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Taylor Swift has dropped the music video
for her latest single, "The Man."
Both the song and video take on
double standards between men and women.
As with her past videos, this one is
full of Easter eggs and other hidden meanings.
Here's a look at everything you missed.
Every video from Swift's "Lover" era
has started with her by a window,
and "The Man" is no different.
Except now we have Tyler Swift.
The office he's in looks similar to the one
from Swift's "Bad Blood" music video.
Instead of a fight scene between women,
this time we get a recreation
of "The Wolf of Wall Street."
Swift's alpha-male persona, Tyler,
mimics Leonardo DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort.
Tyler takes the scene a step further
by fist-bumping and acknowledging
only the men in the room.
The Leo reference is no coincidence either,
but more on him later.
Next, we see Tyler manspreading on a subway train.
Behind him are some fake advertisements
parodying the overtly violent and sexual ways
in which the media portrays men.
The one seemingly advertising for liquor
reads, "Capitalize on the feeling."
This is likely a reference to how
Swift's been criticized and called "calculated"
for writing about her relationships.
The word greedy is written on the train wall.
Swift's been called greedy in the past
for certain business decisions she's made,
like adopting a fan-verified ticket-sales system
for her "Reputation" stadium tour
and pulling her music catalog from streaming services
like Spotify and Apple Music
over artist royalty disputes.
But there's a whole other take we can read
from this poster and the word greedy.
The title "Bo$$ Scotch" seems to be a play on words
referring to her old record-label boss Scott Borchetta.
In a post on Tumblr last June,
Swift shared how she felt betrayed
by Borchetta's sale of her music
to talent manager Scooter Braun.
This poster could be a callout to Borchetta
as greedy for capitalizing on Swift's body of work,
which famously features her own feelings and experiences.
Let's take a look back at the movie poster:
"Man vs Disaster."
The fake title could reference the action-film trope
that all it takes is one man to save the day.
In contrast, Swift has often been said
to be playing the victim
when she tries to fight industry giants
like record labels and streaming services.
One of the fellow train passengers is wearing
a "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" sweatshirt
straight from Swift's actual merch line.
"Miss Americana" is another song from "Lover"
that deals with themes of sexism and misogyny.
Looking back to the movie poster,
you'll see the date July 20.
Does this mean "Miss Americana" could be
a single in the summer of 2020?
Tyler opens a newspaper, and the cover story asks,
"What man won the year in celebrity dating?"
This headline calls out the double standard
that criticizes women but celebrates men
for dating around.
Swift herself is somewhat of a poster child
for this double standard
and has spoken out against it many times in the past.
Tyler exits the train onto a platform
and pauses to, uh, take a leak.
He's at 13th Street Station,
a nod to Swift's lucky number, 13,
which we've seen referenced many times before
in past videos.
The wall Tyler stops at is covered in graffiti
with the names of Swift's past albums,
like "Reputation," "Red," and "1989."
She's hidden Easter eggs through graffiti before,
in many of her "Reputation"-era videos,
like "Ready for It?" and "Delicate."
We also see the word karma in graffiti,
which we've heard Swift use before
in her clapback song "Look What You Made Me Do."
♪ Not for me, all I think about is karma ♪
A sign says, "Missing:
If found, return to Taylor Swift."
And another one symbolizes no scooters.
The posters and graffiti are another reference
to her ongoing battle with Scooter Braun
and Scott Borchetta over the masters
of all of the albums we see on the wall.
Tyler's peeing on the wall
could represent how the two men,
and men in the music industry in general,
have disrespected Swift throughout her career.
There's also a poster for "Mr. Americana,"
directed by Larry Wilson,
premiering at "Mandance,"
and documenting Tyler Swift.
Taylor Swift's own documentary,
"Miss Americana," directed by Lana Wilson,
premiered at Sundance earlier this year.
When speaking to Glamour about making the film,
Wilson recalled how she and her all-female crew
were often not taken seriously because of their gender.
This riff on the documentary's poster
also relates to the fact that Swift
directed this music video for "The Man."
Her impressive credits for the song and video,
that's songwriter, performer, executive producer,
video director, and star, to be clear,
come at a time when music, film,
and other entertainment industries
are being heavily criticized for
their lack of opportunities and recognition for women.
As Tyler steps away from the subway wall,
we see "The Man" written out in...
well, it's glittery and blue,
which looks pretty similar to Swift's "Lover" aesthetic.
Having "The Man" written in blue glitter
could also be Swift's way of saying
men, just like women, can be complex
and aren't limited to the narrow definition
of masculinity society pushes on them.
Next, Tyler's on a yacht.
If it looks familiar, that's because it's
another nod to "The Wolf of Wall Street."
The movie not only embodies the sexist double standards
Swift calls out in "The Man,"
but its star, Leonardo DiCaprio,
is specifically name-checked in the lyrics:
DiCaprio is well known for dating
a number of women, especially younger models.
And in "The Man," Swift makes a point
of emphasizing how men like DiCaprio
get more of a "legend" status for this type of dating,
whereas women like herself are criticized
for their dating habits.
