alison’s self-concern creates questions of reliability. How can she, critics ask, be both “in

command and obedient?” (Parker 96) It is through Chaucer’s sympathy towards women and

understanding of complex human emotion and action that Alison can hold these conflicting

ideals. Though he is a male writer, he sees the imbalance between the expectations of women

and the complex nature of human beings. As women in the Middle Ages were regularly

portrayed as simple and unlearned, Alison’s position as the decision maker in her marriages

shows the opportunities for women that had hardly been previously presented. While he does not

provide any real opportunity to hold a meaningful position of power in medieval society, he

allows her to have a voice - something that had rarely if ever been done before. Rather than

acting as a ventriloquist, he allows Alison to represent a version of femininity that had yet to be

explored. By offering her a voice, the opportunity to see a new perspective arose. In this way,

Chaucer effectively explains issues concerning women while still holding ambiguity to allow his

readers to question him.

While Chaucer’s stance on female empowerment can be read either in favor of Alison’s

femininity or against it, Swift’s “The Lady’s Dressing Room” critiques Strephon for his

blindness towards Celia’s disgusting behaviors that she hides underneath caked-on beauty

products. Yet Swift objectifies women – with Celia as his scapegoat – by scrutinizing her as a

woman and also turning her into an object of desire so that men see the importance of patriarchal

structures in writing and refuse to give women agency. In “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” one

receives a first-person view into the “dogmatic, hegemonic, and sexist beliefs that Swift’s work

has been understood to both promote and indict” (Holm 1). Though Swift’s work has been tested

under feminist lens over time, responses from period writers like Lady Mary Montagu directly

defy these misogynistic and sexist values promoted by Swift. Her faculty and wealth of

knowledge as a writer allowed her to extensively shame Swift’s male gaze. Montagu argues that

a woman’s influence and position within the eighteenth-century literary society are continuously

linked to the eyes of men. In this situation, the male gaze comes straight from Swift, even if he

suggests it’s only Strephon’s. Because of negative experiences with women, claims Montagu,

Swift harshly approaches the mere idea of a woman’s body through a crude lens to shift the male

gaze from desire to disgust.

Unfortunately, women are still being seen through controlling lenses on which they push

back against. For Taylor Swift, her “long list of ex-lovers” will “tell you I’m insane” because the

perception the male gaze separates what is happening in her relationships and what is said about

them by critics (“Blank Space”). However, she recognizes the difference between what is seen

publicly in her relationships and what is hidden by veils of privacy, offering her new beau to fill

in a blank space in her life. In Lady Gaga’s case, those who gaze upon her want to “see the girl

who lives behind the aura” (“Aura”). Though she separates her identity into two distinctive parts,

there is a longing by those who desire her deeply to see every part that is hidden. She pushes

back against her listeners by unapologetically leaving her veil of privacy on, yet she is still

sought after. Ariana Grande faces similar issues here as she must defend herself through they

say/I say remarks. She dissociates how others perceive her experiences (“they say”) and what her

life is truly like (“I say”). These outside judgements claim one thing about her while she

diminishes these claims by boldly explaining her experiences. She shows that what the outside

world suggests being true is far from what she feels in her day-to-day life. For example, Grande

is manipulated into commenting on personal information concerning her mental health. After her

objectors say “her system is overloaded,” she shares that she is “too much in my head, did you

notice?” as her actions are constantly under the surveillance of a critic’s gaze (“Get Well Soon”).

Not only does she sarcastically call out her critics, but she shares that the deterioration of her

mental health is supplemented by harsh commentary made about her looks and actions. This

gaze, that looks over hundreds of years of literary and media discourse, expresses an ever-present

watchfulness over women’s writing. The criticism that these women are bound to receive are

representative effects of the male gaze as each woman proves to be defiant to a societal

expectation in some manner. As these women are being watched, critiqued, and argued against,

the development of their pushing arguments towards these critics show understanding of the

expectations in which they question.

Critical and Historical Context

Medieval literature from roughly 1100-1500 relies heavily on features from chivalry and

courtly love, gallantry towards women, and brave heroes to further plot lines. Because chivalrous

conduct was expected of gentlemen of the day, implementing those details into stories reinforced

the most valued characteristics one could have. Religion – especially Catholicism – played a key

role as to what topics and lessons were to be focused on in medieval literature. Because the “sole

purpose of life was to please God,” the literature produced needed to reflect that (Alvarez). Early

modern literature, which spans from 1485 until about 1800, changed with the rise of literacy and

the consumption of printed literature. With literacy becoming more and more prevalent among

the middle class, more opportunities for those outside the aristocracy to read, write, and be

educated began to come to light. There are developments in formal education which allowed

writers to have better access to materials like classic Greek literature and accessible translations

of the Bible. While it was still a highly religious society, early modern writers began to dip into

“hierarchies of gender, ethnicity, age, religious affiliation, and social status” (“Early Modern

Literature”). Also, within literary culture, a new entanglement of royal politics comes into play.

With these opening pathways for ideas to surge, there was a climate for classics like Edmund

Spenser’s The Faerie Queen and the works of Shakespeare.

The canon is accessible to students around the globe; texts within both periods are

discussed in detail to showcase personal problems or to teach a valuable lesson. Even though it

seems very different, popular music has the same goals. Pop songs have dramatic themes and tell

stories about love and loss - just like medieval and early modern literature. Because of this,

canonical works feel more accessible to their readers as universal themes are shared with popular

songs. Though classic literature and pop songs may vary in quality, both forms of media include

an important lesson or decision that the audience is meant to learn from. These two expressive

forms of art are distanced due to their canonization and the general acceptance of their worth.

While works of Shakespeare are held with high-esteem, contemporary artists like Ariana Grande

or Taylor Swift are seen as frivolous and overly feminine. While pop music seems disposable

because of the reputations of women who are producing it, evaluating similar circumstances in

which both female writers and artists are critiqued shows that the problems for women are

intergenerational. As both classic literature and pop music send messages to their audience, the

response received by these artists either further or demolish their careers.

Popular, or “pop,” music is the genre of music that produces the most hits – or songs that

sell many copies or receive high amounts of streams on platforms like Apple Music or Spotify.

Many times, these hit songs are released as singles and are tracked on charts like Billboard. Pop

music stands out from that of blues, country, and rock due to its immediate catchy nature. While

rock or country songs bleed into the pop-sphere, the expectations listening have for pop songs

are of an upbeat and repetitive nature. The higher the song climbs on the charts, the more popular

it becomes. Following the so-called “pop-music formula”, these songs “have a good rhythm, a

catchy melody, and are easy to remember and sing along to” (Errey). Pop music originated in

Black American culture; it has withstood various eras and changes in pop culture. Typical pop

songs vary in length from two to five minutes, are typically upbeat, and focus on relatable topics

like break-ups and falling in love. Their lyrics are meant to get stuck in one’s head and play over

and over. The definition of popular music has broadened since its birth in the 1950s.While

audiences now expect catchy choruses about love from multi-millionaire popstars, the creation of

pop music relied solely on the growing popularity of Elvis Presley. By mixing aspects of country

and blues, Presley’s innovative thinking and handsome looks made him a star. Presley took

common beats and harmonies and altered them in ways no one had heard before - skyrocketing

him into the limelight. This kind of innovation can be seen again in the 1960s with The Beatles

who “dominated pop music…with a new-folk sound” (“A Short History of Pop”). Utilizing the

pop-music formula, singers like Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Beyoncé were set for

stardom.

With medieval literature focusing on values of honor and strict connections to

Catholicism and early modern literature’s expression of individualized experience, the

consideration of pop music in scholarship concerning classic works is unconventional but

necessary. Though hundreds of years have passed between Chaucer’s publications and Taylor

Swift’s newest album release, the connection of these works through criticism concerning female

characters and writers are deeply entwined. When women begin speaking out for themselves, the

dominant men in literature alter their roles. Instead of producing works for themselves, they

move to comment on what women are writing.

In examining the relationship between classical works of literature and pop music, I will

be exploring several different topics to show parallels between the two forms of media. First, I

will examine women’s experiences and public performance. I will then move into discussing

assumptions about women, and finally I will be focusing on women’s reputations. In looking

through these four specific lenses, I will be able to further the argument that women writers in

the domains of classic literature and contemporary pop music should be paired together for

analysis as they both reveal that women in the public eye have faced similar issues across

generations.

Experience - Educated through Experience

Geoffrey Chaucer’s fourteenth-century poem The Canterbury Tales has endured the test

of time by addressing concerns of medieval society - like the influence of the Catholic church

and chivalry - through satirical criticism. Chaucer focuses on strangers connecting with one

another through personal stories and tales they share on a pilgrimage to Canterbury; these stories

break boundaries by satirizing commonly held views concerning the social hierarchy of the

medieval period. Perhaps Chaucer’s most notable character is Alison – also known as the Wife

of Bath. In response to the church’s misogynistic views concerning women’s abilities and its

less-than-comprehensive understanding of the female rationale and social responsibilities, she

defiantly justifies her beliefs based on her own experiences rather than its teachings. It’s clear

that Alison recognizes the divide between acceptable actions from both men and women as she

discusses her abusive husband Janekyn’s reading of Wicked Book of Wives. She shares that “Al

sodeynly thre leves have I plyght/Out of his book, right as he radde, and eke/I with my fest so

took hym on the cheke” which shows her reactive nature when she disagrees with an opposing

view (Chaucer ll. 796-798). Seeing that wives were meant to submit to their husbands, she goes

against what action is socially right for her to do as she physically harms her abusive and

manipulative fifth husband, Janekyn, for reading a sexist book. In justifying actions like this

throughout her prologue, Chaucer uses Alison to satirize “the shallowness of the stereotypes of

women and marriage in antifeminist writings and in demonstrating how much the largeness and

complexity of her character rise above that stereotype” (Norton Volume A 284). Chaucer’s

ability to sympathize and recognize cultural constraints on women allows him to have an unusual

understanding concerning their desires. He sees the conflict between strong women and male

religious leadership. His experiences as a writer and a firsthand observer of the imbalance of

equality that women faced in the Middle Ages allowed him to critique what he saw. Because he

sees how women are being ignored and recognizes how unfair the opportunities are for women

compared to men, he gains authority to write about it.

Alison begins the prologue to her tale with the line “Experience, though noon

auctoritee/were in this world, is right ynough for me” (ll. 1-2). Diving directly into her argument,

she expresses that her experience – not established authority – allows her to speak about

marriage. Though she is not formally educated by the Church’s doctrine, her five husbands have

given her enough background to share the triumphs and woes of marriage. Her = thoughts

concerning marriage have, over the course of five romantic entanglements, altered how she

views a marital state. She is presumably middle-aged during this pilgrimage so it has been

argued “her ‘advancement into age’ is coupled with ‘the acquisition of a special kind of wisdom

superior to merely instinctive knowledge or to…purely practical wit” (Oberemebt 289). This

special kind of wisdom – her experience – cannot be found in formal doctrine. She has a vast

amount of knowledge outside of that regulated by the church, making her a threat to the

established societal norm. It is experience, not formal teachings, that make her more

knowledgeable concerning marriage than anyone else on the pilgrimage.

Readers soon learn that as a mere twelve-year-old, Alison was made a bride by her

parents. Though she was not educated by the Catholic church, she is aware that since Christ

attended only one wedding that the Church believed that a person should only be married once.

She rebuts by saying that Christ never said how many times one could be married – he simply

only attended one wedding. The altering of the scripture to satisfy the wants of the Church

prompt her to say that “men may divine and glosen, up and down,” but unless Christ made a

mention of number, “Why shoulde men thanne speke of it vilainye” (ll.34). Alison’s questioning

of a worldly interpretation of Christ’s teaching continues as she mentions biblical figures

Abraham and Jacob who took more than one wife. How is it acceptable for these men to be

involved in multiple marriages while she is criticized for it? In this moment, she becomes critical

of the establishment that has forced her into less-than-comfortable positions. She has a full

understanding of her situation; because she is a woman, she is restricted from acting in the same

way as a man.

Alison has direct knowledge of what men can, and women cannot, get away with. As a

wife, she is expected to dote on her husband and submit to him. Not only is she in complete

defiance to this, but she explains why she is allowed to act as she does. By rating her husbands

according to their willingness to submit, it is clear that love is not the main focus in her

relationships. It is authoritative power that makes her a happy wife. Readers learn that her first

three husbands were adequate (only because of their old-age and submissiveness) and her fourth

and fifth husbands were problematic as they tried to take control back from her. Though she and

her unnamed fourth husband suffered from infidelity in their marriage, her most interesting

marriage is with her fifth husband, Janekyn. He suppresses everything Alison believes

concerning her feminine power as seen through his use of the “book of wikked wyves” – a

respected text that highlights the wrongdoings of women in a condemning manner (ll.691).

Though she loves him, Janekyn’s learned bias against women through this text reflects the ideas

of the Church. Both deem women to be inherently evil – forcing constant criticism and attack

onto Alison based on her womanhood.

The complexity of Alison’s experience is highlighted even further by the famous lines:

“Who painted the leon, tel me who?

By God, if wommen hadden writen stories,

as clerkes han within hir oratories,

they wolde han writen of men more wikkednesse

than al the merk of Adam may redresse” (ll. 698-702).

