Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” uses glitz and glamour to represent her vast inner world. Photo courtesy of Rolling Stone.
ABBY KIDWELL | ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR | arkidwell@butler.edu
Thus far, the 2020s have been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, financial uncertainty, bitter political divides and Taylor Swift.
Although the singer-songwriter enjoyed immediate success when she debuted her first studio album in 2006, she has experienced unprecedented fame in this decade, even drawing comparisons to the “Beatlemania” of the 1960s. Since 2020, Swift has released five brand-new albums, re-recorded four albums, won two Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and shattered records with her Eras Tour.
For junior environmental studies major Ashlynn Stout, Swift’s greatest strength is her ability to foster community and connection.
“Taylor Swift has a unique power of bringing people together, especially when it’s hard to find things to be happy about,” Stout said. “[Swift] has a great influence [in] helping people make friends [based on a shared love for her music] and writing lyrics that people can relate to.”
With nearly 20 years of life in the spotlight under her belt, Swift is well accustomed to weathering intense storms of media scrutiny and navigating the fickle ebb and flow of public opinion. In “The Life of a Showgirl”, released Oct. 3, she speaks candidly about love, fame and cancel culture.
Background
From The Eras Tour, Swift received acclaim, a shiny billionaire label and a fiance to boot. The popstar was romantically linked to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in September 2023. Swift and Kelce have since dominated entertainment news cycles as a “power couple.”
Kelce co-hosts a podcast with his brother and former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce called “New Heights”, which is where Swift announced “The Life of a Showgirl” in August 2025. She broke the internet yet again 13 days later — not-so-coincidentally her signature number — with news that she and Kelce were engaged.
Throughout the rollout for “The Life of a Showgirl”, Swift generated momentum by unveiling album art, tracklists and merch collections, but kept the actual content close to her chest. Instead of becoming acquainted with the project through singles, the world was forced to wait until the final minute to hear what sonic direction Swift was going in.
“The Life of a Showgirl”
Whether negative or positive, audiences have passionate opinions on the artistic merit of “The Life of a Showgirl”. Some regard it as fun dance music to let loose and forget about life’s woes, while others cite lackluster production and clunky songwriting holding them back.
Junior chemistry major Olivia Hodac expressed that the lyricism in “The Life of a Showgirl” did not meet her expectations.
“I did like a few songs, but I’m [someone who prioritizes lyrics in music], and I just couldn’t connect with literally any of the songs,” Hodac said. “It seems out of touch with reality and like a diary entry that is [just focused on] Taylor Swift’s life right now, [but] not taking into account other things that are going on in the world.”
While criticism toward “The Life of a Showgirl” is prevalent, there is also a fair number of fans who still find value and enjoyment in the album.
“Every time I listen to one of her albums, I’m like, ‘Oh, I love this,’” Stout said. “And then you go on Instagram Reels, and people are like, ‘Oh, this is the worst album she’s ever made’ … I’m a lover in my life, so I just try to look for anything that I do like. I think people just love to hate.”
Shift in public opinion
Unfortunately for Swift, adoration from the public is gradually being unseated by criticism.
In January 2020, Swift allowed the public to peek into her world via her documentary, “Miss Americana”. While Swift never shied from emotional openness with listeners, her political affiliations remained an enigma until the 2018 midterm elections, when she condemned Senator Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee’s Republican incumbent. This statement marked a significant turning point in what fans could expect from Swift politically.
Despite endorsements for former President Joe Biden and former President-elect Kamala Harris, a growing number feel that Swift’s activism is losing steam.
“[Swift] kind of only speaks out when something directly affects her,” Hodac said. “Recently, it’s been increasingly more important to speak out about certain things that are objectively right or wrong — at least in my opinion. I feel like everyone should have their stance known, and when they don’t make their stance known, they are making their stance known. So I have taken a step back.”
Maythazin Minthu, a junior public health and sociology double major, felt that her relationship with Swift was altered when she started questioning the artist’s value system.
“The conversation is always, can you separate the artist from their work?” Minthu said. “And I think as much as I appreciate her work, I feel like you can never know a piece of art unless you know the person who created it.”
The project’s financial performance is seemingly unaffected by the division among fans — it sold 2.7 million copies in traditional album sales on its first day of release, became the most pre-saved album in Spotify history and all 12 tracks on both the clean and explicit versions occupy Apple Music’s Top Songs. Regardless of whether “The Life of a Showgirl” is exceptional, atrocious or, more likely than not, somewhere in between, chart numbers indicate that the album is here to stay.
“The Life of a Showgirl” is available on all streaming platforms and in stores.
