Why Taylor Swift's Engagement Is So Important For Women

Yes, it’s always exciting when a celebrity gets engaged. But for me, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s happy news is so much more than that – it’s about mutual respect, celebrating one another and bridging what seems to be a widening gap between what men and women want. 

It’s safe to say that I’m tired of dating. After a few years of fruitless experiences, I have almost given up on the idea of finding the ‘one’ for me.

However, I haven’t stopped searching yet – and I love celebrating others finding their person. In fact, I cannot tell you the joy I felt when I saw Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement announcement yesterday. Betrothed in a garden full of blooms, with Kelce on one knee and So High School sound tracking the moment? I can’t take it.

It’s the most warming, optimistic thing I’ve seen in a long time, and it’s not just because I’m such a big fan of Swift. There’s a catharsis that comes with seeing her so happy – and something incredible in seeing a man who doesn’t feel threatened by her success and the amount of fame that said success has brought with it. 

“Why are we all so excited for The Life Of A Showgirl? It’s because Taylor Swift is an antidote to loneliness”. As a single girl who’s been dating on and off for the last few years, I’ve seen a huge shift in what men seem to want and what I would like to find, and the two seem increasingly incompatible. My coupled-up friends always ask me how dating is going, saying they’d love to experience the apps and musing on how much fun they must be. But the truth is that I’ve noticed a change in the kind of behaviours men seem happy to display, and there are so many red flags. “Turn your notifications on! If I message you, I expect a response. I’m not here to be disrespected,” is just one of the demanding and problematic prompts I’ve seen on an app recently.

The most frequent request I see (and immediately swipe past) is a man looking for someone who ‘doesn’t take themselves too seriously’. Because you know what? I do take myself seriously. I’m not laid back at all; in fact, I probably over index on energy. Respecting myself and taking care of myself are hugely important to me, and I have a family at home that depends on me. We’re clearly not a match if you are telling me this early on that you want to meet someone docile.

You know what? I do take myself seriously.

But this is the thing – I think docile is more attractive to certain men in this day and age. I don’t want to namecheck any ‘alpha male’ influencers of the modern day, but I will wholeheartedly acknowledge that their reach is palpable. 

It’s cathartic to see Swift so happy.

It might sound far-fetched, but this is why Swift and Kelce’s engagement felt so special to me. On Kelce’s podcast two weeks ago, he couldn’t stop gushing about Swift and beamed with pride for her. As an athlete, he compared her tour prep to his own workout routine. He cheered on her wins and had no issue with her being self-sufficient and successful. It was a marked reminder that there are men like this who will celebrate me. 

Their engagement is not as simple as being a bit of good news for a grown woman who paraded around in Eras tour cosplay (hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it). It’s because Kelce has shown us that romance is not dead – and Swift has shown us that you don’t have to dial yourself down to get the guy. For the avoidance of doubt, they met because he joked about making her a friendship bracelet (an Eras tour ritual) with his number on it, and lo and behold, the stars aligned. That to me is the measure of a man. Someone who can joke about making a bracelet, knowing full well it has zero bearing on the status of his masculinity. 

So yes, I did love to see the news of Swift and Kelce’s engagement because I’m a fan, but it also symbolises so much more than that. In a world where there’s such a big gap between what men and women want – a gap that I’ve seen first-hand in my dating life – when two people come together to celebrate an unapologetic and all-consuming love, I am completely here for it. What’s even more amazing is that this is a couple who celebrate each other’s successes and never see them as a threat. As Swift says herself, it serves as a reminder to “live for the hope of it all”.