Renowned feminist Camille Paglia has launched a withering attack on Taylor Swift, labelling the singer an “obnoxious Nazi Barbie” whose “twinkly persona is such a scary flashback to the fascist blondes who ruled the social scene during my youth”.

Paglia, author of Sexual Personae, lashed Swift for having an elitist attitude and for surrounding herself with women she used as “performance props”.

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Swift has what she refers to as a “girl squad”, celebrity supporters including Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham, Cara Delevingne and Karlie Kloss. The Guardian reports that many have appeared on stage with Swift during the tour to promote her album, 1989.

Paglia, 68, condemned this as ‘exhibitionist overkill’ by the singer.

In an essay for the Hollywood Reporter, the cultural critic said the “tittering, tongues-out mugging of Swift’s bear-hugging posse” was at odds with the modern era of female independence and instead promoted a “silly, regressive public image”.

She added: “Swift herself should retire that obnoxious Nazi Barbie routine of wheeling out friends and celebrities as performance props.”

Paglia said that modern girl squads could be pivotal in overcoming the obstacles still faced by women in Hollywood, in terms of representations and the gender pay gap, but said it was essential they did not simply become a “cozy, cliquish retreat from romantic fiascoes” whose focus was solely on socialising.

She called on women to aim higher as collectives, particularly in the face of the intense scrutiny faced by women in the public eye.

She said: “Young women performers are now at the mercy of a swarming, intrusive paparazzi culture, intensified by the hypersexualisation of our flesh-baring fashions. The girl squad phenomenon has certainly been magnified by how isolated and exposed young women feel in negotiating the piranha shoals of the industry.”

Paglia is the author of several books that examine the relationship between feminism and popular culture, including Sex, Art and American Culture and Vamps and Tramps.

Swift is not the first cultural figure to be on the receiving end of Paglia’s scorn. In previous essays she said the former Daily Show presenter Jon Stewart symbolised the “decline and vacuity of contemporary comedy”, criticised Lady Gaga for being “artificial and calculated” and drew comparisons between Bill Clinton and the entertainer Bill Cosby, who is the subject of more than 50 allegations of sexual assault.