‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Doesn’t Even Feel Like a Taylor Swift Album
I’m about the same age as Taylor Swift, and for much of her early career, I was a pretty casual fan. I remember feeling frustrated when there was an absolute uproar over Swift’s crossover from country singer to pop star with her album 1989. I couldn’t put my finger on why it all felt so icky….that is, until the Eras Tour. Suddenly, with her whole body of work laid out, something clicked for me: Taylor Swift refused to be boxed in, and the world couldn’t handle that. While musical genres exist for a reason, with Swift, it had always felt like more than a need to categorize an artist. It felt like a constant questioning of her integrity and authenticity. Simply put, it felt… misogynistic.
But perhaps not quite as misogynistic as the commentary her most recent album is eliciting. The first thing I saw on the morning of the release was an Instagram post teasing an opinion piece about Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl. “Taylor Swift is no showgirl,” the headline declared. Without even having listened to the album, I knew I disagreed with the take. Because the opinion wasn’t about the album—it was about something that’s been a theme throughout Swift’s career. “Once you’re a showgirl, you’ll never be anyone’s girl next door again,” the writer opined. In 2025, we’re still doing this to women: demanding they pick a lane, stay in a box, and make themselves easy to define and label. The idea that you have to fall neatly into one of two categories: Sweet, wholesome girl next door or sassy, sexy, bold showgirl, is certainly nothing new. But thanks to social media and the rise of tropes like “soft girl,” “girlboss,” “trad wife,” “lover girl,” and “clean girl,” the pressure for women to categorize themselves feels even more intense than ever.
The idea that Taylor Swift needs to define herself, both as an artist and a persona, has been a constant. “Is she a country star or a pop star?” people asked when 1989 dropped. “Is she a reclusive, publicity-shy figure or a star who wants the spotlight?” they wondered when she announced the Eras Tour. “Is she an intellectual or a WAG?” they questioned when she began dating Travis Kelce. I can’t even begin to understand what it’s like to have the whole world comment on every choice you make in this way. But I, and every other woman, can relate on some micro level. Raise your hand if you’ve felt like someone hears that you like reality TV or romance novels and immediately assumes you’re vapid and shallow and, well, dumb.
“Why are we so hung up on Swift’s resistance to settling into a single, simple box when, instead, we should be praising her range?”
Across social media, there are numerous takes criticizing female Swifties for being overly excited about the new album. Several creators have posted things along the lines of “I wish I could care about Taylor Swift’s new album, but I’m the kind of woman who cares about [insert major world event here]” as though we can’t possibly find room in our heads for more than one interest. I have a really hard time imagining a predominantly male fan base would be spoken about in this way. That’s why the Eras Tour felt like such a game-changer: It showed the world that ~girlhood~ has always been underestimated, that it’s actually a serious economic and cultural force.
The Eras tour was Swift’s way of telling the world that she has tried different things, evolved, and slipped into new personas with every album. The way I see it, that’s not a bad thing; it’s a superpower. That exact 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-on Swiftie. I listen to her music with my own children now, and I love that they get to see a role model who defies categorization. Today, I have a daughter who tells me she wants to be a mommy, a gymnast, a teacher, and a pop star, and I get to tell her that she doesn’t have to choose.
It’s OK if this isn’t your favorite Taylor Swift album. It isn’t mine either (though it is super fun)! What’s not OK is to insinuate that now that Swift has embraced the glitzy, glam aesthetic of this album, she can never be anything else. That she’s crossed the line to becoming a different type of woman entirely now that she’s dared to show some skin or sing about her fiancé’s “New Heights of manhood”. Or, perhaps most frustratingly, that now that she’s happy in her personal romantic life, she’s incapable of creating great art.
If you think she can’t swing from one vibe to another, you obviously weren’t paying attention when she followed up her Reputation era with her Lover album. Why are we so hung up on Swift’s resistance to settling into a single, simple box when, instead, we should be praising her range? Here’s the thing: As women, it feels like we can’t win. Ever. So while many people complained that her last album, The Tortured Poets Department, felt too melancholy and sad and slow, now the crowds harp on the fact that The Life of a Showgirl feels too happy, or simple, or lyrically flat. Some fans even wonder how it’s possible this is the same artist who wrote folklore.
“Misogyny is everywhere, and every female artist, every female period, is going to fall victim to it. Taylor Swift, even with all her privilege and power, is no exception.”
Others accuse Taylor Swift of going full “trad wife” because the song “Wi$h Li$t” includes lyrics about wanting to settle down and have a couple of kids in a house with a “driveway with a basketball hoop.” Because wanting marriage and motherhood automatically earns a woman another label, another box to be placed inside, right? Ironically, just a year ago, people were claiming Swift wasn’t a good role model for young fans because she wasn’t married or a mother in her 30s.
Misogyny is everywhere, and every female artist, every female period, is going to fall victim to it. Taylor Swift, even with all her privilege and power, is no exception. But sometimes it isn’t quite as obvious as shaming a woman for not having a husband or kids in her 30s, or criticizing her for dating too much, or insinuating that any woman who listens to popular music is dumb or mediocre. Sometimes it’s more subtle—like when we question women who dare to try different things, to branch out, to blur the lines of division the world draws to keep women pitted against one another. We insist these women are inauthentic, or lost, or suffering from identity crises.
But women, as we are finally starting to discuss, contain multitudes. We can shift our priorities, embrace new themes, change our minds, switch direction, color outside the lines, and be bigger than the boxes we’ve been stuffed into. We can step into new eras. We can be multiple things. And in a world that will constantly tell women things like “in a world full of [insert a woman’s name], be a [insert another woman’s name]”, we know that it’s just not that simple. We are not that simple.
Yes, in this particular era, Taylor Swift is taking on a persona we haven’t seen from her before. But, to paraphrase a line from Swift herself, we’ve “seen this film before.” We know constant reinvention is the name of the game when it comes to Taylor Swift. The fact that this showgirl persona doesn’t feel or sound like the icon we’ve seen evolve before our very eyes isn’t the problem here. It’s actually the point.
Zara Hanawalt, Contributing Writer
Zara Hanawalt is a freelance journalist and mom of two. She specializes in writing feminist, woman-centric content on motherhood, women’s health, work, entertainment, and lifestyle. She has written for outlets like Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Parents, and more. In her free time, she enjoys travel, cooking, reading, and a good reality romance show.
Feature graphic images 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.
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