Alluding to Aesop’s age-old fable, Alison showcases that only the male perspective is

considered in medieval society. Aesop uses the image of a lion and a man who are fighting in

order to criticize how humans perceive who is right and wrong. A male-centered society

automatically sides with the man being attacked and condemns the lion. However, the

counterargument of this challenges the initial reaction of the audience by simply stating that: “it

all depends on the point of view, and who tells the story” (Aesop). Alison does the same thing

with the expectations of men in her experience. Men set the rules and criticize those who do not

match their standards. Not only is she reemphasizing her frustration with the standards of the

patriarchy, but she argues that women – if given the chance to establish these rules and standards

– would have made men out to be far worse. Barbara Gottfriend explains that “because men have

had control…that women are daily confronted with distorted, one-sided, and, for the most part

negative images of themselves which affect not only the way they perceive themselves but the

ways in which men perceive women as well” (206). Chaucer shows that medieval society forced

criticism onto women which was then internalized, and that promoted values of the Church and

its influencers.

Chaucer compromises the standards created by men as he deters from the status quo of

women’s actions. As Alison becomes vulnerable with her listeners, her mainly male audience

seemingly critique her actions as a wife. The distortion of feminine power is reflective in the

reactive statements she receives from the Pardoner who asks if his wife will take power over him

once they are married, because if so, he will not marry her. The Pardoner becomes terrified that

his bride has the potential to become educated through experience like Alison and that she will

have agency when she speaks. Unable to truly argue with her, he claims that "so have I joye or

blis... This is a long preamble of a tale!" (Chaucer ll.836-837). Because Alison’s arguments are

so detailed, the Pardoner is unable to accurately critique her on anything other than the length of

her prologue. By going for an easy jab, the Pardoner attempts to maintain his respected identity

within medieval society. Alison clearly can understand far more than what is expected of her -

making the men around her fearful of her knowledge. Because of Alison’s empowering

experience as the controlling agent in her relationships, the Pardoner sees her educated-through-

experience mindset as a threat to his authority-based way of thinking.

This common argument about a woman’s position to comment on personal situations

extends into the pop music realm. The 2010s Nickelodeon star turned pop sensation, Ariana

Grande is frequently criticized for her openness and vulnerability concerning her relationships.

She has turned tables as a Grammy award winning performer by writing about critical

experiences that define her as an artist. Not only was she named Billboard’s 2019 Top Female

Artist, but she has amassed a net worth of one hundred million dollars. Though she is one of the

most successful female pop artists, she has been heavily criticized for her implementation of the

educated-through-experience mindset in her hit single, “Thank U, Next.” After suffering from

post-traumatic stress disorder from a bombing at her Manchester concert, a failed engagement to

Saturday Night Live star, Pete Davidson, and the death of her long-time boyfriend/rapper,

Malcolm “Mac” Miller, Grande obliterated charts and streaming platforms with her biggest

single release. This piece, which dominated Billboard’s Pop Charts for seven weeks as the top

single, challenges the authority of popular media and paparazzi who tend to put words in her

mouth. “Thank U, Next” opens with her naming four of her past boyfriends – Big Sean, Ricky

Alverez, Pete Davidson, and Mac Miller. Grande assumes her audience knows private details

about her through her experiences. She is open and vulnerable when it comes to discussing issues

with her mental health and her deteriorated engagement with Davidson after Miller’s death.

Though her openness is unconventional, she is honest with her audience. She does not sugarcoat

bad experiences but she addresses them maturely with a “take it from me” attitude to educate her

listeners through her bad experiences. Grande claims that she thought she would:

End up with Sean, but it wasn’t a match.

Wrote some songs about Ricky now I listen and laugh.

Even almost got married and for Pete, I’m so thankful.

Wish I could say thank you to Malcolm ‘cause he was an angel

The introduction of each of these men and Grande’s experience with each boyfriend mimics

Chaucer’s Alison. The listener receives background about these four men within the opening

lines of her song. She is not leaving her audience out in the cold – rather, she is giving them a

small but honest piece of inside information from her relationships to better understand her

experience and her knowledge from being in these relationships.

In the bridge, Grande shares that these men – through their experiences – have “taught”

her about love, patience, and pain. Grande here addresses her critics by saying that they will “say

I’ve loved and I’ve lost” but that is “not what I see” (“Thank U, Next”). There is a clear split

between the way the public sees her relationships and the private circumstances that she endures.

She is not merely jumping from relationship from relationship to profit from writing songs about

her boyfriends nor is she a tease. This can be seen in how she describes her less-than-successful

relationships. She respects those that she has dated and wishes them well. However, those

outside of her relationships - whether it be her critics or her fans - believe that she has

experienced loss. Grande, because she has experienced each of these relationships herself, has a

different stance. She “looks” at what she has gained from these situations and expresses that it

“taught” her how to grow (“Thank U, Next”). It is not through authority or formal teaching that

she masters relationships with both others and herself but it is through day-to-day experiences

that she comes to terms with who she is - just like Alison. Though both women face criticism as

to how they have developed their mindsets concerning relationships, Grande’s is public as her

relationships are captured through paparazzi. Her place in the spotlight and the directed headlines

concerning her relationships have overtaken the internet as seen in articles like Insider’s “Ariana

Grande and Pete Davidson Relationship Timeline,” People’s “Ariana Grande on ‘All-

Consuming’ Grief After Mac Miller Death” and CheatSheet’s “The Real Reason Ariana Grande

and Big Sean Called It Quits.” Grande’s awareness of how public her private experiences are

allowing her to have the final word within this song. She knows that she is being constantly

criticized due to her relationships, but she expresses her thoughts, based on what her

circumstances have been, to have the final word. She leads out of the bridge and into the chorus

by reiterating that these experiences have allowed her to learn. After reflecting on her

relationships, she calmly says “Look what you’ve taught me” (“Thank U, Next”). Grande, here,

shows her audience that her relationships have not defined her capabilities as an artist but these

experiences have given her the agency to speak her truth.

Moving into the pop-formulated catchy chorus, Grande repeats the line “Thank U, Next”

three times before sharing that “I’m so fucking grateful for my ex” (“Thank U, Next”). Instead of

criticizing the men that she has dated, she maturely addresses them by telling them “thank you.”

Grande recognizes that she has grown within these relationships and, like Chaucer’s Alison, the

knowledge that she has from these relationships has allowed her to cope with difficult life events

– like loss of love and death – and she knows that she is better because of it. Not only did Grande

grow within herself, but she also is sharing this personal, private information with her audience,

like Alison, to extend their wealth of knowledge too. In an Instagram post, she shared:

making this project…gave me the courage to be vulnerable and be honest with people.

thank u for making me feel heard, safe, and incredibly human. it is nice (and so healing)

to know that I don’t have to hide behind a weird, polished pop star façade and that i’m

able to connect with so many people over my truths and pain. (Aubrey)

While Chaucer’s Wife of Bath may not have felt as heard or safe, Alison also removed the

façade of expectations for women of her society. No longer was she following the standards of

the misogynistic patriarchy of the Catholic Church – she was vulnerable through her honesty.

Grande’s second verse focuses more on her ability to move forward with an introspective

relationship with herself while also noting the criticism she receives. She sings:

Plus, I met someone else, We havin’ better discussions,

I know they say I move on too fast, But this one gon’ last,

‘Cause her name is Ari, and I’m so good with that

Grande opens up about a developing relationship with an unnamed source in the first few

lines of this verse. Clearly, she is establishing a different kind of connection here; implying that

this relationship allows for more communication than those previously mentioned. Interestingly,

she includes a coy mention of how society will respond to this relationship. Grande knows she is

bound to be criticized by those who claim she is moving past failed relationships too quickly.

Though self-love seems to be pushed more towards women more now than ever before, Grande’s

position as a pop starlet nudges her to place public relationships over her private ones. While she

is able to love herself, her critics are unable to comment as to what goes on within her finding

herself. Because of this, Grande’s taking time away from relationships to focus on herself

negatively affects how she will be seen in the press but it does not bother her. She separates

herself from her critics in order to grow as a person. Her critics claim - or “they say” - that she

should not be moving forward in a new relationship (“Thank U, Next”). However, Grande gets

the final word by sharing that she has a newfound relationship that only concerns her loving

herself. While she acknowledges her critics’ arguments, she does not waste time contemplating

their statements. Like Alison, her experiences have allowed her to understand the implications of

society and its backbiting remarks. Both women are not going to bow down to their critics. In

this moment, it is clear that Grande does not let her critics take over her actions; she decides

what is best for her and acts upon her decision. She does not allow her critics to influence her life

- “they” can say whatever they want about her but ultimately, she does not care. Grande is in

control. Like Alison, Grande is expecting to be criticized for her actions – she knows that this

developing relationship is not something that will be easily accepted by those who write

society’s rules. Though she is not fighting back against the Church’s restraints on education, she

is fighting back against the question of appropriate self-love. Grande knows that the relationship

that she is building with herself through the experiences and wisdom she has gained from

previous relationships is important for moving forward. The acceptable standard of caring for

oneself will not stop Grande from doing what is best for her. She has experienced enough that

the criticism will not define her actions.

Ariana Grande is “so good with” defying the what others expect of her because, through

self-love and the painful circumstances she has faced in her relationships, Grande herself “taught

me love, she taught me patience, she handles pain, that shit’s amazing” (“Thank U, Next”).

Though each one of her exes taught her these concepts of love, patience, and pain, Grande has

taught herself how to cope with these situations in a way that best suits her. She does not need

outside forces to influence how she acts – she only needs herself. Again, the similarities to

Alison emerges. It is not through expected standards that these women behave. It is through

personal influence that these women share their experiences and work against criticism. These

women understand their critics yet they pay them no mind. The focus for Ariana and Alison is

personal and defiant. Over five hundred years apart, these women are centered on the self rather

than the expectations of someone else. These women can behave how they want, say what they

want, and feel how they want because their experiences have given them the knowledge to do so.

It is “right ynough” for both women to express how they feel because they have the authority and

agency to do so through their experiences (ll.2).

Idealism of the Woman’s Body - Swift/Montagu, Eilish

Men have always obsessed over women's bodies. A notable example of this is Jonathon

Swift’s 1726 poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room.” As a self-styled Christian who stood against

pride of all kinds, he believed that his writing should “shatter the illusion” of women’s beauty to

showcase the impurity of human nature (Norton Volume C 2766). His satire reflected heavily on

the dirtiness and ugliness of women. Swift’s honest beliefs are “professedly inimical to

womankind” as he digs for ways to criticize anything related to femininity (Doody 1). It is as if

he paints women to have two identities - the one seen in front of the man and the one seen in

private. By stepping into the lady’s private place, he unmasks the side to women that he believes

they hide. Swift’s belief as to how women should be seen is odd - he wants the flaws rather than

the beauty of women to be showcased. Though some critics celebrate this, Swift’s writing can be

defined as misogynistic and “The Lady’s Dressing Room” shows clear support for his direct

attack on women’s bodies and whether or not they should be accepted. His central character,

Strephon, steps into the disgustingly unmanicured lady’s room to search for his girlfriend, Celia.

Swift undermines women in the first line by sharing that it had taken Celia “five hours

(and who can do it less in)” to get dressed for going out (Swift ll.1). While he sees her as a

“goddess” dressed in her “lace, brocade, and tissue,” the exhaustive upcoming description of the

“litter” that laid upon the floor of the lady’s dressing room will soon expose the private identity

that contrasts his perception of her (ll. 3-4). Swift focuses on sweat-stained smocks, dirtied

combs and powder to dismantle Celia’s beauty. Through Strephon’s eyes, Swift identifies the

ways that she makes herself look better to the world by removing a love-induced fog. As he steps

into this new world, Strephon has removed himself from the clouded version of Celia that he has

experienced and has moved into a position where he sees the flaws that, at one point, were blind

to him. Strephon begins to stumble across even more disgusting items like the “scraping of her

teeth and gums, a nasty compound of all hues,” and tweezers used to pluck her chin hair (Swift

ll. 40-41). These grotesque images force shame upon Celia’s character as her beauty is

diminished to both Strephon and the audience due to the items she leaves strewn around. What

makes her appealing has quickly been stripped away and it leaves Strephon questioning who

Celia truly is.

Swift continues to try to “reproduce empirical reality” by having Strephon react to

Celia’s excrement (Real and Vienken 44). By taking a normal bodily function and applying vile,

disturbing descriptions to it, he further removes Celia from being human and labels her “the

remains of a pox-ridden, painted-up old hag” (Real and Vienken 43). Strephon is completely

removed from the experience of his relationship because what has made Celia special has been

taken away. What made her stand out was how exceptionally beautiful she was - but now that

she has been stripped of what has made her attractive, he now finds her to be repulsive due to

what he has found. Swift criticizes the use of beauty products and features of the feminine image

in order to argue that women, by nature, are foul creatures that do not deserve praise and are only

beautiful because of the time they spend fixing their imperfections. By exposing her masked

flaws, he “examined the role deception plays in the creation of a saving but inadequate fiction of

femininity” (Gubar 387). Swift’s divide between beautifully fake and disgustingly real

femininity spans throughout his publications. In his most notable work, Gulliver’s Travels, a

smaller-than-normal Gulliver enters a dressing room and is horrified by the grotesquely large

women that surround him (108). Though they find his pint-sized nature to be adorable, he is less

than thrilled to be doted on by these women. Swift’s defining criticism of women tears down the

chance to be accepted - especially in Celia’s case - as he rips away the things that allow a

relationship to flourish.

