Excerpts from
Image taken from video clip You Need to Calm Down, in true LGBTI+ ProFemme Success Swift Style
Original article by Alexandra Spring ABC
"As someone who knows how challenging the music industry can be, Caerwen Martin admires what Swift has accomplished.
"So many of us are cheering that she's managed to do so well as a businesswoman in the arts," she says.
"Her business acumen is astonishing. It really is something to step back and admire, because making money out of music is not as easy as people might say."
That she's retained control of her artistic vision is also impressive, Martin says, given a male producer often has so much sway in a recording session that female artists can walk out feeling as if the end result is no longer their work.
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"I definitely cheered when I was hearing the stats about how much she'd made and how she'd done it and how she had released things. I'm just like, 'Oh, man, you've done it. You're very clever'."
Martin has another theory as to why Swift appeals, particularly to women over 45.
She says for those who grew up in the 1980s, many of the musical icons of that time were highly sexualised. However Swift has what Martin describes as a "very boundaried, almost anti-overtly sexual" persona.
"When we were young … there was so much pressure towards the feminine sexuality overtness that perhaps we weren't really wanting."
"[Swift's] allowed to be herself without having to adhere to either a man or a male gaze and be professional and be successful.
"And she's allowed to have all of those things that we kind of dreamed of being and couldn't access, but can now … now we're older."
Finally those who are parents see Swift as a powerful role model for their children. ..... Martin agrees, remembering how pleased she was hearing her kids singing along to Swift's boppy LGBTQI+ rights anthem, You Need to Calm Down.
"That point of view was so beautiful and gratifying as a mum to hear my kids so validated. So there's also that very, very strong appeal for women my age.
"Not everyone has children. But those of us who do really find it really gratifying, that there is an artist that our children can love that is safe.... [and who is] a strong advocate as well for things that we really care about."
read the full ABC article by Alexandra Spring: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-18/why-are-so-many-taylor-swift-fans-middle-aged/103457252 Posted Sun 18 Feb 2024 at 10:00amSunday 18 Feb 2024 at 10:00am, updated Sun 18 Feb 2024 at 12:49pm