Taylor Swift’s subtle, yet abrupt transition into a Taylor Momsen-looking Barbie doll for the Met gala last month is not without its calculation. It is a stock formula of every pop star to go from cookie cutter good girl to “dangerous woman.” It’s a tale as old as time, ranging from the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera to Rihanna and Beyoncé.
The large bulk of female musicians with a pop-oriented persona feel the inevitable pressure to, for lack of a better term, slut it up at some point in order to keep things quote unquote interesting and fulfill the trajectory everyone expects of them. Swift has already started to indicate her shift toward this move not only in the alteration of her appearance (grungy goth with a pop princess twist), but now, with a fresh breakup from Calvin Harris.
As Swift is notorious for doing, she will inevitably write a slew of songs about this relationship gone awry, and possibly lend to them an “edgier” (read: more whorish) tinge to them than we’ve ever known before. Whether it is something about the madness one is driven to when being put under a perpetual microscope or simply the pressures to sell more “records” (a somewhat metaphorical phrase these days), the requisite transition to a nympho identity befalls all great and tragic pop stars. Save for Madonna, who was shrewd enough to begin her career with a reputation for sexual appetitiveness.
