I think the argument is against adding rules to tags to create a default set of styles, not against using semantic tags throughout the page.

If my understanding is correct, the argument is to use

  <style>
    .my-article {
      background-color: fuchsia;
    }
  </style>
  <article class="my-article">...</article>

rather than

  <style>
    article {
      background-color: fuchsia;
    }
  </style>
  <article>...</article>