As many know, March is Women’s History Month. Ever since 1995, March has been dedicated to women, to acknowledge what they have contributed to the world, how much they have fought to have equal rights, and just simply shedding a light on brilliant women.
However, there is a misconception that celebrating women’s history means looking deep in the past. While the past is wonderful to examine, there are women in today’s society that made and are still making history today. One worth noting is, the one and only, Taylor Swift.
She is a global phenomenon. Creating music, being an excellent business woman, standing up for what she believes in, Taylor can do it all. Despite critics and hateful expressions towards Taylor, she has managed to show women what it is like to be a woman in the music industry.
Taylor started in the music industry when she was just fourteen years old. After putting her self-titled out in 2006, her next album put her on a high. She became the youngest person to receive a Grammy for her album Fearless. Not stopping, in 2010 her third album Speak Now came out. Following her next album RED, Swift earned her first number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for “We Are Never Getting Back Together.” Although her stardom really hit when she created a new name for herself. Her album, 1989 album was her first ever Pop album. Having written all country albums before, she brought a sound to the industry, showing other artists that any individual can step out of the box and not limit themselves to one genre of music. Her album was titled after her birth year, showcasing all she was.
Receiving hate towards her music, lifestyle, and body, Swift took a break from the whole public scene and “disappeared,” but then came back as bad as ever. Her sixth album, Reputation, came out in 2017. After a beautiful tour and spectacular comeback, Swift switched sides and created her seventh album, Lover. Leaving Big Machine Records and joining Republic Records, Swift left due to no longer having the right to own her music. Going into her new album, she now had the rights to her new songs. Showcasing what it is like to be in a world that is not always fair, Taylor released her song titled, The Man. The song portrays the harsh realities that if she was a man, she would be regarded differently and at a higher status. In this album she also stands up for LGBTQ rights, advocating for others. Although this album was a dive into the so-called Daylight, in 2020 Taylor released her documentary, Miss Americana. Netflix described the film as a “raw and emotionally revealing look” at Swift “during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice.”
After the documentary her next two albums, folklore and evermore, came out during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Taylor managed to thrive and release her breathtaking folklore documentary on Disney+ all in the same year. Continuing into 2021, Taylor began to re-record her stolen albums and started naming them “Taylor’s Version.” Her first two re-recordings were of Fearless and RED. Out of the pandemic, Taylor released her tenth studio album, Midnights. Later announcing the Eras Tour, it became the highest grossing tour of all time by any artist. On tour she released her albums, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), 1989 (Taylor’s Version), and The Tortured Poets Department. This tour was her longest and most fulfilling journey she has been on in her musical career. Swift recorded her tour and put out her concert film in theaters and on prime video, and Disney + as well.
Spanning now nineteen years of music, Taylor has had large stepping stones in her career. Collaborating with other intelligent artists, directing her own music videos, releasing her “All Too Well: The Short Film,” winning three hundred twenty-four awards so far in her career, Taylor is still going strong and that is not even the half of it! She donates to charities and visits patients in the hospital, has done meet and greets with fans, as well as listening parties. Taylor has shown how women are powerful and can accomplish many wondrous things no matter the difficulty or what anyone else says about you. Her songwriting to put feelings to words. Taylor writes from the heart about love, mental health, addiction, fantasies, pain, friendship, and much more. Looking back at everything she has done, this is Taylor’s world. We’re just lucky to be living in it.