The unnamed narrator now steps in to share that he pities Strephon’s blindness to the true

identity of womankind. If Strephon, like the narrator, had enough experience to understand that

women were disgusting by nature then he would not be caught up in the “ointments, daubs, and

paints, and creams'' that she uses to make herself into a beautiful woman (Swift ll. 35-36). The

contrast of seeing someone beautiful through eyes like Strephon’s and ugliness through that of

the narrator’s (presumably Swift) shows a turning away from expectations concerning women to

understanding what who women truly are. As he tries to argue here, the true understanding of

women comes through personal observation - not desire-filled descriptions. A made-up woman,

claims Swift, does not show what one is truly. He claims that Celia hides behind a mask of

femininity - through makeup and perfume - to conceal what makes her hideous. While he paints

both her vanity and bodily imperfections as problematic, his focus on her body and what she

does to it becomes his prime focus. By stripping away her mask of beauty, Strephon’s

experiences in “The Lady’s Dressing Room” delegate that women are hideous creatures of

vanity. By criticizing what makes a woman disgusting and gross, Swift gives men the

opportunity to develop skewed views.

“The Lady’s Dressing Room” was widely appreciated in its time but is now controversial

for obvious reasons as it portrays women and their actions to be brutally vile. Swift’s perception

of women, one that manipulates a simple narrative with gross imagery, denounces what it means

to be feminine. He criticizes makeup as not a beauty enhancer but a hider of imperfections and

impurities. By exposing Celia, he breaks ideas concerning expectations for women - something

he cannot fully grasp. He blindly attacks and criticizes experiences that he knows nothing about

yet his agency as a male writer gives him the grounds for his satire to be accepted. One of the

only notable critiques of his work during the period came from Lady Mary Montagu. Her

response to Swift’s blatant skewing of the feminine image in “The Reasons That Induced Dr.

Swift to Write A Poem Called the Lady’s Dressing Room” objects to his indecency towards

women and criticizes his being out-of-touch with femininity and for lacking true experiences on

which he based his conclusions.

It is clear that Montagu is not a fan of Swift, so much so, that she is introduced in The

Norton Anthology of English Literature as someone who does not like him (Vol. C 2770). She

was not a supporter of his political stance or intense vulgarity in his published writing. Frustrated

with Swift’s degradation of femininity and his criticism of women, she spins the story in order to

critique him. She focuses on the reasons why he would deem women to be vile by claiming that

he is sexually frustrated and impotent. Women do not want Swift; therefore, he wants to criticize

them through a specific male gaze that trumps rationality. In her poem, Montagu opens with

imagery of Swift adorned in gaudy “diamond ring displays and artful shows it various rays” to

show that Swift is a man focused on outward appearance, just as he describes Celia (ll. 3-4).. By

including the items that Swift uses to elevate his looks, she highlights the double standard in

male and female dress. His irritating narcissism and overlooking of his own pride while

criticizing others allows for her to throw tough punches his way. Swift goes to meet his lady of

the hour - who he pays to embrace. Montagu implies that he has an ongoing relationship with a

prostitute named Betty. If Swift’s focus on Celia’s grossness stemmed simply from basic human

actions, then Montagu’s portrayal of Swift’s relationship with a woman who would be deemed

unclean by religious establishments is appallingly dirty and fully supportive of the double

standard.

Montagu follows by furthering the romance of Swift and Betty’s relationship by sharing

that the “reverend lover… kisses both and tries - and tries” (ll.63-65). She digs hard at Swift’s

masculinity by accusing him of being impotent and unable to give his lady a pleasurable

experience. Because of his frustration and inability, Swift begins blaming Betty’s “dirty smock,

and stinking toes” for his inability to have a sexual encounter with her (Montagu ll.71).

Outraged, he refuses to pay her and says that he will write about how disgusting she is. She

responds with the poem’s brilliant ending lines “I’m glad you’ll write / you’ll furnish paper when

I shite” (Montagu ll. 88-89). In an effort to get one last dig in, Montagu allows Betty to claim

that Swift’s writing is only useful as toilet paper - that reading his writing is not an option for

her. Betty, foiling Montagu’s own beliefs concerning Swift, shows that his writing served no

purpose for women. Because he focuses so heavily on the male experience, the connection for

women is null and void. Montagu’s Betty speaks up for herself as her experience with the

irritable, impotent Swift has been less than pleasurable.

Clearly, Montagu pushes against Swift’s criticism against women by analyzing his flaws.

The experience of women cannot be limited to the standards set by men; the overt realm where

women are naturally disgusting that he introduces fails to exist. Her counterattack allows for

there to be understanding of a woman’s experience with a man like Swift. She shows that it is his

own fault that he is unsuccessful in his goals with Betty and this frustration caused him to force

negative ideas and thoughts onto his readers. Montagu showcases the double standard that Swift

is a part of by highlighting how the demands of men divide women by socially reprimanding

them for doing as they please. The standard that women must try to meet to please men like

Swift is unreachable. He is stuck in-between the idea that women are free to make their own

choices and the male expectations for beauty. Montagu calls out the problems in Swift’s writings

by showcasing the double standards that women are forced to experience.

Montagu challenges Swift’s writing to show the reality of women’s issues through a

feminine lens. Without this necessary approach considered, “The Lady’s Dressing Room” upheld

an accepted view from male writers. By implementing a woman’s voice, she shows the

imbalance of acceptable actions based on gender. The gaudy application of jewelry and cologne

that Swift uses to elevate his status is like the actions that he critiques of women. As a newcomer

to the pop music industry, Billie Eilish has steadily encountered issues with body shamers who

critique her ability to conceal imperfections in ways similar to that of Jonathon Swift. Not only

did she sweep the 2019 Grammy’s with five wins, but she also grossed around fifty million

dollars the same year. The eighteen-year-old powerhouse, however, marches to the beat of her

own drum. Her first song “Ocean Eyes” was released on the free streaming server, Soundcloud,

in 2016 and has since amassed 43.4 million streams. Eilish, who gains anywhere from 2,000 -

26,000 Instagram followers a day, produces her music in her childhood bedroom with her

brother, Finneas. This dynamic duo outsold both Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift in 2019 by

400,000 albums after the release of her album Where Do We Go When We Fall Asleep? Though

her sound distinctively disconnects from most trending pop tunes, the depth of her writing style

and the personal matters in which she chooses to describe in her lyrics strangely connect with the

eighteenth-century stylings of female poets. She goes against the grain of popular songs by

emphasizing what makes her different from other artists. Her EP Don’t Smile at Me describes her

dislike of the prying public eye. Her intention, similar to that of Lady Mary Montagu, is to push

back against the societal expectations of women in her field. Instead of building her brand on

stereotypical pop formulations, Eilish allows her personal experiences to define her credibility as

an artist. What makes her a standout artist is her ability to defy what others expect.

Photo Credits: Elle

One way that Eilish defies what is expected of her is by dressing androgynously. Instead

of dressing in high fashion gowns, she sticks to surprisingly modest apparel. She is known for

wearing oversized sweatshirts and baggy sweatpants onstage, at events, and out on the town.

However, Billie has shared that her main reason for dressing in oversized clothing was because

“I hated my body” (Torres). Because she hit puberty at such a young age, she experienced

significant anxiety concerning the way she looked. After not wanting to conform to the rules of

women’s fashion, Eilish chose to cover her body. Even more than her own personal experience

with body image, she says “I dress the way I dress as I don’t like to think of you guys - I mean

anyone, everyone - judging my body, or the size of it” (Insider). Here, she responds to outsiders

like Montagu does. Both are separating what can be thought about women’s bodies by showing

one’s perception of the self. In doing this, both women are combating the rules that others are

trying to apply to them. Montagu fights Swift’s vile expectations of women’s bodies; Eilish

fights to be accepted for choosing to look the way she wants amongst harsh critics.

In a fashionably oversized way, Billie Eilish complicates the status quo. While she

accepts that people will judge her for her appearance, she chooses how they get to judge her. She

allows her audience to experience the part of her that she chooses to be public. She makes her

body private - it is her choice what others see of her. She argues that the world wants to see her

body but by holding back, she can experience her body in private. Choosing not to conform to

what others expect of her, she independently decides on how she should look without any outside

help. On one occasion, however, she wore an open sweater and tank-top that revealed her body

shape. Twitter went crazy. In an interview with Elle Magazine, she shared that “My boobs were

trending on Twitter! At number one! What is that?!" (Bate). This objectification that she

experienced helps to validate her reason for layering her clothing. This experience allowed for

outsiders to see the impact of the comments towards her as she began layering more and more.

Eilish no longer needed to validate her reasoning for hiding her body because the world had seen

the effects go viral.

Eilish not only focuses on her defiance of standards for women’s fashion, but she often

writes about it in her music. In her song, “idontwanttobeyouanymore” she deals with her body-

specific insecurities. Before the song begins, her audience contextualizes from the title that Eilish

is straying away from a part of her identity. By condensing the title into one word, she

manipulates the complexity of the situation she is in, minimizing how the statement she makes is

consumed by leaving no spaces in between her words. She is falling away from a part of herself

that she finds problematic and that she does not want others to see. She opens with the line

“Don’t be that way, fall apart twice a day, I just wish you could feel what you say” where she

implies that she tells herself that she is one way - directly discussing the way she looks - when

she feels completely different about herself. Though what Eilish tells herself is ideally how she

should feel, she experiences a world where those thoughts are not possible. Because of how she

views herself, she cannot feel the way that she describes. She describes this as the “kind of mood

that you wish you could sell” - there is a value in expressing her private thoughts. Though her

inner self is filled with conflict about how she truly feels, Eilish shares that these thoughts are

necessary and valuable as she evaluates herself in different ways. Here, she focuses on knowing

how her mind perceives her body. She clearly understands that there is a disconnect from what

she truly feels and what she tells herself. She deals with how others know her and how the

outside perceptions of her determine the value of her body. Similar to how she works, the

condescending, outward expressions about her body from others disconnects what she tells

herself in the mirror. These body-shaming comments promote unhealthy beliefs about herself.

Eilish must intervene between what others want, what she wants, and who she is. The imbalance

of power causes a mental struggle for her. Seeing as the chorus begins with “If teardrops could

be bottled, there’d be swimming pools filled by models, told ‘a tight dress is what makes you a

whore,’” there are distinct images that stand out about how Eilish perceives this negative body

image to extend outside of herself (“idontwanttobeyouanymore”). She paints an image of broken

models who are criticized over their bodies and what they wear. She expresses that not only are

they sad, but their tears could fill swimming pools. She acknowledges the constant pressure that

models experience and feels this weight herself. Eilish implies that models represent the

expectation that the general population should uphold. She also holds herself at a disadvantage as

she does not feel the pressure of being a model yet she is struggling with accepting what both she

and others feel concerning her body. As she does not match the standard based on the perception

of her body, she feels disheartened. Eilish sees the criticism of others and applies it as to how she

views herself which takes the comfort of being herself away.

Eilish also explores the way that these models are dressed makes them be labeled as a

“whore.” Her strong use of derogatory language helps to show that judgement will come no

matter if she is a model or not. If she wears baggy clothing, she is labeled as weird or odd. If she

wears a tight dress and imitates a model, she becomes a “whore.” This portion of the song

strongly connects to Swift’s “The Lady’s Dressing Room” as he sees the flaws in Celia’s beauty

as equivalent to the flaws in her humanity. Because she is beautiful, she is prideful and vain -

highlighting her vile human nature. Once Strephon finds out what she has held privately behind

her makeup, he becomes disgusted by what she has hidden. Both Swift’s Celia and Eilish are

stuck in a tug-of-war between public and private affairs when it comes to their bodies. Spectators

from the public world are trying to peek behind the veil of privacy that both women have

created. There is a definitive friction between what they want to show and what people want to

see. The expectations that Swift has for Celia are unmatchable as are the model-like standards

that Eilish has for herself. Both of these situations focus on the interpretation of standards that

each society has put into place and these women are in realistic situations that allow them to fail

in comparison to what is being demanded of them to be.

Eilish finishes out the chorus by sharing that she will “tell the mirror what you know

she’s heard before; I don’t want to be you...anymore.” She re-establishes the thoughts she has

about herself that do not match the desired standards of others. Because she believes that being a

“model” is what society wants her to be - and her body does not allow her to do so - she tells

herself that she does not want her body anymore. She wants her body to be what is accepted in

society, but she cannot place herself amongst those who are respected for their size.

Photo Rights: Entertainment Weekly

However, Billie Eilish does confront the woes of living in the public eye. In a YouTube

video called “NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY,” she strips off the oversized, baggy layers to reveal

her true self. She bears her skin to an audience as the short film is used as an interlude at her

concert. While taking off her oversized sweatshirt, she questions the crowd “Do you know me?

