One thing that everyone can agree on is that Taylor Swift is an icon. From her versatility that flows from country to pop, her distinctly raspy voice, or her masterful songs, no one can deny the power Swift holds over music. However, after her recent crowning as “Time’s Person of the Year,” controversy has stirred up on Cornelia Street. Awarded to the “most influential person, good or bad,” the Person of the Year recognizes an individual who swayed the course of a given year. After seeing Swift’s signature loving-him-was-red lipstick and cat-eye “sharp enough to kill a man” decorating the pages of the magazine, the question echoes, “Does she really deserve it?”
Maybe not.
Fans and non-fans alike surged to her defense, pointing out the legendary life she leads. Setting records and smashing them barely a year later, reinventing the way artists and record labels collaborate with “Taylor’s Version,” massively uplifting local economies just through her concerts, and encouraging voter turnout, fans argue that the world is simply a puppet in Taylor’s benevolent fingers. Besides, beyond her devoted Swifties, even Ivy League colleges seem to honor her by creating college courses inspired by everything from her economic impacts to her songwriting.
However, it is important to note the distinction between influence and popularity. This is not because she has influence over people to travel to Scotland to see her perform “Shake it Off,” rather, she had enough popularity for fans to hop on a flight. The argument stands symmetrical for voter turnout and college courses. Her fame and acclaim is indisputable, and rather than her holding a certain amount of control over the public, her fans’ love for her is what incentivizes institutions and individuals to act according to her wishes.
Beyond her popularity is the fact that Taylor has consistently been extraordinary, her main successes not being confined to just 2023. Her journey to take back her stolen albums neither started nor ended in 2023, no milestone constructed relevant to this time period. We as a society tend to applaud those who have continuously shown us success, beneficial or harmful. However, since the Person of the Year is awarded to someone who stood out in a specific year, it should be given to the person who did something remarkable in a time when it matters.
Above all, there are others who simply did more in 2023. Other nominees for the award, such as Vladimir Putin, journalists covering the Hamas conflict, Sam Altman, and Hollywood strikers all stood out specifically in 2023 for the actions they committed, whether it changed the world for the better or the worse. ChatGPT, the Israel-Hamas War, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the Hollywood writers’ strike have all swayed society more than Taylor—no matter how brilliant she may be. In a year where war exploded in both the Middle East and Europe, where tensions between the West and China heightened, where conflict took up a significant part of the headlines, 2023 should be representative of that history.
Swift is an artist who is far more than a girl who writes about her ex-boyfriends. She sings about her family (“The Best Day” and “Marjorie”), about the vulnerable (“Ronan”), and about the tangled complexity of navigating life (“Fifteen” and “The Lucky One”). Whether she is deserving or not of Time’s Person of the Year is not a defining factor of her career. So on behalf of all the Swifties, Taylor’s radiance will make the whole place shimmer because she never goes out of style.
