Taylor Swift sure has a way of grabbing the entire world’s attention. Just when you think her career might fade a bit, she turns the spotlight back on herself. This time, her fans are going wild over her newest music video The Man which is chock full of Easter eggs and tiny surprises.

In the clip, Swift dresses up as and plays the titular Man who does whatever he wants. The singer does such a great job of portraying the privileged character that it’s unbelievably hard to recognize her if you don’t know that she’s in the video. Her special effects makeup team and CGI did their job well!

In fact, here’s a small challenge for you: if you have any friends who haven’t heard about Swift’s new song, show them the video and see if they can recognize the famous singer. Let us know the results and share your thoughts about The Man in the comments below.

More info: TaylorSwift.com | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | MySpace (Yes, Taylor Swift has a MySpace account)

Taylor Swift plays the titular character in her new music video The Man

The star examines the different ways that the world looks at men and women

According to Swift, men can do whatever they want

Swift wowed her supporters with her creative way of taking on the patriarchy and ‘subtly’ alluding to some famous men like Leonardo DiCaprio and his role in The Wolf of Wall Street.

Here’s the full music video (the song’s been stuck in our heads since the morning)

The 30-year-old singer uses the song to highlight the different ways that the world sees gender roles. Swift believes that men can do whatever they want while women are judged if they go outside the prescribed social norms. The star directed the music video all by herself, so the creative decisions are her own.

Here’s how Swift was made up to look like the Man

The video’s full of Easter eggs, including the fact that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson voices the protagonist at one point

Among the Easter eggs hidden throughout the video is a surprise cameo by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who voices the protagonist at one point. Another hidden surprise is Swift’s dad as a tennis umpire.

“My dad making his acting debut as ‘unimpressed umpire’ is a memory I’ll always cherish. Thank you to the entire cast and crew for helping me become the man I always knew I could be,” Swift wrote on Instagram.

The Man on the subway can be seen reading a newspaper with the headline “WHAT MAN WON THE YEAR IN CELEBRITY DATING.” This is a call out for double standards Taylor has dealt with when she was branded a “serial dater”

The wall is graffitied with the names of some of Taylor’s old albums—Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation

This is a reference to Taylor’s  battle with Scooter Braun and her old record label, Big Machine, for the rights to the master recordings of her first six albums

This is a reference to Miss Americana—a Taylor Swift Netflix documentary

Fans say that this scene of the Man running through a hallway looks very similar to the inside of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s house

The scene with the Man losing it on the tennis court could be a reference to Serena Williams’ loss at the 2018 US Open final. She was fined $17k for shouting at the umpire during the match, and it caused a lot of debate about double standards and sexism in tennis

Image credits: NotAgainBen

Image credits: TSwiftNZ

Bored Panda spoke with Elizabeth Arif-Fear, writer and founder of Voice of Salam, about the plight of women in the 21st century, and what Swift’s song represents.

According to Arif-Fear, the job market is becoming more and more competitive: “It’s not easy for men or women but the gender pay gap continues to grossly exploit women. For every dollar men earn, women earn 70 to 90 cents” she said.

“The stereotypes that Swift discussed in her latest release for example around sexual conduct remain true—there is a clear double standard. The concern by some men of the #MeToo movement shows that attitudes need to change.”

She continued: “There are still double standards concerning men’s behavior vs. women’s’ behavior. Just think of the phrase ‘boys, will be boys.’ However, we must be careful to not demonize all men. There are major obstacles for women in the workplace – but to what extent/how this manifests itself will vary by profession, sector, location and the working culture of the specific company/organization/employer and individual employers and colleagues.”

We also wanted to know if Arif-Fear believes that Swift’s song will have a wider impact on society. “Swift’s song raises some good points. However, for things to change, we need to keep further amplifying voices and the issues raised in the song. Women need to speak out, leaders need to stand up and so too crucially do male allies.”

“We need to share stories, get people talking, hold panels, lead campaigns and get people thinking about these issues. It’s not easy but every bit counts. We can all make a difference: challenge sexist attitudes, report inappropriate behavior and encourage the women in your life to follow their dreams (not a ‘female’ job) and keep pushing to smash that glass ceiling!”

Fans loved Swift’s new music video

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