You have opinions...about my opinions, about my clothes, about my body” (Billie Eilish,

YouTube). She directly acknowledges the criticism that she receives for hiding her body in

baggy clothing. She has chosen to publicize a private, personal moment. Because she has wanted

her body to be something only she can experience, she allows herself in this moment to publicly

experience a deep moment of vulnerability. She establishes a thought that must be considered by

her audience - people do not know her and it is not until she strips off the layers that people’s

perceptions about her change. Because she is always being watched, she is always going to be

under scrutiny. By peeling these layers, Eilish pushes back against this criticism over what she

wears and what she looks like to say that no one else - other than her - understands her

experience or her body. Because she is a rising pop superstar, she - by society’s standards -

should show off her body. The expectation for her to reveal herself to her audience holds more

weight as she balances in between the public and private issue of body image. She clearly wants

her audience to know that because they are not her, they do not get to see who she truly is unless

she says so.

Though she is personally more vulnerable to her critics than Montagu, Eilish pushes back

against the expectations that others want her to conform to in a way that is similar to that of

female writers. In Montagu’s poem, Swift wants to be perceived as a high style man with

diamond rings and lots of money, but she paints him to be impotent and unable to have relations

with a prostitute. The sexist reality that Swift dwells in is shattered through claims made in her

poem.” Montagu - like Swift - exploits the private experiences that allow for criticism to occur.

Eilish does the same in “NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY” by shutting down the person that others

have painted for her by showing them what is real. She does not have to hide behind her clothes -

she is able to give her audience the opportunity to experience something she has held in private.

She directly addresses her audience and their claims about her in the video as she strips down -

removing their ability to comment about how she dresses. Both Montagu and Eilish remove

male-set standards from their experiences to showcase the truth that remains. In Montagu’s case,

she argues that Swift’s frustration causes him to blame and criticize women for their looks. In

Eilish’s case, she argues that the standards of models cause women to question their worth in

comparison to what is to be expected of them.

Performance

One of the earliest examples of women’s writing, The Book of Margery Kempe, prompts

important questions concerning the way women perform their identities. As a middle-class

mother in the medieval period, Kempe switched from devoting herself to domestic duties to

committing herself to God. Through visions and what she claimed were passionate one-on-one

experiences with Christ himself, she develops what she believes to be is a non-platonic

relationship with Jesus. Her spiritual autobiography concerning her relationship with Jesus Christ

received heavy criticism because of her explicit and performative expression of religion. She was

known for outlandish spectacles of performance where she would weep and throw herself in

front of crowds to promote her relationship with Christ so others would believe her. Kempe’s

intimate relationship that she believed she had with Christ proved problematic as she was already

married. Not only did those around her look down on her for her choosing to leave behind her

husband to explore a metaphysical relationship with Jesus, but her outrageous actions in public

caused her manic narration to be labeled unreliable as she recorded her spiritual encounters

nearly twenty years after they began. Her eccentric weeping and uncontrollable emotions allow

for Kempe to take control of her crowds and captivate them. Notably, she separates herself from

her personal identity and the performing character that The Book of Margery Kempe focuses on.

There is a distinct difference between the middle-class, middle-aged version of Kempe with

fourteen children and a dissatisfied husband and the version of herself whose gift of undrying,

dramatic tears is the driving force for spectators’ dislike. As a performer and narrator, she “gives

voices to a largely silent and unsung force, the voice of the middle-class uneducated woman

determined to be understood on her own terms” (Glenn 541). Her position to publish her work

offers the opportunity for a new kind of narrative to take form.

Kempe separates herself as well by referring to herself as “creature” in a third-person

format. Strictly sharing her experience, she removes her personal identity to showcase the

identity that others have come to know. By referring to herself as “creature” no longer does she

identify as Margery Kempe, but merely a creature created by God. She opens her Book by

discussing her “great attacks of illness” before her unnamed child was born and thoughts of

death prior to the delivery of said child (425). She even further separates her personal and

performative personas by refusing to share personal details, such as her child and husband’s

name, with her audience. Her division of the self proves that she is two completely different

entities; she is either the performative character or the writer – there is no in-between. Following

her child’s birth, Kempe begins to experience intense hallucinations and visions concerning hell:

“In this time she saw, as she thought, devils open their mouths, all inflamed with burning flames

of fire as if they should have swallowed her in, sometimes menacing her, sometimes threatening

her…” (426). As she begins listening to the devils that she truly believed in, she begins to base

her decisions on what they share with her. From this moment on, readers recognize that she – the

performing character - experiences cognitive dissonance. Her hallucinations and emotional

reactions to them highlight the dramatization of her experiences in religion. Though her readers

may perceive Kempe’s delusions for what they truly are, she truly believes these hellish

creatures visited her. Her recounting of these events, throughout the entirety of her Book, are

never presented as anything other than real - a testament to what she insists is her mental state

and memory.

One of Kempe’s early performances occurred when she went to Mass. As the priest held

up a sacrament, she received a vision from Jesus telling her that he seeks vengeance for his

suffering on the cross at Golgotha. She had a stirring within her during this conversation as she

yearns for more consecrations. Though her actions did not evoke a response from the audience at

the church, she shows off for her readers. She addresses her experiences through her writing. Her

intense language concerning her longing for more time with the sacrament and thought-

provoking consecrations show her dedication to performing as a devout worshipper of Christ.

Kempe insists that Christ tells her that “the more envy they have for you because of my grace,

the better shall I love you…For I know…whatever men say of you” (429). She has already faced

backlash from public observers but that harsh criticism fuels the relationship that she believes to

have with God. What she wants – a deeply rich love from God – she will receive by making

others envious due to her performances. Because of this direct relationship with God, she uses

her position to brag throughout her Book. She believes that, since others will envy this devotion

she has to God, that she will be rewarded for her actions eternally. Though this is what she

perceives to truly exist, her emotional shows concerning her visions drive spectators mad. She

reiterates that she and God both know the criticism of her outward affection toward God as he

mentions that he knows what people say about her. The criticism concerning her open and odd

actions are not hidden – they are meant to be seen by as many people as possible. Because of this

friction between what her audience wants – which is for her to calm down – and the eccentric

actions concerning her relationship with God, the criticism that Kempe receives is encapsulated

within her personal discussion of her religious devotion as it played such a large role in how she

responds in other situations.

Kempe’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem also played a key factor in her performative approach

to her storytelling. In a time where travelling alone for women “was a controversial issue

because freedom of movement conflicted with traditional concepts of the society,” she is willing

to take the risk in order to please God and expand her audience (Bowers 5). With a deep need to

prove her dedication to Christ, she makes a dangerous journey to Jerusalem to visit holy

landmarks. While in Jerusalem, she claims that Christ gave her the desires of her heart by

allowing her to see Jerusalem from a heavenly view. In this daydream, she “was in point to have

fallen off her ass, for she might not bear the sweetness and grace that God wrought in her soul”

(Kempe 429). She then is assisted by two men who comforted her – one of these being a German

priest – because they thought she was sick based on her actions. Though she claims that God had

influenced her ability to see beautiful images, her spectators see a sick, rather than blessed,

woman who overwhelms those around her with emotional displays of religious passion. Kempe’s

public identity as the creature not only begins to “weep sorely” at the place of Christ’s tomb but

also becomes “wallowed and twisted with her body” due to her vision of the Passion of the

Christ (429). Her actions became more and more often and intense on her return. Similarly, her

spectators become more bothered by her outlandish acts of religion. Using the identity of her

private persona to write, she shares that “the people should not have heard [her cries] for it

annoyed them…some banned her” (Kempe 430). However, her devotion to God was far more

important to her than the acceptance of her peers.

Though Kempe became more and more famous concerning her religious actions and their

intensity, the fame soon turned into infamy. She became fixated on performing so that her

audience would understand her. Because her onlookers did not have an intense relationship with

Christ like she claimed to, they could not begin to comprehend the complex position in which

she had been absorbed. She became the eyesore of her town as she cried and flailed when given

the chance. As she believed these divinely inspired shows to be the only way to continue a strong

relationship with Christ, her audience became critical of her performance. Not only did they

begin to distance themselves from her, but they looked down upon her. Clearly, the divide

between her life and that of her peers has extended even further. This division only furthers

Kempe from seeing beyond her veil of personal belief into daily life. Her removal from a normal

life only makes her feel more and more isolated within herself, causing her to cry more. Her

mental health had been declining for years prior to her pilgrimage to Jerusalem but her

intensified productions and reactions to God pulled her far away from what little bit of normalcy

that was left – she was left with nothing but her false reality - the question concerning the

authenticity and reliability of these experiences are still being argued about today. Though

Kempe believes that her divine experiences exist, her manic behavior and altered mind demote

her writings to almost that of religious fanfiction. These visions that she truly believes she

experiences alter the readers’ understanding of her as a private worshipper and public performer

of her faith.

Again, she shows her readers her staunch devotion to religious duty as she emotionally

produced a show for an audience at a Pietà in Norwich. In this moment, she “cried, she roared,

she wept, she fell down to the ground, so fervently the fire of love burnt in her heart” (Kempe

434). Her earthly affection to Christ drives Kempe to act out her internal emotions outwardly.

She is moved by the scene of Christ’s crucified body being held by the Virgin Mary that it

overwhelms and stirs her to react in a way that makes someone ask her “what ails you, woman?”

(Kempe 434) Her reaction to this piece of art is not normal – the audience she has created for

herself stands in “great marvel” as she flails and flaps in response to the image of Christ’s dead

body (434). Her actions are not kept secretive as “priests…who knew her manner of working”

led her to get a drink after her expressive performance (434). Her outward, public expression of

her inward, private thoughts intensified the experience of the Pietà for her audience. The statue

itself is one that is emotion-provoking and raw and her reaction is nothing short of dramatic. Her

cries are that of roars – a description that has yet to be mentioned within her autobiography thus

far. This scene is different for Kempe as there is a stronger emotional connection for her at this

scene as the love in her heart for Christ begins to burn. She recognizes the emotions within the

Pietà and reconstructs them herself; it is not that she is recreating these emotions but that she is

reinventing these emotions in both private and public manners. However, her dramatic outcry is

nothing short of unexpected. Also seen in her show at Christ’s place of crucifixion, Kempe

doubles over in raw emotion to showcase a reaction of deep sorrow – an emotional connection

seen in Christianity concerning the Passion of Christ. In these ways, she “presents herself not

only as a proficient reader of devotional objects but also as a powerful reenactor of the meaning

of that particular object” (Varnam). Her ability to show off these intense emotions surrounding

the crucifixion and the Pietà allow her to manipulate her private emotions and knowledge in

order to extend her shows and build a crowd. Kempe’s ability to create an identity that engages

in beyond-spiritual experiences in disconnect to her private life shows a clear separation – and

distinct knowledge – about performative identities. These identities help to shape the how

Kempe’s audience – both her viewers and readers alike – see her.

Photo Credits (Far Left): Blush | Photo Credits (Middle): PopSugar | Photo Credits (Far Right): Medium

While Margery Kempe’s performances showed dedication to God, eleven-time Grammy-

winning artist, Lady Gaga has consistently used alter egos to promote messages that she weaves

into her music. Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga has released six studio

albums, thirty-three singles, and collaborated on the Oscar-winning soundtrack for 2018’s film

adaptation of A Star is Born. Throughout the development of each album, she has produced

diverse personas that have helped to further messages of love and loss that inspire her music.

These various roles in which she plays, she says, are “this stronger individual part of myself,”

not truly “what I am” (Begley). She separates Stefani – an Italian American woman whose

family-restaurant she works at on occasion – from the demanding, ever-changing personas of

Lady Gaga. Through these various personas and egos, “her every move seems to be an elaborate,

avant-garde performance” (Lush 173). Take 2011’s Lady Gaga, who introduced the world to

alter-ego Jo Calderone at MTV Video Music Awards. Jo, a rugged raspy-voiced fellow with a

love for cigarettes, opened the show with Lady Gaga’s hit “You and I.” In doing this, she splits

her public self into two identities – there is Lady Gaga and there is Jo. In an interview with V

Magazine, she shares “In a culture that attempts to quantify beauty with a visual paradigm and

almost mathematical standard how can we…shift the world’s perspective on what’s beautiful? I

asked myself this question. And the answer? Drag” (Richardson). She knows what is expected of

her as a public performer – something that matches this high standard of beauty. By twisting the

beauty standard, Lady Gaga is able to show an alternative, yet necessary view. She “deliberately

obscures her core personal identity” thus challenging what people want to see and, in doing so,

keeps her audience intrigued and guessing (Lush 181).

During the production of each release, Lady Gaga creates a new image for herself that

focuses on themes of her album. Her first album The Fame allows the public to see her first

identity. With the album art engaging the audience with an up-close image of her dripping in

diamonds on her sunglasses, she tries to show her audience that she is a woman of luxury.

