Taylor Swift is usually quite coy about her personal life, but in her new cover story for April's Vanity Fair issue, she defends herself, speaking out against the critics that have turned her dating life into somethingof a spectacle. 

While in the past Swift may have steered away from addressing some hot topics, she clears the air of any speculation regarding her so-called habit of jumping from boyfriend to boyfriend, saying, "If you want some big revelation, since 2010 I have dated exactly two people." The 23-year-old goes on to state, "The fact that there are slide shows of a dozen guys that I either hugged on a red carpet or met for lunch or wrote a song with... it's just kind of ridiculous. It's why I have to avoid the tabloid part of our culture, because they turn you into a fictional character."

Swift does try to deal with the tabloid's speculations in a rational manner, although it seems apparent that the gossipy hype surrounding her personal life bothers her on a deep level. "One of these things I say to myself to calm myself down when I feel like it's all too much," she explains. "If there's a pregnancy rumor, people will find out it's not true when you wind up not being pregnant, like nine months from now, and if there's a house rumor, they'll find out it's not true when you are actively not ever spotted at that house."

"For a female to write about her feelings, and then be portrayed as some clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her, I think that’s taking something that potentially should be celebrated -- a woman writing about her feelings in a confessional way -- that’s taking it and turning it and twisting it into something that is frankly a little sexist," she insists.

The young singer apparently did see 'red' when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler joked at the Golden Globes about Swift's love life, but she calmly combats their comments, saying, "You know, Katie Couric is one of my favorite people. Because she said to me she had heard a quote that she loved, that said, 'There's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women.'" Ouch! Perhaps Swift's using the theme of her last tour, 'Speak Now,' to get a message out to those who criticize her.

With her upcoming Red Tour, which promises some terrific opening acts, Swift will probably be too busy to keep an eye on the tabloids. Let's hope she keeps her head down, with her eyes on making her tour a smashing success.

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