Ellie Woodward and Rebecca Hendin looked at the unfortunately sexist fall and, then subsequent rise of Taylor Swift:

• Rewind back to 2013. Taylor Swift was ranked 18^th on the list of most hated celebrities and articles such as “Swift is a feminist’s nightmare” were frequently published.
• In part this was because she seemed to criticize other women by having songs revolve around negatively portraying a sexy woman who stole a boy away from an innocent girl.
• Then came her latest album, 1989, where the focus wasn’t on a boy or another woman – but Swift’s own relationship experiences and feelings.
• It includes songs such as “Clean” which discuss getting over a partner single and happy.
• It probably helped that during the album’s promotional period the country singer remained single.
• She also used the album to make jokes about herself. In “Blank Space” she mocks the idea of unstable serial daters, and in “Shake It Off” she lampooned her own dancing ability.
• By owning the jokes, she robbed her critics of the ability to make the same attacks against her.
• And she seemed to spend more time with a “squad” of iconic feminist friends – some who make appearances at her live performances.
• She revamped her social media strategy by directly reaching out to some of her Tumblr fans and offering them relationship advice.
• The results speak for themselves. She is the most followed celebrity in the world after recording a 73% increase in Instagram followers this year.
• She has used her influence to change the industry. She criticized Apple’s music policies and forced them to implement changes.
• And her album sold five million copies in five months. Her previous album took 2.5 years to reach that mark.

The full article is much longer and includes many more details. It discusses Swift’s scruffle with Nicki Minaj, the unfair pressure on her to remain single, how she eased back into having a relationship, and the privileged history that aided her success. You can find it here.

Source: Buzzfeed