At the 66th Grammy Awards, which just concluded, Taylor Swift appeared on the red carpet in a white slit dress, with blonde hair and red lips, full of aura, beautiful and sassy.
This time, Swift won the "Best Pop Album" and "Album of the Year" awards for her album "Midnights", becoming the first artist in history to win the Grammy Album of the Year four times. This is also her 13th Grammy trophy.
Swift, who is only 34 years old, has created too many miracles so far.
On New Year's Eve last year, when the entire Internet was reading "Wansen Zhang, it's snowing", Swift's fans were having a three-hour remote interaction with her in the movie theater. In order to satisfy the needs of fans who could not watch the concert in person, Swift put the concert on the screen. With a production cost of less than 20 million US dollars, it harvested more than 255 million US dollars in box office worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing concert movie in history. .
She is the first singer in the world to usher in the era of paid music; she was named the "Person of the Year" in 2023 by Time magazine, becoming the first woman to be named Person of the Year twice since the magazine selected Person of the Year; Many American universities, including Harvard University, offer special courses for her.
In Forbes' 2023 list of self-made rich women, Swift ranks 34th, and is the top 1 artist who gained wealth solely through music.
During the Great Recession of 2023, her concerts alone boosted the economy by US$5 billion; the first stop of her tour, Glendale, Arizona, USA, was temporarily renamed during the concert "Swift City" celebrates the launch of her tour.
When everyone focuses on Swift's achievements, it is often easy to overlook the huge energy and strong will that she needs to possess as a woman along the way. Why is this international superstar, who was once scolded by the entire internet for his pleaser personality, regarded as a role model for thousands of girls?
Swift, who was born in 1989, has always been a "good girl in the eyes of others." She was born in a well-off family in Pennsylvania, the United States. Her father was a Merrill Lynch stockbroker, her mother was a marketing director of a mutual fund before becoming a housewife, and her maternal grandmother (Marjorie Finlay) was a famous opera singer in Singapore and Thailand.
Perhaps due to the influence of her grandmother, Swift showed a strong interest in poetry and music at a very young age. When she was 9 years old, she became interested in musicals. She wrote her first song at the age of 12 and at the age of 14 He began to write songs professionally and officially signed a contract as a singer at the age of 16. In 2008, the 19-year-old Swift became famous with "love story" and "you belong with me".
Swift's parents fully supported her music dream. When she was 13 years old, in order to help her pursue her music dream, her parents sold their farm in Pennsylvania and moved to Nashville. Growing up in such a family, Swift was surrounded by love and halo since childhood, and it was difficult for her to grow "thorns" on her body.
With her white dress, long blond hair curled in instant noodles, a perfect smile and a guitar that almost never leaves her hand, Swift has always presented a sweet image since her debut, and she is a "good girl" in the secular sense.
In the documentary "Ms. America" ââreleased in 2020, people saw the fragile, little girl side of Swift in life, and also showed the injustice she suffered because of being a "good girl". In the entire documentary, the word that appears most frequently is "good girl". Looking through the diary she kept when she was 13 years old, the diary records her dreams, goals, and her belief in life, which is to become a good person.
What does a "good girl" look like? A good girl will not force her views on others. A good girl will wave and smile and say thank you. A good girl will not make people feel uncomfortable with her views. Swift, who became famous as a teenager, is deeply influenced by this "good girl" belief system. Influence.
However, such a "good girl" was not easily let go.
In 2009, Swift won five American Music Awards, and Billboard named her the 2009 Artist of the Year. This year, she won the Best Female Video Award for "You Belong with Me". However, when she went on stage to receive her award speech, she was rudely interrupted by rapper Kanye West, who said: " BeyoncĂ©âs music video is the best ever.â
The audience booed, and Swift on the stage was at a loss. That year, she was only 20 years old.
When interviewed by the media afterwards, Swift just said awkwardly: "I won the award tonight, I am very happy."
