EXHIBITS

What is Taylor Swift talking about when she refers to "big reputations" in the song "End Game" on her album reputation? [1] It is difficult to define reputation, but, according to Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, published in 1755, reputation is “Credit; honour; character of good.” [2] Although this definition is incredibly simple, it is still vague and does not fully explain what makes up a reputation. For example, what is "credit"? What does it take to get "honour?" What exactly is a "character of good?" It is difficult to pin down what a reputation is because the terms used to define it are vague.  The only way to truly understand reputations is to look at the things people say are necessary to gain a reputation.  

Throughout this exhibit, I argue that the terms used to talk about reputations have varied since the 1700s, but, at its heart, reputation construction has not changed, especially for women. The terms used to discuss reputation construction have included propriety, accomplishment, and “effortless perfection,” but they all refer to the requirements needed to gain a reputation. Building a reputation itself is based on the idea of “effortless perfection” which means that a woman has to appear to be perfect even though perfection is not possible. This high expectation results in women focusing more on their surface, or appearance, instead of their depth, or character.