Introduction
This essay is a rhetorical criticism on Taylor Swift’s song “You Need to Calm Down” and her acceptance speech at the 2019 MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMA). During both her songs and her speech, Swift is urging the public to sign the Equality Act petition in order to pressure the United States Senate to vote for the act, which had previously passed through the House of Representatives. During this essay, it will be evaluated how this rhetorical artefact fits into Ideological Criticism. Ideological Criticism is “focused on discovering the values and ideologies of a person by reviewing the artifacts they produce.” (Thevisualcommunicationguy.com) Ideology refers to “any belief or value that guides a person or organization to action.” (Thevisualcommunicationguy.com). In ideological criticism, the artifacts’s key symbols are being evaluated as to how inherently the speak to an ideology.
Artifact Description
On June 14, 2019, (President Trump’s birthday) Taylor Swift released the second single, “You Need to Calm Down,” from her seventh album “Lover.” This song, which was written by Swift and Joel Little, was later performed in August of 2019 by Swift at the VMAs. Swift won video of the year for “You Need to Calm Down.” Swift’s music video for the song, produced by
Todrick Hall, featured a petition at then end that urged the U.S. Senate to vote on the Equality Act. The Equality Act, supported by Swift, “would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools, and other public accommodations.” (Taylor Swift “Sign the Petition.”). The Equality Act, which had already been passed by the House of Representatives, was to be passed on to the Senate to be voted on. Swift created the petition to support the Equality Act because “Politicians need votes to stay in office. Votes come from the people. Pressure from massive amounts of people is a major way to push politicians towards positive change.” (Taylor Swift “Sign the Petition.”). Swift also mentions how the United States’ lack of protection for its own people “ensures that LGBTQ people must live in fear that their lives could be turned upside down by an employer or landlord who is homophobic or transphobic. The fact that, legally, some people are completely at the mercy of the hatred and bigotry of others is disgusting and unacceptable.” (Taylor Swift “Sign the Petition.”).
During her acceptance speech for Video of the Year at the VMAs, Swift continued to show support for the Equality Act by calling out the White House’s lack of acknowledgement of the Equality Act. Also, at the end of her performance of “You Need to Calm Down” at the VMAs, the words “Equality Act” were “largely written behind her dancers” (Joelle Goldstein). The following day of her performance, “the White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere released a statement that the Trump administration ‘opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.’” (Joelle Goldstein). Swift rejected the Trump administration’s stance on the Equality Act. According to Swift, “That statement implies that there is something morally wrong with being anything other than Lewter 2
heterosexual and cisgender, which is an incredibly harmful message to send to a nation full of healthy and loving families with same-sex, nonbinary, or transgender parents, sons, or daughters.” (Joelle Goldstein).
Method of Criticism
In this ideological criticism of Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” and her acceptance speech at the VMAs, the artifact’s key symbols are being evaluated based on “how inherently they speak to an ideology.” (Thevisualcommunicationguy.com). Ideology refers to “any doctrine, belief, value, myth, or principle that essentially guides a person or organization to action.” (Thevisualcommunicationguy.com). During this analysis, Swift’s use of her song, “You Need to Calm Down” and her VMA speech will be evaluated on how they support the Equality Act petition, and on how Swift is calling others to action.
Findings In the first verse of Swift’s song “You Need to Calm Down,” it says
“You are somebody that I don’t know/But you’re takin’ shots at me like
it’s Patron/And I’m just like, damn it’s 7 a.m./Say it in the street, that’s
a knockout/But you say it in a Tweet, that’s a cop out/And I’m just like, ‘Hey,
are you okay?’” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”).
In the very first verse of her song, Swift is commenting on how people are meant to others without even knowing them, much like how people are mean to those in the LGBTQ community without knowing them. She also mentions how it 7 a.m., which I think is a direct reference to President Trump and his Twitter rants, which is supported by the fact that the song was released on his birthday, June 14. The reference to social media is continued in the next to lines, where Swift is basically telling the audience to not revert to Twitter or any other social media outlet. She is saying that if anyone has something to say, they should say it face-to-face, and not hide behind a screen. The first verse is telling the audience to stop bullying, but she also ends the verse by asking “Are you okay?” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). After the first verse of the song, the pre-chorus comes up. In the pre-chorus, it says,
“And I ain’t tryna mess with your self-expression/But I’ve learned a lesson
that stressin’ and obsessin’ ‘bout somebody else is no fun/And snakes and
stones never broke my bones.” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”).
In the pre-chorus of her song, Swift is telling the audience to be themselves and live their life, but to not worry about everyone else’s business. After the pre-chorus of the song, comes the actual chorus, which says,
“So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh/You need to calm down, you’re being
too loud/And I’m just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (Oh)/ You need to
just stop, like can you just not step on my gown?/You need to calm down.”
("Taylor Swift - You Need to Calm Down").
In the chorus of the song, Swift is telling the audience to relax. She is also, in her own way, telling the audience to not bully others when she says, “You need to just stop, like can you just not step on my gown” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). After the chorus comes the second verse of the song, where Swift says,
“You are somebody that we don’t know/But you’re comin’ at my friends like
a missile/Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD? (You could
be GLAAD)/Sunshine on the street at the parade/But you would rather be in
the dark ages/Makin’ that sign must’ve taken all night.”
(“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”).
