Diary of a Gen Z Student: Why I'm excited Taylor Swift is getting married
Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce announcing their engagement. Picture: Instagram
When I was about seven years old, one of my afterschool activities was singing. And one of the first songs I remember being taught was by Taylor Swift. I would play that song on repeat on a CD player I had found in my attic, making sure I knew every note. I loved the singing lessons, up until the point I was asked to get on a stage and sing in front of people I didn’t know. The very suggestion of a performance in my local community centre put a complete halt to my music career.
But my passion for Taylor Swift’s music carried on. So, when I was cooking dinner last week, and heard the news of Taylor Swift’s engagement, I was genuinely excited.
Most young women, like me, were first introduced to Taylor Swift when she was still a teenager, writing about her first experiences of love and heartbreak. We loved the honesty and humour in her lyrics. When you’re a teenager, every emotion can feel so extreme; you’re sort of oscillating between total euphoria and feeling like your life is over. Those emotions can be kind of all-consuming.
Her angsty lyrics, her cynicism, her unapologetic declaration that a boy who disappointed her is ‘just another picture to burn’: she gave us words to put to those emotions. And we idolised her for it.
Of course, there were growing pains. As her success grew, she was heavily criticised for writing too much about her love life. It became sort of cool to say you hated her, even while her songs were still appealing to a massive audience. People spoke about her music and her fanbase with such derision, liking Taylor Swift became a silly, girly thing.
If you were a Swiftie, you were just young and didn’t know what real music was. As if everyone at her concert was sitting around and giggling about boys and tampons. But if anything could put that type of misogyny to rest, it was the unparalleled success of her Eras Tour. Two years of sold-out concerts, lasting three hours each night. Few artists could pull that off. I never made it to her Eras Tour in Dublin, and I’ve still got FOMO about it.
Despite the vast amounts of criticism, what she was doing obviously worked. Those silly songs about her love life weren’t so silly after all. So, it’s no wonder Swifties everywhere have been sent into a total frenzy, by the announcement of her engagement to Travis Kelce. As if the upcoming album wasn’t enough for us already! She had us all ‘screaming, crying’ (name those lyrics) over our Instagram feeds.
It’s been sort of funny to watch the discourse around their relationship over the past few years. Travis Kelce was famous before he met Taylor Swift, with his successful American Football career. But when you’re dating Taylor Swift, that stuff will fall by the wayside a little.
Most Swifties have thought of him as Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, now fiancé. And he’s been happy to play that role, carrying her onto the stage, joining her on tour. I think that’s what so many people love about their relationship. She’s this super successful woman, and she hasn’t had to sacrifice having a relationship for that success.
Taylor Swift is now a woman in her mid-thirties. She released her first album in 2006, when she was sixteen years old. We’ve been following her career for close to two decades. We’ve watched her move from high school relationships through early adulthood. Every relationship she’s had has been dissected and relentlessly scrutinised by millions of people. It’s a full circle moment to see her announce that she’ll be getting married.
The Instagram post announcing their engagement was even accompanied by the song from her most recent album. A song about how the exhilaration of her new relationship makes her feel like she’s in high school again. And if you’re a long-time fan, you’ll remember her in those days.
I’m hesitant to say this is her happy ending, as lots of people are describing it. Because Taylor Swift has always been about so much more than having your life revolve around any man. I’m so delighted that she’s getting married. But I’m even more excited to see what she does next. She never fails to impress.
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