People have been speculating for years over whether Taylor Swift identifies as a feminist, and the singer has finally settled it: yes she does. Swift says she didn’t always feel that way, but says that good friend Lena Dunham helped teach her by example what feminism is all about. She is also firing back at critics who she says take “cheap shots” at her lyrics, as she feels she is subjected to a double standard because she is a woman.

Swifts says that she used to be hesitant to take on the ‘feminist’ label because, “as a teenager, I didn’t understand that saying you’re a feminist just means you hope women and men will have equal opportunities. At the time, she says, she equated the term with hating men. She goes on to explain that it was her friendship with Lena Dunham that helped open her eyes. As she explains, “becoming friends with Lena – without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes…has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so.”

The star also has some thoughts on critics who she believes unfairly judge her songwriting: “I really resent the idea that if a woman writes about her feelings, she has too many feelings. And I resent the ‘be careful buddy, she’s gonna write a song about you,’ because it trivializes what I do.” She explains that while she doesn’t care what people say about her personal life, “I don’t like it when they start to take cheap shots at my songwriting, because there’s no joke to be made there.”

Swift has received a lot of flak over the years for focusing so heavily, in her music, on her various failed relationships, mostly with other celebrities. Lately though, with the release of her new ‘Shake It Off’ Video, she has also received criticism for what some see as racism and cultural appropriation: One part of the features the singer in big hoop gold earrings and an animal print track jacket, crawling through a tunnel of twerking, mostly black backup dancers. Dunham, for her part, has been criticized a fair amount for the lack of diversity on her TV show, Girls.