Though she was not yet incredibly famous, her album title and façade seen in the album’s

artwork sell her as a rich, famous, and powerful artist. Even her music videos during this era

promote this persona. In the video for her first single, “Just Dance,” she rolls into a party with

diamond-studded stilettos sticking out of the window of a vintage limousine. These early images

establish her identity as a woman who comes as an expensive price; she means to be desired by

her audience as a woman of wealth. Walking into the party, she strolls in with sunglasses similar

to those in The Fame’s artwork with a posse of well-dressed band members. She reinforces

herself as the focal character in the video with multiple, elaborate costume changes. As she

begins parading around the house party, she dances and captures the attention of her audience –

like that of Margery Kempe as she . . .. She – in her expressive public state – wants to be seen

and noticed by those around her. She is meant to be the focal point of the video; Lady Gaga

wants to express through her words and actions that she should be the center of attention. Both

her and Kempe’s performative identity parallel one another as they both need to express the

emotions and thoughts within themselves to the public. Both of these women have thoughts

concerning how to live – with Lady Gaga’s “brush it off” attitude and Kempe’s “come to Jesus''

belief system – that they feel must be expressed to their audience in unconventional ways.

Though pop artists depict thoughts in their music videos, her approach of parading, dancing, and

singing directly to the members of her audience shows that she is ambitious and purposeful in the

ways she interacts with. This can be seen in the direct eye-contact she makes with the camera

during close-up shots, and in this manner, she directly speaks to her audience in both a public

and private way. She establishes a relationship with her audience yet it is Lady Gaga – not

Stefani – who is connecting with her viewers and party attendees. In this way, she connects to

Kempe again as they both rely on connection to captivate their audiences with their

performances. By using strong images of movement in both the “Just Dance” music video and

The Book of Margery Kempe, these women are able to communicate their “purpose and

ambition” easily to their audience (Park). Though the purposes of their actions may differ, their

strict ambition of captivating audiences is accessible for both women.

After Lady Gaga had built a strong fanbase, she began to diversify how she performed

more by focusing on a specific version of herself for each album While The Fame’s era showed

Lady Gaga adorned in pleather and diamonds, her Joanne phase showed her in pastel pinks as

while riding a horse - softening her once rough-and-tough image. In her ARTPOP era, Lady

Gaga becomes more vulnerable in her album’s artwork and the way she allows her audience to

see her. The ARTPOP period was defined by vibrant colors and vivid images similar to that of

the mid-to-late 1950s Pop Art era. Seeing as this period of art challenged the traditions of fine art

by exploiting cultural objects in paintings, she emulates these ideals by inserting herself - a well-

known pop culture persona - into obscure imagery. Intertwining renaissance paintings into her

name for ARTPOP’s artwork, Gaga poses nude with a blue orb that reflects the camera’s flash.

Whether it be Stefani or Lady Gaga who allows herself to be photographed in this manner – she

publicizes her most private self. Her approach to this openness and honesty with her audience

gives the performer Lady Gaga nowhere to hide. She keeps her audience engaged by allowing

them to question what antics she will produce - no one can expect the same persona twice. Her

nakedness gives her agency. While this image gives her audience more access to her once

private/now public body, she still keeps her private identity a secret – a technique also used by

Kempe to separate her public and private life into separate entities. While she can show off her

body as an outside image, she does not have to expose her private thoughts, emotions, and

relationships in order to bring in an audience. This album, collectively decided upon by fans as

“a celebration and a poetic musical journey” with influence from “reverse Warholian

phenomenon” gave Lady Gaga a new opportunity to approach her new persona with a darker,

more immature nature (“ARTPOP”). In her first released video from this era, “Applause”

accentuates her new vulnerability while still protecting her privacy.

Photo Credits: Buzzfeed

Her opening image shows her as a butterfly – symbolizing the metamorphosis that both

she and a caterpillar have gone through. In this chrysalis between her previous and current era,

she has developed into a more dynamic figure. In the next image, she strips down to her

underwear. She is vulnerable and uncovered to her audience as she prepares to sing to them.

Approaching this like Kempe, she validates her thoughts within this album through her public

persona. She points to the need to express her inner thoughts in a way that must be expressed;

she needs to work out what is going on inside her brain through outward performances. In this

way, she is able to establish a strong, necessary connection to her audience. She continues to

entertain with a variety of outfits that change how the audience engages with her. It is her need,

she claims, to be applauded for her actions. Her ability to change into personas that people want

to see allows her to become more pleasing to her audience – which, in a way similar to Margery

Kempe, gives Lady Gaga something that satisfies her internal needs and outward projection of

those needs. Though this album produced multiple attention-grabbing singles, one of the most

provocative pieces to come from Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP era is “Do What U Want” featuring

Christina Aguilera. This song complicates the relationship with the inner self and the backlash

from critics. She opens by expressing that she has to “walk alone” down this road of stardom but

somehow, she trips “upon myself and I fall.” Though her inner self is confident, the mistakes that

she makes are seen in through her outside identity. Even when she can recover, her critics “print

some shit that makes me wanna scream.”

To her critics, the mistakes she makes are intended for outside view and need to be

critiqued. To her audience, there are limits as to what can be commented on. In doing this, she

gives both identities (performative Lady Gaga/private Stefani) the power to fight back. Though

she has full expectations that her critics and audience will comment on her failures, the backlash

that she has for both of her public/private identities affects her negatively. She even has

addressed the implications behind the first release of the song with R. Kelly shared that “I made

both the song and the video at a dark time in life…My intention was to create something

extremely defiant and provocative…” (Bloom). As a performer, she is struggling with

destructive emotions surrounding criticism and pain that she has been internalized privately. By

expressing these intense feelings, she is able to express how she goes against her critics’

demands of her.

Lady Gaga tells her audience that they can take the liberty of manipulating her body in

whatever way they see fit. She offers a private portion of herself that she has already begun to

expose through ARTPOP’s artwork in the most direct way possible – she demands for her

audience to do whatever they choose to with her body. She freely gives a portion of herself

externally in order to defy her critics’ claims and to push back against their expectations of her

yet she hides her internal feelings and emotions from those who most desire to see them. In this

manner, she both exposes herself and limits her audience as to what they are allowed to see. This

altered vision of her changes what her viewers can see and dizzies how she allows herself to be

perceived. While her critics are being given the opportunity to “write what you want, say what

you want about me,” she gives her audience the faculty to say these things by being vulnerable

(“Do What U Want”). By taking these matters into her own hands, she fights back against these

people who write crude comments about her. However, she switches up her claim by giving

limitations to her audience. “You can’t have my heart,” she writes, “and you won’t use my mind,

but do what you want with my body.” She emphasizes her personal, private thoughts and

feelings are off limits to the public sphere in which she must perform unless she decides to open

up to her audience. She does not want to be bothered with questions as she will only show her

audience as much as she wants them to see. As an artist, she decides what gets to be shown and

what remains connected to her private identity. In establishing the limitations that her critics

have for how they attack her, she gets to keep both of her identities in the way she so chooses.

Lady Gaga gives herself agency in concern to the self she wants showcased. Her critics can

“write what you want, say what you want about me” but she is unapologetic. She allows there to

be discussion about her on her own terms; her limitations are not to be crossed and she has the

power to ensure no one can attack her private identity.

Both Kempe and Lady Gaga have to show their private emotions publicly in order to be

successful. For Kempe to please God, she must show her feelings in front of anyone who will

listen. While Lady Gaga does not have to entice her listeners, she has to keep their attention on

her performance by adapting and changing her persona. These women struggle to be taken

seriously because of how outsiders perceive them. However, both are able to express private

matters in unconventional ways. While Lady Gaga adorns herself in lush fabrics and bites back

at her critics by giving them more explicit images of herself, Kempe ventures out into different

areas to share her knowledge and emotional distress with those who will listen. It is critical that

these women share their emotions – even if they are not understood by their audiences. Lady

Gaga gives her audiences puzzles to solve. She lets them chip away at some portion of her

identity before she switches into another version of herself. Their audiences are invited to

combine expressive oddities with truth to reach understanding of the women they perceive. As

beings that thrive when showing their positions in the public eye, both thrive on the attention and

relationships they build through their performances.

Assumption

Consistently, women have had to deal with assumptions being made about how they

portray different opportunities in their respective societies. Inserting women’s values into a

predominately male area complicates the presumed values of one’s writing in a male-dominated

world. When texts of focused feminine concepts are applied under polarized, masculine

microscopes, meaning and understanding concerning the struggles of women become critiqued

in ways that assume the author’s purpose without truly valuing the author’s work. In this way,

the typical approach to assessing one’s experience and purpose for writing “devalues the

normative, the univocal, and the hierarchical and valorizes the particular, the contextualized, and

the polyvocal” that specifically calls for “feminist aesthetic [to] invite us to see things in a

different way” (Duran 37). This feminine aesthetic, perceived differently based on gender, alters

how narratives are spun in the public.

Anne Finch, a notable female poet from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century,

had opportunities unlike many women in her time. She was not only born into a wealthy family

but married into the title of Countess of Winchilsea. Seeing as she was formally educated and

wealthy, her rich language and stories enchanted her readers as they were often published. She

and her husband became favorable within King James II’s court and remained sympathetic to his

cause during his brief reign over England. Once he was removed from the throne, the Finches

moved to Eastwell where Anne began publishing poetry under the name Ardelia until the time of

her death.

Finch’s poetry, which has been celebrated across cultures, allows for readers to see

between the lines of the assumed and the author’s truth. “The Introduction” encompasses these

conflicting actions in a quiet manner that quickly developed into a critique of her own society.

Acting as an opening to a book, this piece critiques the position that Finch as a published writer

has to face. Though she is respected, she still believes she will be criticized for what she writes

mainly on the basis of her gender. Her rich commentary concerning the expectations of fellow

writers and critics allows her to alternate between “would-be wits and criticism in general to

justify her authorship as a woman” (Gavin 633). In this manner, she provides her audience with

insight concerning her personal experiences, her assumptions about her critics and vice versa.

With engaging language and pointed fingers, she questions both herself and her audience within

the first line of her poem saying “Did I, my lines intend for public view,” as a means of

immediately addressing the backlash she is receiving (“The Introduction” ll.1). Right away, she

implies to her audience that her writing – though successful – may not have been meant for

others to read. In this case, her writing was meant to be kept privately as a means for self-

expression. In fact, “The Introduction” was never meant to be published. Finch’s manuscripts,

found years after her death, contained poems that were published without her consent. Her lines

that she specifically kept away from public eyes were published in a manner that mocks her

poem’s main point. Her publications at that point were already respected and successful but her

fear of having to meet expectations of male critics worried her. For this reason, Finch did not

personally publish every piece she wrote. Though “The Introduction” is a celebrated poem for its

beautiful language and strong imagery, those who published her poem without her consent put

her reputation on the line in a way she tried to avoid.

Because of Finch’s assumption concerning the necessity to publish, she must endure the

“censures” that “their faults pursue” (ll. 2). She, at this point, believes that criticism and negative

feedback from her peers will soon come as she removes herself from the expected values of

masculine writing and applies a feminine aesthetic to poetry. Seemingly, she “imagines this

hypercritical readership as an always-present specter of male disapproval” that will come into

play through publishing (Gavin 633). As she defies the submissive manner that men want, she

focuses on the dominant, derogatory nature of male critics within the literary realm. It is as

though she is caught in an internal conflict between her dissatisfaction of not publishing poetry

and the backlash she thinks she will encounter because she is writing. The uncomfortable in-

between allows Finch to develop her thoughts and consider both sides. Finch faces potential

criticism from readers because of how her words “do affect” men who “cry they’re insipid,

empty and uncorrect” (ll. 3-4). Her realization as to what other voices will say about personal

experiences causes her to expect the worst. While Finch wants to share these intimate details, the

agency of her critics, to her, outweighs the rich rewards of publishing. By taking her expectations

and experience, though, she tackles her obstacle by combining both personal and outside

assumptions into her writing.

Finch focuses on a crucial aspect of masculine poetic virtue - wit. Because of the male-

emphasized “self-management of literary reputation” seen through witty productions of rhyme or

reasoning, she shifts her view onto the expectations and assumptions of male critics (Young).

Her critique of these outside voices who demand the use of masculine wit in writing cannot

approach Finch’s writing with that of a feminine eye - putting them at a disadvantage for

understanding the issues concerning women in writing. Because of the “dull, and untaught” men

who seek only to satisfy their own beliefs concerning writing, they lose out on the true value of

what is being published (Finch ll.5). The criticism of men, then, who use “wit by only finding

fault” ignores Finch’s struggles because they do not match their own (ll.6). Respecting her own

identity and what she assumes others will believe about her through her writing, her “reluctance

to insert a too-authoritative woman's voice in a public sphere dominated by men” preserves her

reputation without creating problems with her critics. (Gavin 634) Her position that “True judges

might condemn their want of wit/And all might say, they’re by a woman writ” can be claimed

through her experience - and that of other women - to be true (Finch ll.7-8). While she analyzes

the society in which she lives, she treads this path lightly. In this manner, Finch quietly evaluates

what women are allowed to produce. She does not try to overthrow successful male writers but

merely points out the imbalance of opportunity and acceptance for women. Seemingly, the male

expectation for women to produce bad writing is accepted as legitimate criticism. Through her

questioning of these assumptions, her writing shows Finch as a strong writer who uses wit in

order to condemn its use in criticism.

