NO BOYS ALLOWED!

A FEMINIST AND MARXIST ANALYSIS OF TAYLOR SWIFTS BAD BLOOD

ALLISON FIELDS RIDDLE

BAD BLOOD

ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcIy9NiNbmo

Director: Joseph Kahn

Premiered on May 17, 2015 at the
Billboard Music Awards
Held the 24-Hour Vevo Record of
20.1 million views
Video of the Year (MTV VMAS
2015)
Featuring Kendrick Lamar
Meaning: the betrayal of a close
friend

CAST
Lily Aldrige: Frostbyte

Serayah: Dilemma

Gigi Hadid: Slay-Z

Karlie Kloss: Knockout

Ellie Goulding: Destructa X

Jessica Alba: Domino

Martha Hunt: Homeslice

Mariska Hargitay: Justice

Hailee Stenfeld: The Trinity

Cara Delevinge: Mother Chucker

Zendaya: Cut-Throat

Hayley Williams: The Crimson Curse

Ellen Pompeo: Luna

Cindy Crawfod: Headmistress
Lena Dunham: Lucky Fiori
Selena Gomez: Arsyn

BACKGROUND
SYNOPSIS

Set in London

Catastrophe and Arsyn fight off a group of business

men for a briefcase

Arsyn betrays Catastrophe by stealing the briefcase

and kicking her out of the window

Catastrophe is nursed back to life and her retaliation

training begins

After training is complete, the #girlsquad takes their

revenge on Arsyn

BACKGROUND
Rolling Stone Interview
Inspired by a fellow singer but wouldnt say who
Allegedly inspired by the feud with Katy Perry

My intent was not to create some gossipfest. I wanted people to apply it to a

situation where they felt betrayed in their
own lives.

FEMINISM

Goal: To reveal and eradiate socially ingrained systems of sexism that harm
ALL individuals in some way

Feminist Media Scholars understand media texts as products of sexist social

systems and look at how patriarchal social systems inform the creation of
the texts

Post-feminism: Assumption that we are beyond feminism

Characterized by:
Sexual Agency
Personal Choice
Individual Empowerment

GO GIRLS!

#girlsquad instead of an attractive male co-star

Empowers her best friends by giving each one a

super power

Personal choice to empower their sexual agency

Portrayal of violence in the video

Friendship with Lena Dunham

She runs her own company, shes creating

music that connects to other women instead
of creating a sexual persona for the male
gaze, and no one is in control of her. If
thats not feminism, what is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1V9M-4HlAA

MY ANALYSIS

Empowerment or objectification?

Lacks an understanding of intersectionality

Who is in her #girlsquad

White privilege on display?

Lena is the only woman in the video who is dressed modestly

and is represented as more masculine than feminine

MARXISM

Marxist media scholars and critics seek to reveal

how the control exercised by the owners influences the media
content products produced
and how those products promote ideas that reinforce
dominant ideologies.

($80) MILLION DOLLAR BABY

Taylor Swift is a commodity

She was built to be likeable, relatableSELLABLE

Job Desrciption: entertainer

Not to communicate the nuances of feminism to the public

Underdog narrative-- everyone loves and craves

MY ANALYSIS

Her brand of feminism is a strategy of profit maximization

Reinforces dominant ideologies

Heteronormative narratives
#girlsquad composed of super models and super stars

Challenging the social systems just enough to be attractive to the

general public
Her #girlsqaud is self-serving

Discussion Question

Do you believe Taylor Swift is capitalizing off of a feminist facade?

References
Ott, B. L, & Mack, R. L. (2014). Critical Media Studies. John Wiley & Sons, INC.
http://www.forbes.com/profile/taylor-swift/

http://
www.billboard.com/articles/business/6619976/big-machine-label-group-sale-sco
tt-borchetta
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/taylor-swift-1989-cover-story20140908?page=4