Itâs no coincidence that both âBarbieâ and Taylor Swift consumed the media this past summer. At first thought, their only similarity might be, âOh, theyâre just both so girly.â However, they are related on a much deeper level, yielding the joy of femininity, community and the reclamation of girlhood. Tens of thousands of women and girls wearing pink âLoverâ ensembles, sparkly âFearlessâ dresses and handmade friendship bracelets all collectively screaming the words to all their favorite songs at Taylor Swiftâs Eras Tour is not so different from crowds of women and girls dressing up in their favorite pink clothing to enjoy the humor and inspiration of Greta Gerwigâs âBarbie.â The resemblance isnât purely aesthetic. These two events carry a similar festive atmosphere of collective joy and the unironic celebration of femininity. It was the equivalent of the intense support one receives in the womenâs bathroom of a barââYou look amazing!â âNo, YOU look amazing!ââsomething uniquely characteristic of the female experience.Â
Taylor Swiftâs Eras Tour is on track to become the highest-grossing tour of all time, potentially grossing over $1 billion. Greta Gerwigâs âBarbieâ has also broken numerous records since its release in July of this year. The film made $155 million domestically in its opening weekend, marking the largest opening weekend of the year and the biggest-ever debut for a female director. Their success showcases the demand for media that represents and highlights the lives of women and their experiences.
âBarbieâ star America Fererra, who plays Gloria, praised the film in an interview with Etalk for celebrating the unbridled joy of girlhood in a world where girls are often forced to grow up too soon and taught to be embarrassed or ashamed of their âgirlyâ interests.
âGrowing up is about leaving behind childish thingsâparticularly for women. Men get to have their man caves and play their video games forever. [For] women, it’s like, â[Put] your toys away, do the chores, grow up,ââ Ferrara said. Here, she also speaks to the double standard placed on girls, especially when trying to wean children away from âchildishâ activities and interests. Ferrara continued, saying, âThatâs what really touched me about Gloria as a character. This woman somehow made it to adulthood holding on to the value of play and the value of aspiration and imagination. Itâs, in a way, countercultureâthat we can be a lot of things at once, that we can be joyful and playful and imaginative and childlike, and be a grown woman professional taken seriously.âÂ
Growing up, many girls experience an era of rejection and rebellion against âgirlyâ things. Maybe I am just speaking for myself here, but I definitely went through a phase in elementary school where I hated the color pink, pretended not to like Taylor Swift anymore and refused to wear dresses. And donât even get me started on the phrase âgirly girlâ (I absolutely hated being called this). I felt ashamed of my femininity because I was hearing all these voices around me saying that girls were weak or that these âgirlyâ interests were silly and stupid. Now, after years of reflection and learning that being a girl is actually one of the greatest joys of my life, I shamelessly wear pink and listen to Taylor Swift so much that she is, and will be, my most played artist on Spotify for the foreseeable future. I have proudly accepted the label âgirly girlâ once again, and this summer helped me do that.Â
The summer of the Eras Tour and âBarbieâ isnât just a moment in time, it is girlhood healing after years and years of being told that our âgirlyâ joys are silly or unimportant. Our emotions arenât irrational, our interests arenât stupid, pink isnât annoying and Taylor Swift is objectively the best person ever. We are continuing to change the narrative about women, and weâre not stopping anytime soon. As Taylor said it herself in the song âWouldâve, Couldâve, Shouldâveâ: âGive me back my girlhood / It was mine first.âÂ