Taylor Swift/YouTubeTaylor Swift underwent an impressive transformation and partied at a strip club to call out misogyny and male privilege in her music video for The Man.
The song features on her latest album Lover, which was released last summer, but it’s clear a lot of time and effort went into the newly released video, in which Swift transforms into a brown-haired, bearded man.
The Man shows Swift ‘manspreading’ on a subway train, peeing in a public place and throwing money around in a strip club.
Taylor Swift/YouTubeA suit-wearing Swift can also be seen being praised for spending just seconds of time with ‘his’ daughter, acting like a sore loser at a tennis game and, after a 58-year time jump, marrying a significantly younger woman.
Lyrics of the song address male privilege in comparison to how women are often judged, reading:
They’d say I hustled, put in the work
They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve
What I was wearing, if I was rude
Could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves
Watch the video here:
The music video takes a dig at record executive Scooter Braun, who purchased Swift’s back catalogue of music last year. Swift’s old album titles can be seen graffitied on a wall in the video, next to a poster which says ‘Missing. If found return to Taylor Swift’. Another sign indicates there are no scooters allowed in the area.
Taylor Swift/YouTubeThe Man comes to an end with pictures of Swift at each stage of her transformation, which involved a lot of makeup, bald caps and fake hair. Credits on screen stress the video was directed, produced and is owned by Swift.
Taylor Swift/YouTubeThe singer thanked the team that helped her transformation in a post on Instagram, writing:
Alongside every great (the) man is a team of hardworking creatives who made this thing happen.
Bill Corso & his incredible team and I have worked together before, turning me into a zombie.. but convincing a significant amount of people I was a dude is our crowning achievement. Between 4-6 hours in the make up chair every day with these geniuses.
Thank you @bcorso and all who worked so hard on this transformation.
Swift’s efforts paid off as she appeared almost unrecognisable in the video; a transformation that has earned her a wealth of praise from fans.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.