Taylor Swift Confronts Sexism in Animated 'The Man' Lyric Video

Taylor Swift has released an animated lyric video for her Lover track “The Man,” a confrontation of workplace sexism and Swift’s own struggles to rise to the top of her industry. The video depicts a woman trying to get ahead (literally) in a maze-like city full of men and staircases that lead to nowhere. Towards the end, she gets a helping hand from another woman, learning that the true path to success is by lifting each other up.

Miss Americana, the documentary following Swift’s life during the making of 2019’s Lover and her recent political involvements, is now available to stream on Netflix. The film opened at Sundance to a positive reception and it contains a new song from the artist, “Only the Young.”

“I think girls in our society are taught that other people’s approval is of paramount importance to their self-worth,” director Lana Wilson told Rolling Stone. “I really related to those questions of: ‘Was I nice enough? Do they like me? Are people mad at me?’ When I heard Taylor verbalize that, I was just like, ‘Oh my God. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it.’ And I thought it would be so comforting and relatable to so many women to know that, even if you’re a celebrity at the highest level, you still ask yourself those questions.”