Remember when we were all younger and a little less wiser? For some of us (hello), that meant prefacing messages of equality with, “I’m not a feminist, but . . .” and we weren’t alone. In her interview with Maxim, Taylor Swift clarifies her former anti-feminist sentiments a.k.a. her very public declaration that she wasn’t one, many moons ago.
“I didn’t have an accurate definition of feminism when I was younger,” she told the magazine. “I didn’t quite see all the ways that feminism is vital to growing up in the world we live in. I think thats when I used to say, ‘Oh, feminism’s not really on my radar,’ it was because when I was just seen as a kid, I wasn’t as threatening. I didn’t see myself being held back until I was a woman.”
Enter: the double standard.
“A man writing about his feelings from a vulnerable place is brave; a woman writing about her feelings from a vulnerable place is oversharing or whining,” Swift elaborated. “Misogyny is ingrained in people from the time they are born. So to me, feminism is probably the most important movement that you could embrace, because it’s basically just another word for equality.”
Which is true! (Minus some technicalities that we’re not going to get into here.) Either way, conversation about feminism is important — and especially from one of the most powerful women in music. Let’s just make sure we’re paying attention to the other women fighting for it and acting on behalf of it, too.
