Taylor Swift is a woman who needs no introduction. Now a billionaire, there is plenty about her to scrutinize: There is no ethical way to become a billionaire, after all. Yet, instead of criticizing her for her billionaire status or her jet mileage, it seems the most common critique of her is that she dates too many different men.

Now dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Swift is not just on the minds of her dedicated Swifties, but also Chiefs fans. Because of her relationship with Kelce, Swift has been frequently seen at football stadiums across the country in support of her boyfriend, and men viewers are not having it. Though coverage of her during Chiefs’ games is fully out of her control, fans have made it her problem.

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

Hatred toward Swift has reached such a high that a conspiracy is going around in conservative circles that her relationship with Kelce was artificially created to rile up media attention for a hypothetical future political endorsement of President Joe Biden on her behalf. 

It seems that some conservatives are so sexist and misogynistic that they cannot come up with any logical explanation for Swift’s actions, and irrational explanations are brought in. Swift cannot be dating Kelce because she wants to be happy; it has to be a chess play in her “woke” agenda. She cannot write songs because she enjoys it; she must do it solely for profit.

Now, I am not here just to be Swift’s cheerleader and defend her against all critiques she has faced in her career, because there is validity in some of those critiques. She has even threatened to sue a student for tracking her jet mileage and flights, which are public information.

But it is essential that we hold ourselves accountable and acknowledge when our critique is more bias than anything. Given Swift’s status as a cultural zeitgeist, acknowledging the blatant misogyny she has faced makes it easier to see just how ridiculous these so-called critiques are and provide other female artists with their due time.

These experiences are nothing new: In another timely (and Super Bowl-related) example, Justin Timberlake has been able to have a successful career for decades, despite his attempts to ruin two women’s careers in the process. During the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show, which he co-headlined with Janet Jackson, Timberlake famously exposed Jackson’s bare breast to viewers. 

While Jackson was blacklisted from the music industry and painted in an awful light following the performance, Timberlake’s career reached even bigger heights — so much so that he headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show again in 2018. He also had no issue dissing Britney Spears in “Cry Me A River” after breaking up with her over text and allegedly forcing her to have an abortion.

In his latest venture back into the music industry, Timberlake hosted a small concert for his fans and boldly said, “I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f—ing nobody,” even though Spears said she held no resentment toward him. Spears had no issue acknowledging it would be the mature thing to not hold resentment toward him because they were young at the time; Timberlake could not understand this concept.

While we allow men in the music industry like Timberlake to be so confident in their awful behavior, women like Spears are expected to fit into a very precise mold for consumers’ gaze. A woman artist must be an amazing dancer, amazing singer, amazing actor and have a long-term relationship to even be considered mediocre. 

In “Miss Americana” (2020), Swift addressed this double standard, saying, “The female artists have reinvented themselves twenty times more than the male artists. They have to, or else you’re out of a job. Constantly having to reinvent, constantly finding new facets of yourself that people find to be shiny.” 

Regardless, what’s great about being a consumer is that you are entitled to an opinion. In no way do you need to like or dislike someone or their art. If you find an artist’s actions unethical, you can evade their work. If their music just does not resonate with you, you can easily not listen to it without sending them hate. One more Taylor Swift album will not hurt you. However, another Justin Timberlake album just might. 

Jokes aside, we have autonomy in the art we choose to consume. But it is still important to remember unwarranted hate is not a good basis for criticism — and it might just be misogyny.