I'm Your Biggest Fan

A couple Sunday nights ago, I watched the Grammys for the first time since I thought the Backstreet Boys was quality music and thought the Grammys meant something. As I watched celebrities faun over themselves and pantless women prance, there was something that really bothered me about the awards. It wasn't the fact that there wasn't actually any good music up for nomination (that's another post entirely). What bothered me is that the Fame Monster, Lady Gaga, was almost entirely shut out of the Grammys while teen ingenue Taylor Swift walked away with America's hearts and the coveted Album of the Year. In what world is a woman who has reinvented pop music defeated by a girl who laments tween heartbreak?

I'll let you read my poker face right off the bat: I am a huge Lady Gaga fan. I think she's a brilliant entertainer whose made made pop music interesting again. She walks the line of being a "Fame Monster", courting the media in her fanciful Haute Couture, all the while not caring what anyone aside from her fans think of her theatrics.

Before the Grammys, I'd never seen Taylor Swift perform and really knew nothing of her, aside from knowing that her personal brand is lapped up by everyone from tween girls and their moms; college dudes; and country music fans alike. Apparently, American is titillated by Taylor.

She certainly fits the "America's Sweetheart" profile: she's young and looks younger. She's thin and blond. She's from America's heartland. She writes harmlessly catchy tunes. And although Ryan Seacrest blew his teen-girl load while introducing her during the Grammys (basically stating she's the Greatest Song Writer of Our Time), her songs such as "Fifteen" aren't exactly the next "Blowing in the Wind".

I don't really give a toss about Ms. Swift. But I do care about the underlying implications of Swift's victory over Lady Gaga at the Grammys.

They do share a few commonalities: they're both thin and blond (though Gaga's hair color is as ever changing as My Little Pony's). They both write their own music and both play an instrument. They're both in constant rotation on Top 40 radio. But the similarities pretty much end there.

Swift, with her twee lyrics and "Who me?" demure, appeals largely to Conservative America. I'm sure she comes from a "Family values" background and is known for dating good Christian boys.

Lady Gaga, grabbing her crotch and singing about sex with men and women, is a pop star for Liberal America. Widely considered a gay icon, Madame Gaga appeals largely to women and gay men. She is on all accounts a strong woman; making no qualms for 'freakish' performances; her fashion choices; and her meticulous attention to detail.

There is nothing wrong with different representations of women in the media. What is disconcerting is the mainstream's fetishization of Swift and the villaininization of Gaga. Swift is idolized by girls and lusted after by men for being the Madonna, the unattainable virgin. Lady Gaga is the villainous whore, courted by ultimately feared. The mainstream is so intimated by Gaga that there was a "legitimate" rumour about Lady Gaga having a penis (Google "Lady Gaga" and the first thing to pop up in the search browser is "Lady Gaga Hermaphrodite). Yes, because she is a strong woman in control of her career and sexuality, Lady Gaga must have a penis. Who else could have such control but a man?

Taylor Swift's popularity largely hinges on her ability to play the sweet, yet sexy, girl next door. It'll be interesting to see if her popularity can sustain as she transcends into womanhood (she is, in fact, already 20-years old).

For now, Swift is America's girl next door. She embodies what we expect women to be: sweet, naive, virginal, and of course, beautiful. She's not like those women who speak their mind; change the way we view gender; and who are free bitch(es), baby.