She avoided directly commenting on Kanye's behavior because she has always been taught to be polite. Smile, don't express harsh opinions easily, and be happy when you get a lot of appreciation. So even when faced with reporters' malicious questions, "Not only are you going to win a lot of awards tonight, but you're also going to take away a lot of men," she couldn't give a strong reply and could only respond awkwardly and politely.
In 2016, Kanye slut-shamed Swift in his music video. Swift said she had no knowledge of the matter, but Kardashian released a maliciously edited audio in which Swift said: "Thank you. Kindly remind me, I really appreciate it." This made others think that Swift had agreed in advance. And she obviously didn't do anything. She was just used to saying thank you and sorry, but she was abused and attacked like never before.
The entire Internet began to call Swift a "scheming girl", a white lotus flower, and "pretending to be a victim." At that point, almost everyone had to tweet that they hated her or were out of line. Swift's social media account is filled with snake emoticons. Everyone said she was as vicious and evil as a snake.
#TaylorSwift is over# once became the hottest topic on Twitter globally.
Swift used to want everyone to like her, but this time, she finally understood that pleasing others would not allow her to escape malicious attacks and slander.
Swift disappeared from the public eye for a whole year. When people speculated whether she would never recover, in 2017, she made a strong comeback with the revenge album "reputation". As soon as
's lead single "look what you made me do" opened, Swift was digging a grave. Using this "evil girl" image, she personally buried the "good girl" in the past and declared to those who had hurt her " The Taylor of the past is dead.â
She dressed herself up as a femme fatale and hit back at those who slandered her: "I have a blacklist, congratulations on being redlined by me." This lyric was inspired by Arya in the TV series "Game of Thrones" Stark's kill list.
She wore bright red lips and smoky makeup while lying in a bathtub covered with diamonds. This scene was a mockery of Kardashian: In 2016, Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in a hotel in Paris. Over $10 million in jewelry.
After her return, Swift seems to have the courage and energy to fight against all injustices. She once said when faced with the conflict with Fruit Sister (Ketty Perry): "You won't believe how much I hate conflict. So, now I have to avoid her. It's embarrassing and I don't like it." "And in this new song in 2017, Swift finally stopped escaping. One of the lyrics of
reads: "You prayed to me for a shelter, but you locked me out and enjoyed a feast by yourself." This lyric is related to Fruit Sister's single "bon appétit". Swift's move is a satire on former good sisters who harmed their friendship for business interests.
It wasnât until 2018 that Fruity offered a reconciliation olive branch to Swift, and Swift accepted this friendly signal. In 2019, during Swift's song "You Need to Calm Down", the two dressed up as burgers and fries and hugged together. Swift's background is still that kind girl.
But Swift is no longer the good girl who lets others bully her. She uses her actions to show that she has principles and bottom line. Kardashian intended to make amends with Taylor after her glorious comeback, but Swift would bring up the "recording scandal" again every once in a while to warn her enemies that she has not forgotten this. She can choose to forgive or not. forgive.
In 2019, Swift's old club Big Machine Records sold her music copyright to Kanye's manager (Scooter Braun) for a sky-high price of more than 300 million US dollars. The consequence of this is that from now on, she will be in trouble for music copyright. Question can't sing her old songs on TV.
Swift is not sitting back and waiting for death as people think. In 2021, she released remastered versions of her first six studio albums, taking back control of her music, "I can create them once, and of course a second time."
After experiencing all of this, Swift began to realize sexism and misogyny, which was the first step in her awakening of female consciousness.
What exactly is misogyny? Misogyny manifests itself in men as contempt for women and in women as self-loathing.
Taylor Swift was always dissatisfied with herself and wanted to be what people call a "thin beauty." She chased those beauty standards desperately, fearing that she would accidentally let down the world's expectations.
Later she finally realized that a person can never meet the standard of perfection: "If you are thin enough, you will not have the kind of butt that people desire, but if you weigh enough and have the ideal butt, your My belly is not flat enough.â
Realizing these harsh standards for women is Swiftâs reflection on misogyny.