Because of women who “attempt the pen,” men are having to shift their comfortable

positions within literary society because of the new wave of women writers (Finch ll.9). Seeing

as her writing is making others uncomfortable as it pushes the limits as to what is acceptable in

the masculine world of publishing, Finch believes that she is seen as “an intruder on the rights of

men” whose “fault can by not virtue be redeemed” (ll.10-12). She has stepped into an arena of

men whose comments are bound to bite at her words and actions. The experiences of publishing

and receiving negative comments has left her feeling stuck in this identity that she expects will

be assumed of her every time she produces writing. In doing this, Finch is able to address the

assumptions about what she can achieve as she notes that “good breeding, fashion, dancing,

dressing, play” are the goals that men set aside for women to desire (ll.14). Her identity as a

woman directly connects to her skillset as a writer. Her position as a woman will not allow her to

be as successful as she would be if she were male. For men, Finch implies, success is easy as the

literary society praises their writing while women are criticized solely for their gender. For her,

this is an expected outcome of her publishing that proves to be a reality.

Finch includes religious imagery in “The Introduction” to connect features of male-

written literature. Instead of sticking to imagery that the audience would assume from her, she

dives into deep images that give her and other women agency as writers. She describes a female

leader – possibly herself – who “leads fainting Israel on” during a harsh war (Finch ll.45). While

the parallelism between Finch and this leader is strong – as two women are pushing back against

some form of enemy force – she expresses these clear thoughts concerning the characteristics of

this leader. This “devout, majestic” fighter who “exalts her wit” does not need to be limited in a

way that is presumed to exist within her society (Finch ll. 47-48). Likewise, she sends the same

message to critics. Her influence and ambition as a writer, while lacking the presumptive

qualities of male writing, expresses information that is crucial for women writers. These female

writers who Finch cautions should not “be despised, aiming to be admired” as she believes, they

will face the same backlash as her (ll. 60). As she critiques this complex gender structure within

the literary realm, she is not only the one who gives advice to her successors but also addresses

the problems that women face by calling out to male critics. By doing this, Finch gives herself

agency as a knowledgeable poet who can assume the outcome for female writers who would

follow.

Though her work was published prior to Finch, Katherine Philips deals with assumptions

from her critics as well. As a fairly well-known writer because of her class, Philips (like Finch) is

prodded by sexist comments from critics to meet certain expectations. Born into a middle-class

family, she penned well over 100 poems in her lifetime that circulated throughout England in the

1650s and 1660s. Her work centered on the value of female friendship which can be seen in

letters to her closest friends. Though it has been argued that the topic of female friendship helped

to conceal homoerotic feelings with her acquaintances, she remained married to her husband,

royalist support James Philips, until her death in 1661. Her poems were celebrated by major

authors like John Milton who praised Philips for her delicate writing style and her intricate

wordplay. Though her works are not always included in anthologies, Philips’s work showed

seventeenth-century social expectations and the problems created by these stereotypes through a

feminine perspective that had not been openly considered before.

Her “A Married State” separates beliefs concerning the standards of marriage for women

and the actuality of marital woes. As a woman whose arranged marriage occurred when she was

only sixteen, Philips has vast knowledge concerning the assumptions that she should have a

blissful married life and the true issues that can come by becoming a wife outside of one’s choice

to do so. Feeling unsatisfied as her “juvenilia shows that she preferred a Royalist husband,” it

was clear that her chosen-for-her-husband “…James Philips was not this man…” as he served

the Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell (Limbert 29). Though they had a solid partnership with a

lasting marriage, Katherine and John Philips clearly were not part of a fairy-tale like love story

that she had expected she would receive. As her goal was to remain a woman who lived to

“avoid any accusations of immodesty,” her position as a writer backfired as she spoke against the

assumptions of women in marriage (Tubb). Though one would expect that her marriage to John

would give her financial and social support, Philips’s marriage and the way that a married state is

perceived in society defies presumptions concerning how supported a woman feels within a

heterosexual marriage.

Philips directly addresses assumptions about women’s perspectives of marriage in her

first line as she shares that “a married state affords but little ease” as even “the best of husbands

are so hard to please’ (ll. 1-2). As women have had to submit to the masculine efforts to control

different faculties of life like politics and literature, it is crucial that she has the agency to open

the conversations for women to express their truth under “the conventions of poetry where a

woman could situate herself to speak” (Mermin 335.) While the male-centered society may

position women to believe marriage is the greatest joy one could experience, Philips challenges

the conventional expectations of marriage by showing hardships that she has faced. As Dorothy

Mermin shows in her article about female poets facing criticism concerning gender-specific

situations, Philips is able to “tune male convention to female experience and a female voice” that

allows for vulnerability and honesty concerning her own personal experiences (343). Though this

is unconventional for women, she has to explain that a marriage is “always happy as it’s

innocent” that highlights that ignorance within a marriage can create a blissful life for wives

(Philips ll.6). This important distinction between expectation and reality proves important for

both Finch and Philips as the outside critics can perceive some form of a relationship but the

pure truth as to what occurs within a woman’s mind or marriage. Both poets provide this urging

voice to educate their audience to see beyond the assumptions. In doing this, Finch and Philips

remove a purified filter that deals with stereotypical feelings about publishing opportunities and

marriage for women.

Though marriage is what is expected to be the greatest accomplishment for societal gain

that a woman can achieve, Philips spins this in a way that supports the refusal of marriage.

Seeing that she expresses the happiness and calmness that a virgin life offers alters the male

belief as to what marriage should be perceived as. Her experience shows that she is able to

“overcome some of society's restrictions against women on a personal level” yet she is put into a

compromising position as a writer for the criticism that she will receive for speaking out against

marriage (Limbert 31). She knows that the standards for marriage are different between men and

women and the way that she writes about marriage deters the male conjecture that marriage is

blissful and sweet for women. The virgin life does not have to deal with childbearing pains or

griping husbands. As a wife, Philips implies that she is filled with cares and worries that “attend

on matrimony and a husband too” (ll.12). She is not satisfied in this role as outside critics may

believe. In Claudia Limbert’s scholarly analysis of Philips’s agency as a writer, we see her as she

pushes to redefine the women’s roles of wife and writer by “attempting to control the things that

most threaten to constrain her” (28). While social positions and career opportunities may be

limited due to male influence, she recognizes the ability for women to move beyond their limits

by speaking out.

Though Philips’s “A Married State” is short, she breaks down societal standards and

shows the heightened expectations that men have set aside for women. In addressing the

problems of marriage, her personal experiences set aside the flowery presumptions of a wife’s

life to give an alternative, more accurate perspective to her readers. In doing so, her identity as

both an author and a wife became the “prime object of critical regard” (Mermin 338). The weight

between private writings and their exposure opened up vulnerable areas for attack for her critics,

thus combatting the marital expectations that “A Married State” offer as an alternative, more

accurate view on women’s issues.

Centuries after the publications of “The Introduction” and “A Married State” came \Katy

Perry. The thirteen-time Grammy nominated singer has sold 6.5 million physical and 70 million

digital albums within the past decade. As one of Billboard’s top ten artists of the 2010s, her

albums still rocket to the top of the charts as her September 2020 release Smile debuted at No. 5

on charts worldwide. However, her success has not come without criticism. After the release of

her fourth album, Witness, she seemed to be spiraling into a has-been wonderland filled with

songwriters with several big hits but a lacking presence in an ever-changing musical world.

Though Witness’s sound was “more consistent and tasteful here than it has ever been,” the

album’s lack of focus and unclear wordplay limited it to a 4.8 rating (Mapes). The album’s harsh

criticism even had personal effects on Perry, as she had “put so much validity in the reaction of

the public, and the public didn’t react in the way I had expected to … which broke my heart,”

causing her to spiral into depression (Vivinetto). What she had assumed to be the closing of a

door turned into opportunities for her to address underlying emotional issues that increased her

mental health issues.

Though Witness may have fallen in popularity compared to One of the Boys and Teenage

Dream, Perry’s lyrics – clouded in songs like “Miss You More” – critique states of living in

current society. The first single off Witness, “Chained to the Rhythm,” sees beyond the veil of

accepted actions in American society to show how individuality is frowned upon. She does this

in a way that allows her to critique not only herself but also the world in which she lives. Perry

deconstructs gender and marital norms by showing how the once rigid structures of nuclear

families and heterosexuality are now questioned. What chains her listeners, she implies, is

unwavering conformity. Not only does “Chained to the Rhythm” have probing lyrics, but the

images that are produced in her music video reflect critical assumptions that she denounces in

her lyrics.

Photo Credit: The Sights and Sounds Music Magazine

Perry’s music video pairs pastel-colored images to showcase deep, dark meanings

concerning the assumed acceptable actions of twenty-first century society. The video opens with

the camera panning across a sleek and modern spectacle – an amusement park called Oblivia. As

she sees no need to be subtle, her audience is introduced to a world in which “infinite distractions

of modern society” can be critiqued and proven as a false reality (Savage). Her characters – all

dressed in rich pastels – don clothes representative of the 1950s era of optimism. As she and her

peers gaze in awe at the captivating visuals of Oblivia, the other park attendees move in unison

with cameras held up to their faces while striking similar poses. In this manner, her audience is

meant to believe these ladies in pastel are representative of the lack of individuality that now

consumes modern society. These ladies, instead of owning up to what makes them different,

feels the need to shift into a shared identity where criticism is less prevalent. As spectators, we

are to expect that these actions are normal – just like the actors do - as the video powers on. As

the conforming individuals bop towards the Great American Dream ride – a ride that throws

male and female counterparts into a home - Perry pricks her finger on a thorn of a vibrant red

rose – indicating that the assumptions that she has made at first-glance of Oblivia are false. This

white-picket fence world shows this bright assumption concerning the wonders of American

society while she breaks this mold. Because she pricks her finger on the rose, she is taken away

from the idealistic society that modern America is assumed to have and is brought to a painful

realization. While Perry cautiously steps away from the rose, we receive the first indication that

she is living in a world that will soon show that there is “no more time for avoidance and

escapism” as the beliefs of optimism and greatness are countered with the pains of day-to-day

life (Thorp and Bullock). This coming to consciousness that Perry has completely removed her

from the innocent lies she once believed.

The expectation of conforming to the norm concerning American expectations about

relationships is notable as well. Perry shows a rollercoaster with pink and blue hearts placed

beside one another – implying that heterosexuality is the only acceptable way of approaching a

relationship in Oblivia. There is something to be said concerning how every person is

“comfortable with unquestioning conformity” – everyone is happy and cheerful to bounce along

to a world where the presumed boundaries of one’s existence are limited to decisions made for

them (Savage). She and her peers have no opportunity to approach a same-sex relationship as

Oblivia’s society has silently forced heterosexual relationships onto the park’s attendees. Seeing

as Perry’s breakout hit “I Kissed A Girl” expressed her defiance against morality that elevates

heterosexuality Perry has criticized these boundaries before. Her criticism turns away from

personal conformity in which she had to take on a heterosexual identity – a time in which she

“prayed the gay away at my Jesus camps” – showing individual expression as the true value to

achieve (“Katy Perry Opens Up”). Perry’s upbringing forced her to assume that “homosexuality

was synonymous with the word ‘abomination’” – chaining to the standards that had been

established by her parents. Through her individual opportunities to explore her sexuality, Perry is

able to critique this restriction that affected her so much. Though the park attendees march in

unison – controlled by the society that forces best practices onto them – she is not oblivious to

the problems in Oblivia.

Another special feature of Perry’s Oblivia is “The Nuclear Family'' cinema show as one

of the main attractions. As her peers begin to put on their 3D glasses to submerge themselves in a

film showing the expectations of what a family “should” be, she finds herself stumbling to put on

her glasses and fit in. In this moment, she acts in a way that would allow her to fit into the mold

of her peers by acting like everyone else. While others bop their heads along to the beat of

“Chained to the Rhythm,” she glances around and notices that she is not like the other people

within Oblivia. Perry sees the puzzle pieces coming together of how assumptions concerning the

best way to live take away the ability to innovate. Her audience, through her critical lens, sees

Oblivia in its purest form; it is a cruel conformist society that takes away individuality by

removing individual choice. By eliminating the “system's shock absorbers [that] have kept us too

comfortable for too long” in American society, Perry breaks down the expectations as to what is

necessary to be deemed normal. Because of the criticism about her own “far removed… concept

of the traditional family” concerning her extremely evangelical upbringing, she pushes against

what is assumed to be acceptable and expresses, in her own right, that conforming to societal or

religious expectations does not guarantee a prosperous life (Das). Individuality, claims an

unchained Perry, is what gives her agency.

The lyrics of “Chained to the Rhythm” also help Katy Perry’s audience to see the validity

of her criticism. Perry first questions her audience by asking “Are we crazy living our lives

through a lens?” (“Chained to the Rhythm”) This lens – of conforming to assumed correct values

of American society – are evident in the images of Oblivia. This narrow view of the world is

critiqued by focusing on a person’s becoming of a mere decoration in “bubble” society – that she

refers to as an “ornament” – rather than being an individual with personal means as the driving

force of one’s choices. In what one would expect to be ideal, the “utopia” that Perry experiences

is filled with “happily numb” and empty persons. In this manner, she breaks the accepted “drift

of modern mass-thought” to prompt engagement from her listeners (Thorp and Bullock). Though

she breaks the conjectures of greatness dealing with an empty society, Perry still urges her

listeners to enjoy the broken society by having them put on “rose-colored glasses…and party on”

(“Chained to the Rhythm”). Though she sees these problems, she is still willing to ignore the

issues to enjoy what she believes will be a good time.

