If you had told my younger self that one day I'd not only become a Taylor Swift fan but also write a book about her, I would have laughed. In 2006, when Swift released her debut album, I was a 23-year-old graduate student in film studies, obsessed with Radiohead and European art films. A teenage country-pop singer playing to arenas full of screaming girls? That wasn't just outside my taste—it felt far outside what I'd considered "serious" music.
That skepticism wasn’t unusual. Swift’s early career was filled with moments where her popularity and success were seen as unearned. Most famously, Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs to proclaim, “Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.” Translation: Swift wasn’t good enough. After she won Album of the Year at the 2010 Grammys, her shaky performance with Stevie Nicks reignited criticism. “Give an incredibly wretched vocal performance,” the Washington Post wrote, “go on to win the biggest Grammy of 2010 anyway.”