In the second verse, Swift makes it known that she is supporting the LGBTQ community. She references the pride parade when she says “Sunshine on the street at the parade.” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). She also references the people who discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community when she says, “But you would rather be in the dark ages/Makin’ that sign must’ve taken all night” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). Furthermore, in the second verse, she says “Somebody that we don’t know,” versus how in the first verse where she said, “Somebody that I don’t know.” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). She is switching gears from talking about herself to herself and the LGBTQ community. Swift also refrences the pro-LGBTQ organization Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, also known as GLAAD, in the second verse. After the second verse, there is another pre-chorus. In the second pre-chorus, Swift says,
“You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace and
control your urges to scream about all the people you hate/’Cause shade
never made anybody less gay.” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”).
The second pre-chorus has one of the most famous lines from her song, which is “‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay.” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”).In the second pre-chorus, she doesn’t reference the LGBTQ community, she comes right out and mentions it. This line from the pre-chorus is Swift calling out all of the homophobes, who are against the LGBTQ community and the Equality Act. After the second pre-chorus, there is another chorus, where Swift says,
“So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh/You need to calm down, you’re being
too loud. And I’m just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh/You need to just
stop, like can you just not step on his gown? You need to calm down.”
(“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”).
The second chorus is the exact same as the first chorus except for one word. Swift replaced “my” with “his” in the line “You need to just stop, like can you just not step on his gown?” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). After the second chorus comes the bridge of the song, where Swift says,
“And we see you over there on the internet, comparing all the girls who are
killing it/But we figured you out. We all know now we all got crowns. You need
to calm down.” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”).
In the bridge, Swift says that everyone has a crown. Everyone, no matter gender, sex, or sexual orientation, everyone has a crown. She is saying we are equal. After the bridge there is one more chorus, where Swift says,
“So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh/You need to calm down, you’re being
too loud. And I’m just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh/You need to just
stop, like can you just not step on our gowns? You need to calm down.”
(“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”).
This chorus is once again the same as the previous two except for one word. In the first chorus, Swift said “my gown.” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). In the second chorus, Swift said “his gown.”(“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). In the final chorus, Swift said “our gowns.” (“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.”). So once again, Swift went from “I” and “my” to “our.” She is speaking for herself and the LGBTQ. In her acceptance speech for Video of the Year at the 2019 VMAs, Swift says,
“I just want to say that this is a fan voted award so I first want to say thank you
to the fans because in this video, several points were made. So you voting for
this video means that you want a world where we’re all treated equally.
Regardless of who we love, regardless of how we identify. At the end of this
video there was a petition - and there still is a petition - for the Equality Act
which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law and I want
to say thank you to everyone who signed that petition because it now has half
a million signatures, which is five times the amount it would need to warrant
a response from the White House.” (“Taylor Swift Wins Video of the Year.”).
In her speech, Swift directly mentions how the Equality Act petition has already exceeding the amount of signatures needed to warrant a response from the White House, who didn’t actually respond to it until the day after Swift’s speech. In her speech, Swift is calling out the White House and the Trump Administration for not acknowledging the Equality Act petition. She is pushing for more signatures on the petition, when she mentions that the petition is still available at the end of her music video for “You Need to Calm Down.” Swift also closes her speech by saying, “Thank you MTC for lifting up this point and this video.” (“Taylor Swift Wins Video of the Year.”). This line from her speech helps to support the idea that she had an agenda with the song, the music video, and her speech. Swift was aiming for people to support the LGBTQ community and sign the Equality Act petition to help earn everyone the same protection from discrimination.
Works Cited
Goldstein, Joelle. “White House Responds to Taylor Swift's Push for
Equality Act in VMA Acceptance Speech.” PEOPLE.com, 27 Aug. 2019, people.com/politics/ white-house-responds-taylor-swift-equality-act-push-vma-speech/.
Swift , Taylor. “Sign the Petition.” Change.org, 2019, www.change.org/p/support-the-equality-act.
“Taylor Swift Wins Video of the Year.” YouTube, youtu.be/8z4icNgFSPI.
“Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down.” Genius, 14 June 2019, genius.com/ Taylor-swift-you-need-to-calm-down-lyrics.
Thevisualcommunicationguy.com, thevisualcommunicationguy.com/
rhetoric-overview/rhetorical-criticism-overview/.
Copy of Taylor Swift’s 2019 VMA Speech
“I just want to say that this is a fan voted award so I first want to say thank you to the fans because in this video, several points were made. So you voting for this video means that you want a world where we’re all treated equally. Regardless of who we love, regardless of how we identify. At the end of this video there was a petition—and there still is a petition—for the Equality Act which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law and I want to thank you to everyone who signed that petition because it now has half a million signatures, which is five times the amount it would need to warrant a response from the White House. I love my cast. I am so grateful to everyone who was in this video. The one who are here, the ones who are at home. We love you so much. Thank you for doing this with us. I love my co-executive producer Todrick Hall. I’m so grateful to my co-director Drew Kirsch, and thank you to the fans for everything you do for us. My cast live their lives so authentically. Thank you for being the example that you are. I love you guys so much. Thank you MTV for lifting up this point and this video.”
Link to the video of her speech: https://youtu.be/8z4icNgFSPI
Copy of Taylor Swift’s Song “You Need to Calm Down”
You are somebody that I don't know But you're takin' shots at me like it's Patron And I'm just like, damn, it's 7 AM Say it in the street, that's a knock-out But you say it in a Tweet, that's a cop-out And I'm just like, "Hey, are you okay?" And I ain't tryna mess with your self-expression But I've learned a lesson that stressing' and obsessing' 'about somebody else is no fun And snakes and stones never broke my bones So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh You need to calm down, you're being too loud And I'm just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh) You need to just stop Like can you just not step on my gown? You need to calm down You are somebody that we don't know But you're comin' at my friends like a missile Why are you mad? When you could be GLAAD? (You could be GLAAD) Sunshine on the street at the parade But you would rather be in the dark age Just makin' that sign must've taken all night
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