Double Standards: Female Artists and Criticism

I agree that there's a double standard in music criticism as it applies to female pop singers -- it would be stupid not to. Or maybe different standard is more apt, but I don't think that every negative thing written about Gaga or Katy Perry or Beyonce is an affront to feminism, or women in general, and I think most women would agree with this. But still, female artists see more than their share of criticism when it comes to how they're viewed in the eyes of their fans. In a post for Persephone magazine, Juniper says of current whipping girl Taylor Swift:

"The criticism can be loosely split, as I see it, into that of her music and her as a person. When it comes to how she behaves and presents herself, the criticism seems to be that she embraces traditionally defined “feminine” traits and that this is A Bad Thing. With regards to her music, it seems to be that since her lyrics aren’t exclusively concerned with furthering women’s causes, then they too, are A Bad Thing."

Here's where we differ: it's Taylor Swift's brand that is being criticized, not her. Yeah, of course the two are going to overlap, but if what she's selling is an antediluvian version of femininity -- and one that's unattainable for a large faction of girls -- it's fair game, but I think we need to focus on it and why she's rewarded for it rather than attacking femininity itself.