Taylor Swift fans push latest movie to number one at box office
To celebrate the release of her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift has also premiered an 89-minute film celebration called Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of Showgirls.
Taylor Swift wants to make sourdough bread. Her wish list includes a house with a basketball court. And she may even have a few children with fiancé Travis Kelce.
She reveals these aspirations on her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” where she sings about her husband, children, and quiet future.
She also talked about her future with NFL player Kelce in recent media appearances. She revealed to Jimmy Fallon that she turned down the Super Bowl halftime show because she was “riveted all season long to what that guy was doing on the field.”
Fans have had mixed reactions to the engaged pop star, some of which have turned political. In an atmosphere where everything, even marriage, has become a political issue, it’s no wonder Swift’s lyrics and comments are being scrutinized.
X’s post, which has more than 20,000 likes, said of Swift’s Super Bowl comments: “It’s really disgusting that a tradwife makes me feel like I’m just a girl when he’s a big, strong guy doing important things. It’s disgusting to me.”
Other fans on TikTok are wondering when marriage suddenly became a “partisan political choice.”
Is it now considered conservative to get married and have children? a commenter asked.
These daydreams differ from the “1950s” life that Swift denounced on her album Midnights, and veer toward a more stable era than “The Tortured Poets Division.” However, she admitted that it was a “lie” that she was the “eldest daughter” and did not believe in marriage.
One Swiftie opined, “This is something she’s wanted and talked about most of her life.”
Either way, the Internet backlash shows just how blue and red marriage and caregiving are for American women.
“As a married mother of two myself, I don’t believe that wanting to get married and have children means taking sides in a cultural battle,” said Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women’s Law Center.
What’s more important in this cultural conversation is helping women have “the freedom to decide what kind of life is right for them, whether it’s marriage or having children,” Martin said.
The “trad wife” discourse directed at Swift is driven by the fact that fans feel they know Swift personally. Melvin Williams, a gender and pop culture researcher at Pace University, says this is what’s called a parasocial relationship.
“There’s a deep connection between Taylor Swift’s pursuit of love and their experiences,” Williams said. Swift has been pouring out her heart and soul to her fans for decades. But now these loyal fans feel like they’ve lost that intimacy, like when a best friend starts a serious relationship and loses contact.
“I think some fans are struggling with the painful reality that their favorite (star) is growing up,” Williams said. “They’re used to having frequent access to her, so it’s causing panic.”
Fans know that Swift is a fiercely independent woman (the 10-minute versions of “The Man” and “All Too Well” from “Lover” are proof of that) and who fought for ownership and control of the music industry (as captured on “Father Figure” from “Showgirl”). Williams said seeing this empowered woman take a more traditional path destabilizes fans’ perceptions of her.
Elissa Strauss, who writes about the politics and culture of parenting and caregiving and is the author of When You Care, said the current discourse surrounding Swift reinforces the idea that some women are mothers and homemakers, while others are career women. Most women fall somewhere between these two metaphors, and feminists like Strauss have worked for years to eliminate this false dichotomy.
The uproar over Swift’s views is driven by our own fear of losing control and power, Williams said. But Williams said it’s okay for Swift or anyone to change their priorities over time.
“Taylor, as always, is just sharing her reality with her fans,” he said. “It’s not a reflection of any political party. It’s a reflection of the human experience.”
And Swift has made it clear that family life and career are not mutually exclusive. In an interview on BBC Radio 2’s The Breakfast Show on October 6, Swift told host Scott Mills that getting married doesn’t mean quitting her job, and said it was “very unpleasant” for anyone to think a wedding ring meant her exit from the music industry.
“People don’t get married to quit their jobs,” she says. “I love the person I’m with because he loves my work and how much making art fulfills me.”
Madeline Mitchell’s role covering women and the care economy for USA TODAY is supported by partnerships such as: extremely important and Journalism funding partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Contact Madeline at: memitchell@usatoday.com and @maddiemitch_With X.
