More Than Meets the Eye: Taylor Swift in Concert
by Ann Mettler, Vice President, Europe, Breakthrough Energy
I never considered myself a Swiftie and never quite got the hype around Taylor Swift’s music and persona. That is, until I accompanied my Swiftie son to one of two concerts [July 27 and 28, 2024] she gave in Munich. Since one of my key mom deliverables was to ‘be barricade’, we queued from 6h50 onwards. For a concert that only started some 12 hours later! 🤦♀️
The upside was spending much time in the presence of Swifties and being honestly impressed and uplifted. While there were some oldie outliers like myself, it is fair to say that the vast majority are young women. Clearly a new generation of women! While the overall sentiment is apolitical, it certainly had political undertones to me:
🌺 It appeared like a counter-culture to the polarization and toxic public discourse our societies increasingly suffer from. Everyone went out of their way to be friendly, compassionate and respectful. There were 74,000 inside and 40,000+ people outside the stadium. It felt safe at all times, even in the biggest crowds.
🌼Like Swift, the women were celebrating their femininity by wearing gorgeous, striking outfits. They looked sexy and beautiful and very much in tune with their bodies. During my youth, it would have been frowned upon to show up like that and the assumption would have been that it’s about attracting men. It was clear that this display of beauty was anything but, not least because there were so few men in attendance. Bravo, ladies👏I was proud of them, their stylistic courage and full embrace of who they are and what they want to embody.
🌸 At the center of interaction between Swifties is the exchange of ‘friendship bracelets’. These are handmade (unusual because these days so much is mass-produced/standardized), very creative and offer a wonderful way to break the ice. In general, it was noticeable how quickly one got into engaging exchanges with old and young. I immediately bonded with another mom in the endless queue and we were joking that we should get a seniors benefit in this crowd (shade, water, etc.).
💝 All in all, this was a unique experience which gave me hope that there are large swaths of (young) people who want to publicly display – and build – a more kind, humane and peaceful world. This, by the way, has the potential to be transformative at home and especially abroad where ‘might is right’; the erosion of women’s rights and armed conflict are on the rise.
If only our security and defense officials understood the extraordinary soft power that lies behind charismatic female icons like Swift. They are among our most sought-after ‘exports’ and globally compelling symbols of democratic societies. With authoritarianism on the rise, I sense that women across the world stand ready to be empowered, celebrated and activated. And Taylor Swift does exactly that.
