'The Life of a Showgirl' Doesn't Even Feel Like a Taylor Swift Album

I’m around the same age as Taylor Swift, and for most of her early career, I was a casual fan. I remember being frustrated when there was an uproar over Swift’s transition from country singer to pop star with her album 1989. I don’t know why everything felt so gross….that is, until the Eras Tour. Suddenly, with all her work laid out, something clicked for me: Taylor Swift refused to be put in a box, and the world couldn’t handle it. While music genres exist for a reason, for Swift, they’ve always felt like more than just a necessity to categorize an artist. It felt like he was constantly questioning his integrity and authenticity. Simply put, it feels… misogynistic.

But perhaps not as misogynistic as the comments that appear on his latest album. The first thing I saw the morning of its release was an Instagram post offering opinions about Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl. “Taylor Swift is not a showgirl,” the caption read. Even without listening to the album, I know I don’t agree with that take. Because her opinion isn’t about the album—it’s about something that’s been a theme throughout Swift’s career. “Once you’re a showgirl, you’ll never be the girl next door again,” the author opined. In 2025, we’re still doing this to women: demanding they choose a path, stay in a box, and make themselves easy to define and label. The idea that you have to fit into one of two categories: The sweet, wholesome girl next door or the sassy, sexy, and bold showgirl is certainly nothing new. But thanks to social media and the rise of tropes like the “gentle girl,” “girlboss,” “traditional wife,” “sweetheart girl,” and “clean girl,” the pressure for women to categorize themselves feels stronger than ever.

The idea that Taylor Swift needs to define herself, both as an artist and as a person, has always been present. “Is he a country star or a pop star?” people ask when 1989 fell. “Is he a recluse, publicity-shy, or a star who wants to be in the spotlight?” they wonder when he will announce the Eras Tour. “Is he an intellectual or a WAG?” they questioned when she started dating Travis Kelce. I can’t even fathom what it would be like to have the whole world commenting on every choice you make in this way. But I, and every other woman, can understand it on a micro level. Raise your hand if you think someone heard that you liked reality TV or romance novels and immediately assumed that you were vapid, shallow, and, well, stupid.

“Why are we so fixated on Swift’s refusal to tick one simple box when, instead, we should be praising her range?”

On social media, there have been many critics criticizing female Swifties for being too excited about the new album. Some creators have posted things like “I wish I could care about Taylor Swift’s new album, but I’m the kind of girl who cares. [insert major world event here]” as if we couldn’t possibly find room in our heads for more than one interest. I have a hard time imagining a male-dominated fan base would be talked about in this way. That’s why the Eras Tour feels like such a game-changer: It shows the world that ~adolescence~ has always been undervalued, that it’s actually a serious economic and cultural force.

The Eras Tour is Swift’s way of letting the world know that she’s been trying different things, evolving and tapping into a new persona with each album. I don’t think that’s a bad thing; it is a superpower. That willingness to evolve is what took Swift from superstar to icon. It’s what made me understand her legacy in a whole new way, and it’s what made me transition from casual fan to full-fledged Swiftie. I now listen to his music with my kids, and I’m glad they get to see a role model who defies categorization. Right now, I have a daughter who tells me that she wants to be a mother, a gymnast, a teacher, and a pop star, and I have to tell her that she doesn’t have to choose.

It’s okay if this isn’t your favorite Taylor Swift album. It’s not mine either (although it’s really fun)! What not to do is insinuate that now that Swift has embraced the glamorous, glamorous aesthetic of this album, she can never be anyone else. That she has crossed the line into being a different kind of woman now that she dares to show some skin or sing about her fiancé’s “New Heights of Manhood.” Or, perhaps most frustratingly, now that he is happy with his personal romantic life, he is unable to create great works of art.

If you thought he couldn’t move from one vibration to another, you clearly weren’t paying attention when he acted on it Reputation era with him Beloved album. Why are we so fixated on Swift’s refusal to tick one simple box when, instead, we should be praising her range? Here’s the thing: As women, it feels like we can’t win. Once. So even though many people complained about his last album, Department of Tortured Poetsfeels too melancholic, sad, and slow, now people are talking about that fact a lot The Life of a Showgirl it feels too happy, or simple, or the lyrics are flat. Some fans even wondered how it was possible that the artist who wrote it was the same folklore.

“Misogyny is everywhere, and every female artist, every female period, will fall victim to it. Taylor Swift, even with all her privilege and power, is no exception.”

Others accused Taylor Swift of being a “traditional wife” because the song “Wi$h Li$t” included lyrics about wanting to settle down and have a few kids in a house with a “driveway with a basketball hoop.” Because the desire to marry and become a mother automatically gives a woman another label, another box to put herself in, right? Ironically, a year ago, people claimed Swift wasn’t a good role model for young fans because of her No married or a mother in her 30s.

Misogyny is everywhere, and every female artist, every female period, will fall victim to it. Taylor Swift, even with all her privilege and power, is no exception. But sometimes it’s not as obvious as shaming a woman for not having a husband or children in her 30s, or criticizing her for dating too often, or insinuating that any woman who listens to popular music is stupid or mediocre. Sometimes it’s more subtle—like when we question women who dare to try different things, to stretch themselves, to blur the lines of division that exist in the world to keep women pitted against each other. We insist that these women are inauthentic, or lost, or suffering from an identity crisis.

But women, as we are finally starting to discuss, contain a great deal. We can shift our priorities, embrace new themes, change our minds, change direction, color outside the boundaries, and become bigger than the boxes we have been put in. We can step into a new era. We can be many things. And in a world that constantly tells women things like “in a world full of [insert a woman’s name]be a [insert another woman’s name]”, we know that it is not that simple. We are not that simple.

Yes, in this particular era, Taylor Swift took on a persona we’ve never seen before. However, if we’re to paraphrase Swift herself, we’ve “seen this movie before.” We know that constant reinvention is what matters most when it comes to Taylor Swift. The fact that this showgirl persona doesn’t feel or sound like the icon we see developing before our eyes isn’t the issue here. That’s actually the point.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zara Hanawalt, Contributing Writer

Zara Hanawalt is a freelance journalist and mother of two. She specializes in writing feminist and women-centered content about motherhood, women’s health, work, entertainment, and lifestyle. She has written for outlets such as Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Parents, and more. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, reading, and a good romantic reality show.

READ ZARA’S FULL BIO

Featured graphic image credited to: @taylorswift (1, 2), CrackerClips | Adobe Stock

The post ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Doesn’t Even Feel Like a Taylor Swift Album appeared first on The Everygirl.

Review Film
Berita Terkini
Berita Terkini
Berita Terkini
review anime