00:00Taylor Swift's greatest accomplishment is not her engagement to Travis Kelsey,
00:03and we need to stop making it seem like it is.
00:05Let me explain.
00:06Obviously, if you haven't heard, Taylor and Travis dropped this bombshell news earlier this week,
00:10and the internet absolutely lost its mind, or whatever was left of it.
00:14The Instagram post immediately went viral.
00:16It currently holds over 33.5 million likes,
00:19and it landed on the New York Times homepage that day,
00:22which, you know, is usually reserved for other matters.
00:24Now, of course, Swift and Kelsey are entitled to share their news
00:28and celebrate their engagement with their legions of fans.
00:32No one is saying otherwise.
00:33Don't come for me, Swifties.
00:34But I will say that the sheer amount of attention that this engagement post got
00:37was astronomical, even by Swiftian standards.
00:41And it really does beg the question,
00:42is Taylor Swift's engagement to Travis Kelsey a more meaningful accomplishment
00:46than headlining the highest-grossing tour of all time,
00:50winning more Grammys for Album of the Year
00:52than any other living singer in the history of the ceremony,
00:55or even regaining ownership of her master recordings,
00:57the latter of which was of particular significance to her.
01:00Well, according to Instagram likes,
01:02that answer seems to be a resounding yes.
01:05That one post has over three times the number of likes
01:07as her recent album announcement
01:08and the post about buying back her masters.
01:11Personally, I do find that to be a little bit troublesome
01:13because of what it says about what matters most to us as a culture.
01:16At the end of the day,
01:17we cannot let the legacy of Taylor Swift,
01:19queen of breakup anthems,
01:20be defined by her attachment to a man.
01:23Giving her engagement more airtime than her artistry
01:26minimizes her accomplishments as a musician
01:28and as a businesswoman.
01:30It also further perpetuates the idea
01:32that no matter how successful you are in other areas,
01:35the most important milestone in your life
01:37is your choice in a romantic partner.
01:39So yes, we can celebrate Taylor and Travis's engagement,
01:42but it's not the most important thing in the world.
01:44It's not even the most important thing Taylor Swift has done.
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