It will come as no shock, but we are still in the era of Taylor Swift. Coming off the momentum from her instantly-sold-out stadium tour, Taylor was awarded Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023. Not only did Taylor Swift perform (btw the tour’s still going strong) her near-two decade catalog for millions, literally millions, of fans, but she sold these concerts out in mere minutes. Behind each sold out show were hours-long queues of fans with credit cards in hand, waiting to purchase tickets. On concert nights, at the outskirts of each jam-packed stadium, thousands of additional fans can be found, listening to their favorite songs. 

But touring for 152 nights in 54 cities worldwide isn’t enough. She's also rerecording all of her old albums in an effort to stick it to the man, and this spring she released the 31 song surprise-double-album, The Tortured Poets Department. 

Even more, she recorded her 3 and a half hour concert and made an Eras Tour movie for anyone who wasn’t able to attend the show. There is no corner of the internet where you can hide from Ms. Swift. She even boosted Sunday football’s popularity after attending her Chiefs boyfriend’s games. 

Why can’t we stop talking about, and listening to, Taylor Swift? Why does everyone care so much about the 34-year-old singer? Easy. Taylor Swift is the world’s biggest influencer. 

Starting as a 10-year-old, I have gone through the best and worst parts of my life with Taylor’s music in my ears. I used to sit at the kitchen table after school, writing down lyrics to each of Taylor Swift’s songs by hand. Even then, I felt a sort of connection to the singer. The internet floats the idea that if you don’t like Taylor Swift it’s because you have never fallen in love. I think if you don’t like Taylor Swift it’s because you’ve never known to lean on her when you’re going through a heartbreak, or healing, or experiencing what one might call a coming-of-age moment. 

All this to say, Taylor Swift has a huge impact on girls and women across the globe. She is often regarded as one of the rare celebrities with a true positive impact on young women. Tik Tok is littered with videos of her captioned “we made the right person famous.” In Swift’s documentary, Miss Americana, we can see how seriously she takes this influence. The film shows the unraveling of her decision to speak out on politics for the first time. 

In October of 2018, Taylor Swift endorsed a political candidate for the first time. She took to Instagram writing, “In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now… I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender, or who they love.” She then endorsed Democratic Senate and House candidates and encouraged her followers to register to vote. 

Exactly two years later, Swift endorsed Joe Biden for President. She explained her decision to V Magazine stating, "the change we need most is to elect a president who recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women deserve the right to choose what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be acknowledged and included."

And, in March of 2024, Swift urged her community to vote in Presidential primaries. So where is she now?

There is much speculation that Taylor Swift will be endorsing Kamala Harris for president in the upcoming weeks. During the DNC, Reddit and X were host to a slew of rumors that she would be performing at the convention. While that didn’t happen, I still believe (and hope) that Taylor’s endorsement of Kamala would be massively influential in this election.

The US leg of the Eras Tour’s penultimate stop is in Florida- one of the most important swing states in our country. Is it too much to hope that this was intentional? That the concert may double as a sort of Kamala rally? We may never know what goes on in this mastermind’s head, but one thing is for sure- everything she does has reason and intention behind it. 

As someone who works in vaginal, sexual, and reproductive health, I can’t stop thinking about the implications of this election. About the potential wins for women’s health… and the potential losses. 

I was lucky enough to attend the tour last summer. As we were getting ready, my boyfriend hung a flag in our apartment that said: “Taylor Swift 2024, Save America Again.” This is my plea- please Taylor, help us save women’s health and endorse Kamala Harris for President.