The chorus of “Chained to the Rhythm” features a lighthearted beat that contrasts the

dark lyrics that are used to examine a society deeply engrossed in creating conformity. She

assesses her audience by claiming that they are “stumbling around like wasted zombies''

(“Chained to the Rhythm”). She does this to show those who look beyond the crooked views of

Oblivia are still conformist fans who remain “ineffective but also mindless…” as they listen to

her song, because they still do “not think for themselves” (Stumme). Perry’s focus on how

trapped society is within these expectations concerning how one should be gives her the chance

to manipulate her stance. She is able to switch between being a part of this empty society and

being an outsider who sees the importance of developing one’s own views. Against the

underlying tones of her conforming to both heterosexual and familial standards, she retaliates.

This retaliation is not in an evil way but in a way that shows knowledge and understanding

concerning the complexity of American issues. By being able to see both sides, Perry gives her

audience the option to either conform or to develop their own opinions and pushback against the

society that wants them to conform.

The issues that Perry faces concerning homosexuality and non-nuclear families in part

stem from viewpoints that were prevalent during the days of Finch and Philips. Finch’s position

as a female writer complicate her ability to speak out – something that Perry has continuously

faced during her career concerning her sexuality. Philips’s ability to act as both a wife and a

writer is questioned as others try to limit her capabilities based on her gender. The images that

Perry incorporates of the unhappy family dynamics in her music video criticize this perspective.

Though each face assumptions, they all have a different way of approaching their critics in a way

that pushes back against the expectations of others. Finch’s ability to publish without being

critiqued due to gender is near nonexistent. She is unable to truly say what she feels without her

readers becoming sympathetic to her cause. In showing the problems women face, she critiques

the men who criticize her, questioning them with complex ideas as they do her. Philips’s

experience, similar to that of Finch, shows the limitations of women writers as well as she has to

struggle through marriage that brings more worry than satisfaction upon her. She is constantly

juggling the views of women as wives and how the identity between woman and wife fail to be

split. In critiquing the society that has forced her to balance different gender roles, she expresses

that her position gives her more agency to write about women’s affairs than men’s beliefs can.

Somehow, Perry manages to balance these within “Chained to the Rhythm.” She directly

critiques a society ruled by men - the established patriarchy that deals with heavily religious and

heterosexual norms within American life that criticizes her individuality. All three women, given

their experience, have the agency to push back against the critics. Finch, Philips, and Perry all

question how outsiders can force values of goodness onto women when those who push these

values are not utilizing them. The empty ignorance of these critics lacks the feminine faculty

needed to fully comprehend the struggles of women. These women live in a world where their

critics – who assume what is best for them and enforce conformity – experience Oblivia-esque

numbness.

Reputation

Women who create always have to worry about their reputation. While one’s standing

seemingly plays a role for all the media producers that I have before mentioned, the outstanding

view of Queen Elizabeth I as a rhetor allows her to be a forerunner when discussing reputation.

As the most famous monarch in European history, she accomplished many progressive goals

during her forty-four year reign such as her installation of English Protestantism, her

involvement in England’s victory over the Spanish Armada, and her creation of “an environment

where the arts flourished” during the Renaissance period (“Queen Elizabeth I – Siblings”).

Another progressive move made by Queen Elizabeth I was her choice to remain a virgin queen

who, instead of devoting herself to a marriage and children, stood in strict devotion to her

country. Though her reasons for skipping domestic life for the throne are not clear, she addressed

her autonomous choices in Parliament through statements like “better beggar woman and single

than Queen and married” or “I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the

kingdom of England” (Sharnette). Though she was loyal to her country through acts of servitude,

she spent time in leisure where she practiced the lute and watched plays. She expressed her

femininity through makeup and jewelry as seen in her many portraits. By combining feminine

fashion and leisurely activities with masculine leadership skills, her reputation is one of

ambiguity and fluidity. With certainty, one can claim that her reign was one of stability and

consistency as she conducted plans for England’s financial and political growth. However, her

statements concerning her actions have moments in which her audience must read between the

lines in order to truly understand this quick-witted royal. Queen Elizabeth I’s complex actions

and speeches helped to form a character that refutes criticism even today.

Queen Elizabeth I’s reputation for demonstrating both masculine and feminine traits is

notable in her “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury” – a speech given prior to England’s show

stopping defense against Spanish fleets in 1588. England’s strongarm fight against the Spanish

boosted the prestige of both the British army and her role as monarch. As “she intended to rule in

more than name only,” it was crucial that her speech at Tilbury showed her dedication to the war

and, because of her devotion to England, that “she would not subordinate her judgment to that of

any one individual or faction” (Morrill). Being entrusted with a royal title, Queen Elizabeth I’s

clean position was crucial if she wanted to be respected by men in political office. If she doted

on an individual or faction, she shows bias. In showing bias, her critics would be able to analyze

and evaluate her actions in a destructive way. She took her role as the monarch seriously as the

leading lady in a patriarchal world. Her marriage to England instead of a man showed a reputable

stance of authority that she could not afford to lose. Even after a critical pamphlet about her

denial of a marriage proposal was released, both the author and publisher had their right hands

removed in order for the queen to show her authority. Only she could write her own narrative

and those who critiqued her staunch commitment to her title were made examples. While it may

seem cruel for her to have caused such harm onto these men, the criticism that she received

because of her gender reduced respect towards her. Instead of being lessened to “just a woman,”

she uses her powerful position to show who has control. As these men act mercilessly unto her,

she did the same unto them. Queen Elizabeth I was focused solely on her state of affairs as

England’s sole monarch and her reputation concerning her achievements of English society

remain today.

In the opening of “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury,” Queen Elizabeth I establishes a fond

connection to her audience by addressing them as her “loving people” who she does not “desire

to live to distrust” (762). Because she knows her audience is aware of her accomplishments

concerning English success, she commits to establishing a kind, understanding tone. The queen

here also establishes a sense of trust – a reputable quality that is necessary for her to support her

people. As the monarch of the nation, she must both nurture and nudge her people. By

committing herself to the role as monarch and leading them into winning battles, she has

nurtured a kind of reliability into the minds of her soldiers that would normally come from a

man. Judith Butler, who has produced some of the most influential writings on gender, discusses

the friction between gender-specific writing. Because feminine rhetoric is “differentiated from

the masculine…and recognizable in its difference”, her mixing of masculinity and femininity

creates conflict in how she is viewed (Butler 7). This strategy of showing concern for her

audience before giving the troops a boost before battle is approached in a way that makes her

androgynous. In doing this, she is able to hold power without being criticized for simply being a

woman. Before Queen Elizabeth I can move into strong, passionate statements like “let tyrants

fear” she must allow there to be balance (762). By having this fluid movement in between

masculine and feminine rhetoric incorporated into her speech, the queen prevents her critics from

calling her too much of one quality and not enough of the other.

In maintaining her reputation by floating between gendered standards of speaking, Queen

Elizabeth I continues by implementing contrasting gender-based phrases. When she mentions the

“chiefest strength” that she holds as the sole leader of England that is placed within the “loyal

hearts and good-will” of her soldiers, she connects images of strength and of the intrinsic self in

a way that incorporates male and female values. By showing strength, a distinctly masculine

trait, she is able to show the power that she holds as a monarch. She needed the trust and respect

of her soldiers if she were to inspire them to win the victory. She steps away from the dainty idea

of femininity to show her power as a leader. This is seen especially so in Queen Elizabeth I’s

most famous line: “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; But I have the heart and

stomach of a king, And of a king of England too” (763). Though she is a strong leader, being a

woman makes her seem less capable of succeeding in war. To use her power, she has to navigate

two distinctly different expectations for men and women. By implementing masculine imagery,

Queen Elizabeth I has the opportunity to give herself credit and capability as the sole monarch.

In challenging how women were seen in this era as being lesser, Queen Elizabeth I allows both

genders to work as how she is perceived by her audience. Because those in the sixteenth century

critiqued as not being fit to rule due to her being a woman, she needed to prove them wrong as a

formidable leader needed to leave prints of masculine features whenever she spoke. By

denouncing herself as a woman who is “weak and feeble,” it is almost that she agrees with these

comments concerning her ability to lead (“Speech to the Troops at Tilbury” 763). It seemed

almost necessary to distance herself from the physical attributes of femininity and play off the

masculine power that she holds. Her ability to be ruthless and cunning with the “heart and

stomach of a king” refutes how her external self is seen (763). This distinct line between the

masculine leadership skills that she has internalized in relation to her outer feminine dress proves

her reputation is one that goes “above and beyond the social and biological mandates that her age

attached to womanhood” (Mueller 1). In defying these intensely demanding standards, her

leadership goes unmatched.

Queen Elizabeth I offers to not only serve her audience through words, but also through

actions. Seeing as women were unable to fight in war, the queen’s statement that she “will take

up arms, I myself will be your general…” concentrates heavily on the opportunity for her power

as Queen to guide her as a soldier (763). Though she cannot physically fight, her words bring

honor to those fighting beneath her. By standing now in two roles that are reserved for men, the

queen’s duty as a monarch and commander remove constrictive gender roles which allow her to

position herself as a leader more freely. In this way, she has the agency to act in ways that go

beyond the role of women. In this manner, though, her soldiers and anyone else below her must

listen. This turning away from being male or female solely stresses her position as a monarch,

which ultimately leads to the true reputation that she argues for herself - that “her gender… is

irrelevant” (Mueller 4). Although she is a woman, her capability to lead is not dependent on this.

She is powerful in her own regard and being a woman does not aid nor disempower this.

However, she must alter her words in order to show that her understanding of a woman’s place in

the sixteenth century is different from the position she holds. Socially, she must act diligently to

uphold royal standards by commanding and expressing her position as a leader. Elizabeth’s

gender allowed her esteem to conflict with defined, motherly standards of women that acted as

means for criticism. Yet these comments concerning her unmarried state laid a foundation for her

to rule. Defying criticism that offered her identity to be one of “a conscious propagandist” who

manipulated her audience gave her the faculty and motivation to rule (Davye 14). In setting aside

the illusion of women’s capabilities, Queen Elizabeth I carved out her own reputation in history

to be one of androgyny and defiance.

While the mere idea of comparing Queen Elizabeth I with Taylor Swift seems outlandish,

these women face similar circumstances in how they approach gender more fluidly by separating

themselves from established standards of their respective societies. In order to keep a clean

reputation, these women are put in positions where they must break away from conventional

ideas of gender to be successful. With a net worth of $360 million dollars, 10 Grammys, and 200

million records sold worldwide, Taylor Swift’s esteem as a stadium-selling performer is widely

known. Since she was sixteen, she has been producing music that has skyrocketed to the top of

the charts. Starting off in country music, Swift released “Tim McGraw” – a slow, sad ballad that

captured attention from those outside of the country music genre. As a teen country starlet, she

became heavily criticized by fans and critics alike by creating music that became staples on pop

radio stations. Though she made a major career switch, she has never failed to produce

innovative and fun music that is streamed by audiences worldwide. Swift bloomed in the pop

sphere where she released chart-dominating songs like “Shake It Off” – a song that directly

addresses her position as a woman in the public eye. Her songs address what is being said about

her – things that define her reputation – but she combats these lies by telling her audience the

truth. Her catchy lyrics address her critics who say she “stays out too late” or “goes on too many

dates” (“Shake It Off”). She takes what is being said about her and complicates the narrative that

others are writing about her by removing gendered statements about herself. Swift merely shakes

off these comments because “the players gonna play, play, play, play, play” and the “haters

gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate” (“Shake It Off”). Swift, instead of backfiring with words of

criticism, shows that “she's simply having more fun than her faceless detractors” (Lipshutz). Her

talent gives her power.

However, the criticism goes further than just analyzing Swift in the public sphere. In

2017, songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler sued her for copying lyrics from “Playas Gon’

Play” – a song written in 2001 for the girl-group 3LW. Banking on the defamation of her

squeaky-clean esteem, Hall’s lawsuit – which was overturned in 2018 for reasons concerning the

legitimacy of the claims – proved to be one that was “not a crusade for all creatives” but “a

crusade for Mr. Hall’s bank account” (Richards). By trying to tarnish Swift’s reputation through

a suit that questions her credibility as a writer, Hall and Butler attempt to alter the way she is

perceived in the public eye failed as Swift’s narratives proved reliable. Because she is a powerful

woman, the attempt to disempower her by questioning her creativity shows the blatant misogyny

that she faces. Hall and Butler tried to manipulate Swift because she is a successful woman but

failed due to their lack of professional integrity and her respect within the music industry as a

creative force. Her success is not defined by her gender; neither is her demise.

