With the ever-increasing rise of social media, women within the music industry are constantly being pitted against each other, forcing them to fight for their prospective spotlights. Although these feuds are depicted as entertaining to the mass public, big corporations in the scene of capitalism synthesize these fights in order to give the labels of these female artists more money and to gain more publicity within their fanbases.
One popular instance of this feuding is seen in the “beef” between Taylor Swift and Charli XCX within the past few years. For context, the seemingly tense relationship between the two artists began when Charli XCX opened for Swift’s Reputation Tour in 2018 and claimed that she felt uncomfortable in front of the large crowds. Then, in 2023, whilst Swift was dating the lead singer of “The 1975,” Matty Healy, Charli XCX was also dating and later married drummer George Daniel. This caused the two women to once again coalesce socially. In 2024, Charli XCX came out with her album that swarmed the Internet, “brat,” and it was speculated that her song, “Sympathy is a knife,” was about being in the same social scene as Swift, specifically within the lyric, “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show/ Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.”
Then in 2025, Swift came out with her album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and one song, “Almost Romantic,” was seen as a response to Charli XCX’s song, with the lyric, “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave,” continuing the supposed feud. Because of this, the two artists’ creations are presented as a one-sided kind of rivalry, taking away from their songwriting processes and placing on both women the idea that people in the music industry are either friends or enemies.
A similar situation can be found within the more recent discourse between Phoebe Bridgers and Gracie Abrams. Speculation regarding the two artists started when Bridgers first dated actor Paul Mescal, who is now in a relationship with Abrams. This fueled further rumours about a rivalry between the two women when Bridgers’ most recent album, “Lost Weekend,” came out and fans speculated that the song “The Governors’ Waltz” was about Abrams. Fans are saying that the specific lyric, “And she can pretend to be me/Since she took my place on my bed on that stage,” is about Abrams, as she had a similar set of a bed in her concerts to Bridgers, causing a feud to be placed on the two artists. Similar to Charli XCX and Swift, Bridgers and Abrams are reduced to women in a love triangle, revolving around a man rather than the brilliance of their singing and songwriting, highlighting the societal pressures placed on women within the music industry.
In both cases, fans recognize these artists’ music as an outlet for their internal feelings within their lives, and yet their lyrics and music are still misconstrued as a “diss” at someone else or a start to a new rivalry, at times dishonoring the true intentions of the artist’s creations. Today, this concept of feuding in the female music industry needs to be dismantled by the media and news outlets so that these artists can share this spotlight and receive the recognition that they deserve, especially since this concept of rivalries is much less pronounced within the male music industry.
Freshman Lizzy Assante di Cupillo is a Contributing Writer. Her email is eassante@fandm.edu.