Speaking of failing at feminism, I have to admit I agree with some of the things Rick Moody said about Taylor Swift's music in his piece for The Rumpus. Granted, he's a little more than hyperbolic, likening the manufactured nature of her records (and pop music in general) to the inertia of a "flattened squirrel," but his is a position I'm familiar with, particularly among the men of my generation. It's that High Fidelity school of music criticism that emphatically states that pop is bad, indie is good.
Now, I don't think he necessarily believes that, but as someone closer to Moody's than Swift's age, there once was a distinct line between the commercial and the underground which has largely rubbed away. I've defended her -- or at least her right to make whatever music se wants -- here before, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't find Taylor Swift's music horribly boring, too. And this is where I struggle with writing about music through a feminist lens: I have the same kind of backstory; I grew up listening to indie and punk with the sole consideration that they weren't "pop." In short, I'm as much of a rockist as Moody.
I understand why that's wrong, and that disparaging pop music -- which is largely made by women -- is, if covertly, sexist. And I'm not going to throw some timeworn trope about "authenticity" out here, because I know authenticity is a completely meaningless term, but I know what I write here doesn't always jibe with what I've got in rotation on my iPod. So yeah, I almost feeling a little that he's had quite a bit of vitriol leveled at him. (Although the comment about Swift eventually "marrying up" is unfair and kind of confusing because what female pop star has "married up" recently? Aren't Kevin Federlines, not Kennedys, the rule rather than the exception?)
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