Thursday 27 February 2020has directed her latest video, that premiered today, for ‘The Man’, joining the ranks of Missy Elliot, JLo, and Mariah Carey who’ve all turned their multi-talented hands to directing in the past. The song, which has been a fan favourite since the release of, starts powerfully: “I would be complex, I would be cool. They'd say I played the field before I found someone to commit to. And that would be okay For me to do.
The song is a big middle finger to double-standards - for all the times' people have berated Taylor for *daring* to have a love life, but applaud men in the same position for living their best lives. It’s an anthem, articulating what all successful women feel - that no matter what we do, we’ll never be given a break, because women are expected to work ten times as hard, whilst being gracious and sitting pretty, all whilst appeasing the men around us and not damaging their egos.
In the video, we see The Man go through life behaving badly, doing the bare minimum, and getting patted on the back for it - there’s a particularly poignant part, where he’s seen simply holding his daughter, and is then given a ‘Best Dad in the world’ award. He manspreads on the subway, parties with models in bikinis on a yacht, goes to a strip club, pees in public. And nobody bats an eyelid.