We see Swift call out double standards again
as Tyler leaves what looks like a one-night stand.
Instead of having the walk of shame
that's assigned to women,
he struts through what looks like
more of a hall of fame.
19 hands high-five him.
They're the 19 hands we saw
in the song's promotional photo.
19 is a number Swift's been highlighting
since even before the video was announced.
During her woman of the decade acceptance speech
at the Billboard Music Awards,
Swift mentioned 19 other female artists by name.
The references to the number are likely
a nod to the 19th Amendment,
which gave the first group of women
the right to vote in the US.
The amendment's ratification is seen as a landmark win
in the women's rights movement in American history.
Swift also released "The Man" on February 27.
This is the anniversary of when the Supreme Court
dismissed a challenge to the amendment
and unanimously agreed that the right to vote
could not be denied on the basis of sex.
And, if the hallway looks familiar,
it could be because it resembles the one
from Kanye West's distinctly sparse home.
You might recall that West infamously interrupted
a 19-year-old Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs.
And Swift's not just throwing shade at West here.
Her reference is pretty significant
under the context of "The Man."
When West interrupted her award speech,
he implied that her work wasn't deserving enough of it.
Years later, when West referenced Swift
in his song "Famous,"
he rapped, "I made that b---- famous."
West's behavior is a clear example
of men devaluing or even straight up taking credit
for a woman's work.
This reference seems even more purposeful
after a scene in "Miss Americana"
that shows Swift writing "The Man" with Joel Little.
She throws out some lyric ideas, saying:
Which is exactly what West did.
In the next scene, Tyler's being celebrated
as the world's greatest dad
after seemingly doing the bare minimum with his child.
This scene addresses another double standard,
where single moms rarely get any recognition,
whereas their male counterparts
are praised for little effort.
If you look closely, you can also see
that while Tyler is manspreading again,
his daughter isn't, which could be showing
how girls are taught from a young age
to take up less space.
Also, catch a brief cameo
from social-media star Dominic Toliver
and actress Jayden Bartels.
We next see Tyler partying in a bar with other men.
They throw around money
as they take body shots off of women,
referencing the reduction of women to objects
and being valued only for their bodies.
The money they throw around has Tyler's face on it,
a pretty obvious comment to men owning more money
because of the gender pay gaps
and a straight-up lack of opportunities for women.
The men are all wearing matching gold rings,
which look similar to fraternity or other club rings.
This could be referencing the boys'-club culture
in many industries,
especially the music industry.
Next up, Tyler's playing a match of tennis.
We can spot a Taylor Swift merch water bottle
under the bench.
This scene seems to reference
a specific incident with Serena Williams,
when she was fined $17,000 for code violations
at the 2018 US Open.
Williams argued with the umpire
and slammed her racket on the ground during a match.
She said her actions were due to her
feeling that the umpire was
unfairly penalizing her with his calls.
Serena's situation relates to Swift's
recent comment to CBS "Sunday Morning,"
when she said, a man can react;
"a woman can only overreact."
In the music video, Tyler's given a similar pass.
He throws a tantrum, gets hysterical,
smashes his racket, and fights with the umpire.
And no one does a thing.
Not the ball girl,
who's actually TikTok star Loren Gray,
or even the umpire,
played by Swift's own father, Scott.
This could symbolize how people do notice
men acting childish and emotional,
but they don't face the same backlash that women do,
and often for even lesser behavior.
58 years later, a very aged Tyler is getting married
to a much younger woman.
Five plus eight is, of course, 13.
The scene shows a stereotypical marriage
between a super-old guy and a younger girl.
As the bride flashes her giant ring,
it's likely she'll be painted the bad guy
and labeled a gold digger.
The light pink flower on Tyler's lapel
looks like the cornelia flowers
Swift's been using throughout her "Lover"-era promo
and also references the album's track "Cornelia Street."
We've seen a wedding and cake smashing
in a "Lover"-era video before;
in "You Need to Calm Down,"
there's an epic cake fight
after a same-sex marriage.
Swift could be drawing parallels
to society's acceptance of what might be called
a nontraditional marriage with a larger age gap
over one between people of the same sex.
The scene also begs us to imagine the reverse.
If an older woman were marrying a younger man,
she'd be the one criticized for "cradle robbing."
In any case, it's the straight man
who's getting off easy.
As the epic video comes to an end,
Swift reverses gender roles one last time.
We hear Swift, as the video's director,
yell, "Cut!" and Tyler walks off set.
He asks Swift about his performance,
but the voice we hear is actually The Rock's.
Swift tells him to be "sexier, maybe more likable."
She then praises Loren for her outstanding work,
when really she's just been standing around
in the background.
It's Swift's last dig at the ridiculous
and sexist standards in the entertainment industry,
where men are showered with praise and awards
often for doing the bare minimum,
while women are constantly asked to do better by...
well, by being sexier and more likable.
"The Man" is a funny but poignant take
on several of the double standards women face
and the larger systems that enforce them.
Swift's "Lover" era has seen her becoming
more vocal about politics,
and, if this video is any indication,
she's only getting started.