• A 33-year-old woman from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania who began as a country singer-songwriter and has transitioned into pop and indie folk over time. Currently, she is the #1 musical artist in the world on Spotify with approximately 107,000,000 monthly listeners and is on tour, the Eras Tour, which has already garnered over 1 billion dollars. The Eras consist of each of her albums in succession: Taylor Swift (debut era), Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights. In her 17 years of fame and confessional songwriting, Taylor has created a sense of intimacy between her and her fans through her lyrics in such a way that strongly resonates with people, mainly girls, and thus has become a significant symbol of girlhood and growing up. 

  • The essence of the Eras:

    Taylor Swift (Debut): country music, summer, sweet tea, early teenage years, bright green and teal

    
    

    Fearless: early high-school years, country music, happy, gold, cowgirl boots, heart hands, spring

    
    

    Speak Now: early adulthood, growing up, romanticization, fairytales, revenge, deep purple

    
    

    Red: early 20s, autumn, passion, angsty dread, red, female friend groups

    
    

    1989: early 20s, New York, light blue, serial dating, moving to a new place, summer

    
    

    Reputation: late twenties, snakes, black, being stabbed in the back, intimidating, rebuilding yourself, falling deeply in love, revenge, winter

    
    

    Lover: early thirties, hopeless romantic, pastel pink, blue, and purple, gay pride, light happiness, marriage, summer and winter

    
    

    Folklore: early thirties, woods, forgiveness, peace, groundedness, self-reflection, mercurian, black, white, gray, august, late summer

    
    

    Evermore: early thirties, isolation, warm orange, maroon, dead nature, emotional turmoil, bitterness, late fall, november

    
    

    Midnights: early thirties, insomnia, self-loathing, sparkles, night time, 70s fashion 

• The Eras tour has brought forth women of all ages to celebrate songs many had grown up with and associated with their lives for so long. This coming together to celebrate one’s personal resonance with Taylor’s various eras has created a sense of pride and love for growing up and growing to be different than you were without hating who one was before. With fine-tuned performances and production of her various songs for 3.5 hours, trading friendship bracelets, dressing as your current era, and spending copious amounts of time and energy on this experience, this became a significant celebration of girlhood. 

  • The friendship bracelet trading project began in reference to a lyric in the final chorus of “You’re on Your Own, Kid”:

“‘Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned

  Everything you lose is a step you take

  So make the friendship bracelets

  Take the moment and taste it

  You've got no reason to be afraid”

• (Fan project) Dressing as your Era to the tour, dressed very extravagantly, or as a song lyric reference. Brought forth a sense of commonality among concert-goers and a sense of community amidst the similarity.

• (Fan project) During marjorie, a song about Taylor's passed grandmother who had abandoned dreams of being a vocalist whom she misses dearly and feels that she is a part of her life, fans at every location of the show shined flashlights in loving support of Taylor and the beautiful dedication to her grandmother.

• Technical definition:

  • The period of life for females from birth through early 20s

  • The common shared experiences apart of growing up as a girl

• “‘fangirl’ can be used as a verb, intended to describe (and deride) ‘a youthful, (hyper)feminine, and performative act of cultural consumption marked by excessive displays of embodied affect’ (2020, p.1).”

• fangirl (noun): "a girl or woman who is an extremely or overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something"

getting a sweet treat, girl dinner, girl math, friendship bracelets, wearing hair bows, watching your friend’s location as they go on a date, debriefing after the party, hot pink pepper spray, screaming your favorite songs in the car, rotting in bed on your phone with your best friend, watching old Barbie movies, having spare tampons and hair ties, having floor time, sitting near other girls on a nearly empty bus, asking if they got home safe, taking care of your drunk friend, discussing the nuance and turmoil of gender and sexuality just to follow with reference to an inside joke and let laughter inevitably ensue.