Taylor Swift took ownership of her professional success at the 2016 Grammys by shutting down Kanye West (like a boss) and setting an example for women who have to deal with less-than-empowering comments in the workplace.
When Kanye West released his new album, Life of Pablo, last week, fans were shocked by his new song “Famous,” in which he referenced Taylor Swift: “I made that b*tch famous.” This lyric left everyone swiveling their heads like, “Excuse me?”
We all know that Kanye was referring to the 2009 VMA incident where he got up on stage and tried to steal Taylor’s shine. Nevermind the fact that at 19 years old, Taylor was already receiving the award for Best Female Video of the year, beating out Beyonce’s Single Ladies. Nevermind that she has sold over 40 million albums and is one of the top 5 music artists with the highest worldwide digital sales. Nevermind that when Kanye accepted his VMA Vanguard speech last year, he publicly apologized to Taylor, saying, “If I had a daughter at that time, would I have went on stage and grabbed the mic from someone else’s?”
Guess he’s flipping the switch on other people’s daughters now.
The complete “Famous” lyric referencing Taylor is disappointingly chauvinistic, suggesting that Taylor owes Kanye a one night stand because he made her famous. It’s clear that Kanye speaks of her not as a professional artist who has worked hard to get to where she is today, but as a young girl who needed a man to draw attention to her accomplishments. This message was not lost on Taylor: When she accepted her Grammy for Album of the Year last night, she used Kanye’s comments to shed light on how young women should carry themselves when haters try to undermine their hard work and success.
“As the first woman to win album of the year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to all the young women out there: There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” she said gripping her Grammy proudly.
“But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and you’ll know it was you and the people who love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”
Moral of the story? Never minimize a woman’s accomplishments — or anyone’s accomplishments, for that matter. Kanye, you may take several seats. (Share this.)
