Journal article
'I work hard and I'm nice to people': Taylor Swift, Miss Americana and the limits of white neoliberal feminism
Continuum, Vol.38(6), pp.934-946
2025
Abstract
Taylor Swift's Netflix film Miss Americana is part of a recent wave of streaming documentaries about American female pop stars. The film takes a typical behind-the-scenes format, emphasizing the creative, emotional and physical labour of global pop stardom, following Swift as she rehabilitates her image after a fall from public opinion. Whiteness and neoliberalism are implicit in Swift's celebrity, her success and the documentary's framing of her redemption narrative; as she states, 'I'm only here because I work hard and I'm nice to people'. Wilson's documentary suggests that a key element of Swift's political awakening is her increasing awareness of the role misogyny and political conservativism play in silencing her voice, diminishing her achievements, and perpetuating homophobia. Yet the documentary and Swift are silent on how heteropatriarchy, neoliberalism and whiteness are also essential to her stardom. This paper argues that Miss Americana illuminates the limits of Swift's neoliberal feminism, which relies on individualism, whiteness and resilience culture. We use Miss Americana to consider how political progressiveness has strict limits in the contemporary star market, and how Swift's transition from country to pop underlines the types of feminism and femininity available to women in those genres.
Details
- Title
- 'I work hard and I'm nice to people': Taylor Swift, Miss Americana and the limits of white neoliberal feminism
- Authors
- Jessica Ford (Corresponding Author) - University of AdelaidePhoebe Macrossan - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Business and Creative Industries
- Publication details
- Continuum, Vol.38(6), pp.934-946
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1080/10304312.2024.2445312
- ISSN
- 1469-3666
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991095746202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Communication
- Cultural Studies
- Film, Radio, Television