However, what really made her start fighting for women's rights was an unpleasant sexual harassment experience. 27-year-old Swift was sexually harassed by a DJ. After her boss fired the DJ, the DJ sued her and demanded millions of dollars in compensation. So Swift took the DJ to court, demanding only a symbolic $1 in compensation.
In court, even though she was a victim, she did not get the slightest sympathy or respect. Even though the evidence was conclusive, those people still kept asking: "Why didn't you scream? Why didn't you take action faster? Why didn't you stay away from him?"
She felt very angry because this happened to women all the time. , when defending rights, all the details were distorted in the report, and even if the lawsuit was won, there was no feeling of victory. People only hope to be protected by the law are the so-called "perfect victims", and this is undoubtedly a secondary injury to those who have been harmed physically and mentally.
All this made Swift decide to stand up bravely. During the 2018 US election, she publicly called on everyone to oppose policies that deprive women of their rights. This time, there was a nationwide sensation.
Prior to this, Swift had been tight-lipped about her political stance. For artists, taking a political stance is risky. She always thinks about talking less and not causing trouble. It is better to do less than to do more.
Now she realizes that women's loss of power is universal. As a public figure, she has the responsibility to set an example. If even she dare not speak out, how can ordinary women defend their rights?
From a personal standpoint, Swift began to break the silent "good girl" image. He publicly criticized the new governor, acted as a successful man to oppose discrimination against women in the workplace, and filmed a music video with Pink Bear to speak out for minority groups.
The awakening of female consciousness is also reflected in the sense of self-identity. Swift's return to her true nature allows us to see her as strong and dazzling light as the sun. She no longer carefully maintains her persona in front of the public, and she no longer caters to the gaze and expectations of the outside world.
She became calmer and calmer, accepting everything that happened to her.At the graduation ceremony of New York University, Swift wore a purple academic uniform and frankly and firmly shared her life experiences and insights with classmates from all over the world. "The mistakes I made brought me the best things in my life." Things. When you fall, stand up, see who is still by your side, and then laugh it off. This is a rare gift."
Even though she was criticized by many people for frequently changing boyfriends, Swift still has no problem with it. Don't hide your desire for love. There is a scene in the
documentary. After the concert, Swift ran excitedly to her boyfriend's arms. Her boyfriend also hugged her, lowered his head and kissed her forehead. At this time, Swift smiled like a little girl.
was openly open when they were together, and she did not hide her sadness after separation. She wrote her feelings with her ex as creative inspiration into her songs. She never had the slightest hesitation or cowardice in the face of love.
From "country singer" to "international superstar", Swift bravely took off her labels and challenged new music styles, but what remains unchanged is her enthusiasm for music. She still insists on telling stories through music, and fans feel like they are reading her diary when listening to her songs. This is her original intention that has never wavered since she wrote her first song at the age of 12, and it is also the tacit understanding between her and her fans.
Swift is not only a singer, but also a brave warrior.
Her experience, her story, and her music all show a very concrete female power to the world.
To live the way others expect, or to live the way you are, Swift spent more than ten years searching for this answer. Like all ordinary girls, she was accustomed to pleasing others under her altruistic education and based her self-evaluation on others' evaluations of her.
Now 34 years old, she uses her personal experience to tell all girls: learn to enjoy loneliness, focus on your own growth, and not be afraid of slander and attack, because the only one who can defeat you is the better you in the future.
Fortunately, the cold water thrown by life did not extinguish her hot soul, allowing her to emerge from the cocoon and become a butterfly;
Fortunately, she found a way to reconcile with the world, not as happy as taught by others, just because she was happy;
Fortunately, she found a way to reconcile with the world. , returned after all the hardships, she was still the girl who stood under the spotlight holding a guitar and singing for her fans;
Taylor Swift showed us that the boat has passed the Ten Thousand Mountains.
Producer: Ning Li sherry
Responsible editor: violet
Written by: Yu Xiaotang
