Taylor Swift Understands Feminism

Many celebrities around the world use their voices for things that don’t really matter, but what’s truly important are the celebrities that use their voices to promote the morals they believe in. Look at Taylor Swift: a young well-known woman who has taken the world by storm with her powerful red lip and incredible fashion sense.

But besides these materialistic items, Taylor is using her voice to inspire others to label themselves as a feminist.

Too many people today are afraid to label themselves as being a “feminist” because of the old belief that it stands for bra-burning, no shaving, and being anti-men.

“So many girls out there say, ‘I’m not a feminist’ because they think it means something angry or disgruntled or complaining. They picture like rioting and picketing; it is not that at all, it just simply means that you believe that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities,” Taylor has been quoted as saying.

Like many people, Taylor clearly had the same initial views of the word feminism. With the help of fellow celebrity feminist Lena Dunham, Taylor was able to see what the word actually means.

“As a teenager, I didn’t understand that saying you’re a feminist is just saying that you hope women and men will have equal rights and equal opportunities. What it seemed to me, the way it was phrased in culture, society, was that you hate men. And now, I think a lot of girls have had a feminist awakening because they understand what the word means. For so long it’s been made to seem like something where you’d picket against the opposite sex, whereas it’s not about that at all. Becoming friends with Lena – without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for – has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so,” she said.

However, we have a road block in achieving these equal opportunities for men and women. While some women are working towards building themselves up, they’re also tearing other women down in the process. Taylor also believes there are steps to take in order to achieve these equal opportunities.

“One thing I do believe as a feminist is that in order for us to have gender equality, we have to stop making it a girl fight. And we have to stop with being so interested in girls trying to tear each other down. It has to be more about cheering each other on as women. And that’s just how I feel about it,” Taylor said.

Overall, I’m so thankful that a person with a very influential voice like Taylor is using it to develop the world of feminism. Reasons like this are why I love Taylor Swift. While I always enjoyed her music, when I read these quotes, my love for her grew even more after I found out that she stands for the same beliefs that I did.

Alexis is currently a freshman at Pace University - Pleasantville, and majoring in Communications with a minor in Public Relations and Marketing. She has a multitude of different cultures in her: German, Belgian, French, Norwegian, Greek, and English, and she appreciates each and every part of it. Besides embracing her culture, Alexis enjoys being involved on her college campus in a variety of organizations. Her main passion lies in women empowerment and she hopes to leave a mark on the world one day.