Swift also faced scandals related to her gender and reputations in a years-long dispute

with rapper Kanye West, who claims he “made that bitch famous” (“Famous”). Not only did

West entertain the idea that he and Swift may enter into a romantic relationship in “Famous” but

he undermines her capabilities as an artist simply because she is a woman. He tries to overpower

her by twisting her words and manipulating how other people view her. As he acts without

consulting her, she released her most defiant album, reputation, in response as a means of

expressing her truth – that she does not care about those who discern her as an artist simply

because she is a talented woman. In response to West's deception of Swift and her talent, she

writes “I don’t like your little games, don’t like your tilted stage…I don’t like you” (“Look What

You Made Me Do”). Seeing as West had used Swift for multiple publicity stunts that ranged

from derailing her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards to placing a nude

replica of Swift’s body in bed with him in his “Famous” music video without her consent, Swift

had been take advantage of by West but failed to receive respect from critics. Because they “rain

on my parade,” she sees that her reputation is being broken and she hears “all the things you said

about me,” she realizes that her critics and those who work to deteriorate her image are “why we

can’t have nice things” (“This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”). Because her initial start in

the music industry was one of youthful innocence, her critics began to push her as someone who

victimizes herself for fame and power. Swift, through reputation, annihilates this critique. For

her, she truly is the victim of situations that are controlling her simply based on her gender. She

has consistently experienced sexist remarks and criticism throughout her career. By pulling away

from a years-old perception, she reestablishes her presence as a woman that can hold her own

against critics and shows that she is not limited in exercising her power because of her gender.

Taylor Swift is also well known for writing about her relationships in songs. Instead of

allowing her audience to believe the outside stories written about her, she gives her audience

proof as to what goes on. Because of her position as a female artist, her songs concerning failed

relationships ultimately lead her to be labeled as the victim. Even Swift, who in 2014 refuted

these claims, shared that male artists like Ed Sheeran or Bruno Mars “[are] all writing songs

about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life, and no one raises the red flag there”

(Dockterman). Though she discusses her relationships like male artists do, her place as a woman

creating unspoken dialogue with her male counterparts takes the dominant position away from

whomever she is dealing with. While critics claim this is narcissistic or that she spins a

“complicated web of victimhood and tired gossip,” she simply combats the notion that discussing

a relationship can only be through the voice of a man (Gannon). She has the privilege to respond

to her critics and speak out about her relationships; she does so in a way that allows her to

manipulate the narrative in a way that takes feminine rhetoric of storytelling in a masculine,

dominant way. Even though Swift’s name gets raked through societal mud – whether it be in

concern to a relationship or some kind of stirred-up drama – she always bounces back and her

reputation of being coy and honest with her audience allows her to do so.

Though reputation showed Swift’s lack of concern for criticism, her experiences have

forced her into feeling as though she must comment on the toxic situation in which she is placed.

She directly attacks her critics in her song “The Man.” In considering her past actions, Swift

addresses the male-focused claims that separate her from being as successful as possible. Her

reputation, one of being boy-crazy and devoted to drama kind of woman, is painted differently

from those outside of her private sphere. Because of her critics, the world views her differently

than how others are viewed. In “The Man,” she dedicates herself to taking down the patriarchal

standards of how a successful woman’s character can be destroyed in the pop sphere. Her music

video for “The Man” portrays Swift dressed in male drag as a man named Tyler. Tyler’s

presence in this video shows the strict double-standard encountered by Taylor Swift. Not only

does Tyler dismissively show concern for others, but he also is enabled and celebrated for his

toxic actions. When he shouts his demands, he is applauded and immediately served. Tyler even

urinates on a wall with all of her albums' names on it and, as he steps away, “The Man” is left in

graffiti-styled glitter letters.

Photo Credits: Mashable

Tyler, acting as an example of those who will criticize the images that Swift produces in

this video, can ruin the accomplishments of those around him without question. While Swift’s

voice plays in the background, Tyler’s actions begin to align with other toxic men in the media.

By implementing specific movements used in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, Swift chose “to

align her macho, overconfident male persona with a movie whose main character…is corrupt”

(Shepherd and Chiu). Though he is dressed well, his actions – yelling at cohorts and throwing

objects around the office – set Tyler up within the early moments of the music video to be a

dynamically negative figure. Tyler, embodying another scene from The Wolf of Wall Street,

flaunts young models on a yacht while yelling at a butler. Champagne starts to fly as the women

celebrate him. Swift, here, shows this clear double standard as “Tyler can flirt and play with

dozens of women without causing a stir, but she has long been publicly mocked for her long list

of ex-boyfriends” (Shepherd and Chiu). While Tyler’s actions are problematic, they are still

accepted and not critiqued. The same cannot be said about Swift whose reputation lays in the

hands of the public. Her critics are able to mold whatever version of her they want and sell it -

even when she is innocent. As she portrays a man, she is able to show the judgement that women

face that men are excused from. Throughout this video, she implies that as a woman she would

not be celebrated if the roles were reversed. The images in “The Man’s” music video set up the

blatant sexism that Swift experiences on a daily basis by her critics.

The lyrics of “The Man” allow Swift to express the demanding pressure that she feels to

upkeep her image while critiquing how a man in her position can get away with being rude and

crude. In addressing her constantly speculated relationships, she says that “they’d say I played

the field before I found someone to commit to” rather than wondering “Why Taylor Swift Sucks

at Relationships” (“The Man;” Alexis). This distinct line between what is acceptable for a man

versus what is acceptable for a woman keeps her from conquering these critics. She shares that

she does not know what it is like to have her narrative believed as everyone around her gets to

imprint their own perceptions on her narrative. Because of this, she has to “run as fast as I can”

as she questions “if I’d get there quicker if I was a man.” Whether she is running towards higher

earnings, more awards, or general respect from the public, the general consensus is the same -

Swift’s career moves would not be questioned if she were of the opposite sex. Because of the

differences in Swift’s wants and what others expect of her, “The Man” places her defense of her

gender as being the driving force behind her criticism. Gender is her main obstacle as the actions

she performs or how she describes the men she dates, defines how clean of a reputation that

Swift can keep. If this social structure were not a factor, she inherently would be more successful

and would not have to deal with these staunch critiques. If Swift were a man, then she’d be “the

man” based on her success and her ability to win over the public. By applying a more gender-

fluid approach, she can question her critics’ double standard. She recognizes and stresses to her

audience that as a woman, her critics “question how much of this I deserve” while as a man

she’d be celebrated for “putting in the work.” Though she should be celebrated for her success,

Swift believes she will get no opportunity to feel accomplished as a woman because of the

impending side effects her actions will soon produce.

In her bridge, Swift furthers the conversation more asking “What’s it like to brag about

drinking and dollars…” as she is not given the authority to do this based solely on her gender

(“The Man”). Swift, through experience, shares “if I was out flashing my dollars, I’d be a bitch

not a baller” – furthering her ability to critique the people who critique her (“The Man”). Seeing

the expectations for women concerning her position shows why it is okay for her to be upset. Not

only has the media attacked her for her relationships and her capability to produce quality work

as an artist, but her ability to act in a way that pleases herself – not the public – are unknown.

“The Man” shows that the “negativity surrounding her career would not factor into her reputation

and would, perhaps, enhance her public perception” if these expectations were gone (Idika).

While flaws and failures are a part of human nature, she is constantly under a microscope that

awaits her plunder. When she fails, she is immediately criticized or joked about. Instead of

allowing her to write her own narrative, outside, public spectators take the liberty of writing

Swift’s experience for her and they critique her along the way. While she may be tired of running

away from her critics, her status in the public pop universe is bound to put her in this position

again. She expects for her reputation to be questioned and she is ready to defend herself.

With their reputations on the line, Queen Elizabeth I and Taylor Swift have to handle

their public personas delicately. The mere idea of pairing these women together is undoubtedly

strange as they deal with opposite sides of history, but the way both of these women use gender

in order to show their power is incredible. For Queen Elizabeth I, her innate androgyny and

application of masculine rhetoric to her speeches allow her to dutifully preside over the English

monarchy. For Taylor Swift, she must take on the role of a man in order to be taken seriously.

Both women, however, face criticism simply based on their gender. They recognize their

position as women and offer an alternative, more gender fluid perspective in order to show off

their power. The queen exhibits power through her leadership skills that are still praised. While

she is critiqued for being a woman, she takes on a traditionally male role and leads undoubtedly

well. Swift, who is one of the highest paid musicians, sees her gender as a way to critique what

has been said to her as a woman and turn the tables as she offers a look into reality in “The

Man.” Though both of these women have to deal with criticism, their positions of feminine

solidarity remain unhinged. Both are able to combat the criticism by explaining their actions and

showing the control that is given to them in their respective positions. Queen Elizabeth I, for

example, directly makes examples of those who critique her while Taylor Swift produces major

money-making singles that are bound to send her into the top of the charts. Both women use their

authority to stray away from gender norms to ground their arguments and, in doing so, show

their power.

Conclusion: A Room of Their Own

While the successes of female characters, authors, and performers can be questioned by

society, it is not their ability to produce quality work that is being criticized. It is not by

“obstacle” or “foreign matter unconsumed” that women are analyzed (Woolf 63). It is bias,

constructed solely on the basis of gender, that these creative revolutionaries are questioned in

their different faculties. Though centuries pass in between these publications, the implications of

female action remain the same in the public light. In the area of experience, both Chaucer’s

Alison and Ariana Grande have relationships that exhaust women’s opportunity to be seen as

equal. Though these women may not be formally educated in concerns to the relationships they

form, their authority through personal experience gives them the agency needed in order to speak

upon the subject. Both of these women talk back to their critics and defy what is expected of

them. They refuse to be silenced as they are independent and knowledgeable in their own merit.

Through the critique of Jonathon Swift’s “The Lady's Dressing Room,” Lady Mary Montagu

produces an unexpected but necessary portrayal of Swift as she claims his incompetence towards

the struggle of women came from a lack of experience. Swift’s criticism over the imperfections

of women’s bodies, as well as the push back by Montagu, align with the experiences of Billie

Eilish and her critics. By privatizing her body, Eilish removes narratives similar to that of Swift

from her radar. She reclaims her body from the public in a manner that parallels the literary

stylings of Montagu. Though it may seem like a “pure waste of time to consult all those

gentlemen who specialize in woman and her effect on whatever it may be,” these male writers

who characterize women in satirical or politically-defiant ways directly criticize either the

manner of the woman perceived in society seen in Chaucer’s work or the failures of women

attempting to socially conform represented by Jonathon Swift’s poetry (Woolf 36). Even through

clouded experience, the implications of male criticism and the need for defiance is clear.

Concerning the area of performance, the parallel between Margery Kempe and Lady

Gaga highlight the separation of identity through public and private actions. What drives both

women is their audience – the more they can perform, the better off they will be. Though both

these women are heavily doubted as serious beings, their ability to look beyond the criticism they

receive to remain devoted to their cause is impeccable. Kempe, seen as manic, is disregarded by

a society that merely sees her as an attention-seeking, over-devoted Catholic while Gaga is seen

as being too innovative by gender-bending her identities. Both of these women, however, are

seen as incapable of reaching legitimate status because of how they express themselves. By

pushing back against these critical thoughts, these women are able to perform in a manner that

satisfies them. It is not for the male viewer that they perform but for the self. This defiance of

conformity also occurs in the realm of assumption as well. Because of how Finch, Philips, and

Perry present themselves to their audience, they are expected to fit inside a defined bubble. The

positions in which these women thrive are far from what is presumed, thus complicating the

narrative that is spun for them. Within this web of idealism, Finch and Philips deal with specific

details of feminine identity that does not apply. As Finch and Philips address the truth in concern

to their personal experiences, the connection to Perry becomes clearer. Exposing the truth behind

societal constructs gives these women agency as they develop their own protocol for handling

personal situations. These three women show that their differences from the expectations of

womanhood make them successful.

Reputation also plays a role in the discussion of female criticism and the ability for

women to push back against these narratives. As seen in the case of Queen Elizabeth I and

Taylor Swift, the esteem of a woman is based on social constructs of leadership and capability

that are focused mainly on masculine ability. This imbalance of status automatically sets women

up to be seen as less capable than their male counterparts. Challenging these acceptable actions,

however, alters one’s reputation. Both women push back on stereotypes and expectations that

exist within their respective cultures by removing the barriers of gender and applying a more

fluid approach in their writings. Queen Elizabeth I, who leads men into battle and cuts off the

hand of those who aim to defy her, allows for masculine rhetoric to aid her authority.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift uses masculine images and refutes counterproductive alternatives to

her narrative’s framework. Both effectively silence those who attempt to ruin their reputations by

taking back their power and removing gender as a means of being critiqued.

Though both sexes face moments in life that are “arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle,”

the criticism received by these women complicate their expressions and narratives beyond reason

(Woolf 40). Even as these texts span over the course of several centuries, the success of women

publishing personal experiences and showcasing their talents through writing are influenced by

the backlash that they receive. Instead of truly seeing the meaning behind the written words, the

façade of feminine expectations in one’s society cloud what is meant to be perceived. However,

using personal means of defiance to push back against the criticism that these women receive,

each woman is given the agency to explain and alter her situation to showcase her own reality.

By contrasting the critical means of approaching women’s writing with true experience and

individual accounts, women are given the faculty to refute the claims made about them; they are

able to express and explain themselves as they please. Both women authors and songwriters,

though criticized, are no longer limited to the confines of a world designed by man – it is a

woman’s place to decide what a woman says.

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