I pulled a Swiftie and got my ticket. It’ll be a show for generations of feminists

There are those who follow the big Taylor Swift headlines – the John Mayer era, her burgeoning political awareness, the break-up with Joe Alwyn. They, we, are all feminists, and Swifties.

A friend who worked in market and policy research once told me the demographic least supportive of improvements in childcare funding was women of the previous generation. They didn’t get support, so why should the next generation?

I obviously support childcare funding. It’s better today than it was when I had my children and it was better for me than when my mum had children. That’s evolution and I look forward to it being better for my children than the current generation of new parents.

Similarly to feminism, we need to embrace new entrants to the Swift fandom, even if they may take the tickets of people like me who have been there since she was a country music star. Much like the feminists of the ’60s who embrace us today as we take up the cause.

Taylor is also an allegory for women because she is mocked by so many. Women’s pursuits have been fiercely mocked and undermined forever. When Julia Gutman won the Archibald prize this year she spoke of the use of “women’s materials” of embroidery and the “silencing of women’s voices in art history”. Often, when a woman does something it is called a craft, not art. Similarly, one fan reminded me of Taylor’s 2013 tour, when the crowds coming out of Central Station had almost no special event or traffic provisions, horribly underestimating her as an artist.

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Swift is not without her critics. Her style of feminism is not intersectional. She doesn’t try to raise the profile of artists of colour. She even dated someone known for racism and misogyny.

In her own way, nonetheless, she’s inspired two generations of young women. Her brand inspires confidence, hope and aspiration. She started performing at 14 and, like all teenagers, she developed both as a person and an artist. For me, I am part of an audience that has aged with her. But I love hearing younger women connect her music with their own experiences.

Earlier feminists who paved the way for women like me to have greater equality than they did can appreciate younger women championing the cause. Sometimes, however, women are attacked for not doing feminism “the right way”.

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Perhaps that’s what makes some uncomfortable about Taylor. She speaks so loudly for women across generations. Few have the power to bond people as she does – even if it’s for two hours at a concert or for the duration of a song in a club.

For the record, my girlfriends and I got our four tickets. They’re in the nosebleeds – but we’re in and that’s all that matters. I hope those teenage girls did too. Singing side by side with different generations of Swifties will be the best part.

Seeing them will be like seeing myself all those years ago. And seeing me will show them that fun doesn’t end when you grow up.

Daisy Turnbull is a teacher and the author of 50 Risks with Kids and 50 Questions to Ask Your Teens.