Taylor Swift Is Dating (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift is a lot of things — a singer, a songwriter, performer, director, producer, actress, business mogul, cat mother, Grammy-award winner, multi-property owner, philanthropist, global tourism ambassador for New York (I just found this out) and so much more. But the single thing that rolled around in the universal mouth of the internet for the best part of a decade was that she was a “Slut!”.
At the time of writing this, we’re about a month out from the anticipated release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and something in the air feels different to last time that 1989 was waiting in the wings.
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Back in the early years of Taylor’s career, the headlines were poison. The conversation was so toxic and abhorrent that if you stumbled on the words that were published about her, you’d be filled to your eyeballs with unbridled rage. Misogyny ran deep in the veins of the media, with a special strain reserved for young and successful women. And that’s not even tapping the keg of uncles standing shoulder to shoulder at family barbecues, who just can’t help but have an opinion.
The obsession with Taylor’s love life was particularly icky. Everyone had something to say about who Taylor Swift was dating. They had things to say about how long she was with someone, or the time in between her relationships, her motives for dating somebody, or how she measured up to past partners. Scrutinise her for keeping things private, and berate her for being too public. They’d joke about the songs she’d write about her heartbreak but go on to pick apart the details to generate more headlines. She couldn’t win.
But right now? Something kind of beautiful is unfurling in front of our eyes like a delightful spring bloom. Her stages have never been bigger (or harder to get tickets to). She has never had more eyes on her, or more people championing her work. She’s breaking ticketing websites and economies. And Taylor Swift is dating again, but this time, it’s on her terms. It’s Taylor’s Version.
Taylor Swift chatting it up with Travis Kelce's mom, Donna ❤️
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/n2Ez2LkWFm
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 24, 2023
After a few months of public pursuit and wholesome adoration, NFL player Travis Kelce left the Chiefs vs. Bears game with Taylor Swift riding shotgun with her hair undone in the front seat of his car. She’d spent the duration of the game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City sitting next to Travis’ mum and friends, having the time of her damn life. She was throwing her head back, laughing like a little kid. At one point, Taylor appeared on the big screen with the caption “Taylor Swift: 12-Time Grammy Award Winner.” Say it louder!
Taylor Swift is HERE for the Chiefs game 👀 pic.twitter.com/46SW4gEodz
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 24, 2023
The social conversation about Taylor at the Chiefs game was pure joy. Endless videos of people joking to their NFL-obsessed partners that Taylor Swift put this up-and-coming football player on the map. (Side bar: loving this era of social experiments on men. More Roman Empire gags please.)
This public, IDGAF vibe feels out of character for Taylor — someone who, out of necessity, has kept a tight hold on her public image for years now. “Be new to us, be young to us, but only in a new way and only in the way we want,” Taylor shared on walking this popstar tightrope on her 2020 documentary, Miss Americana. “And reinvent yourself, but only in a way that we find to be equally comforting but also a challenge for you. Live out a narrative that we find to be interesting enough to entertain us, but not so crazy that it makes us uncomfortable.”
There’s nothing more we could’ve hoped for than Taylor embracing her full self with people that make her happy — especially after she was begging on Midnights, “Don’t put me in the basement/When I want the penthouse of your heart.”
The shift in the reception of Taylor Swift is a lesson in righting your wrongs. In the year of Barbie The Movie, The Queen in the North, and Tube Girl, there’s no better time to dismantle the internal patriarchal damage that forced us to narrow our eyes at women for living their lives.
Throughout Taylor’s career so far, we’ve seen her success, snubs, controversy, cancellation, the fucking listicles and timelines of her dating history, everything catching on fire and a triumphant rise from the ashes. And she’s still flying.
On ‘Fifteen’, a coming-of-age track from Fearless, Taylor coos to her high-school self: “You’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team.” And she has.
Taylor’s not hiding herself anymore. She won’t be shamed. She’s not slinking around in the shadows or taking back exits, hiding her face or disappearing for months at a time. And as for her relationships? Not the most interesting thing about her. In 2023, Taylor Swift walks into a room and makes the whole place shimmer.
Written by Talecia Vescio, your local Aquarius Junkee Producer & Presenter. Find her on Instagram as @taleciavescio if you want to be friends.
Image credit: 1989 (Taylor’s Version)