Even if you lived under a rock for the entirety of May to August, you still would have heard of the two biggest events of summer 2023: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Swift’s Eras Tour broke records for attendance and ticket sales in every city where she performed, while Barbie became the highest-grossing movie of the year with a box office return of over one billion dollars.
The connection between these two events is not hard to find: both events are marketed to female audiences. Yet, the financial success of both the Eras Tour and Barbie proved that these events are a cultural phenomenon for everyone, not just women.
Let’s look at how these successes show a gradual change in societal celebration of femininity.
Swift stepped onto the music scene in 2008 and has since become a juggernaut in music, with many people referring to Swift as “the music industry.” Her albums have progressively gained more and more popularity as she shatters preconceptions of her music style by conquering country, pop, rock, and folk in different albums.
One of the oldest criticisms of Swift’s music is its focus on love and relationships. Swift has been viewed as a music artist for young girls who only sing songs about heartbreak and boys. However, her incredible songwriting abilities have proved her skill beyond love songs. Her most recent album and two subsequent rereleases have shattered pre-sale and actual sale records.
The most surprising part of Swift’s recent success is her current audience: everyone. Both men and women were invested in the updates on the Eras Tour and wanted to attend her concerts. The summer’s most common Instagram videos involved both guys and girls getting ready and going to the Eras Tour.
The financial success of the Eras Tour and social media’s continued support of Swift show a gradual change in society. Swift has surpassed her criticism of only writing songs meant for little girls by uniting millions upon millions of men and women to celebrate her music at the Eras Tour.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was easily the summer’s most anticipated movie, and it’s not hard to see why. Gerwig has multiple accredited films under her belt, including Oscar-nominated “Little Women,” and solidified herself as one of the most influential young female directors of today. From physical sets that used so much pink paint there was a national shortage to her movie’s star-studded cast, Gerwig prepared audiences for the movie of the summer, and it did not disappoint.
Audiences stormed the theaters and made Barbie a financial success immediately, but the movie’s influence did not stop there. TikTok and Instagram trends about dressing up for Barbie and reacting to its themes exploded in popularity. Men even came dressed as Ken, and have since been putting the famous “I’m Just Ken” lyrics on shirts and tattoos.
The incredible anomaly is that the primary audience of Barbie toys has traditionally been young girls, which means that while the movie could make a sizeable profit, nobody was anticipating that many men would want to see it too. Gerwig focused this movie on the female experience, exploring themes like motherhood and success in the workplace, and those themes resonated with female moviegoers everywhere. Even with the focus on the female experience, Barbie dominated movie theaters because everyone, both men and women, wanted to experience the film.
So, what do these successes mean exactly? This summer has been marked by these two huge events that are girl-centered. In a culture that may feel like it wants to put down and ignore traditionally feminine interests, the universal celebration of Taylor Swift and Barbie this summer shows a cultural shift towards celebrating women and their interests. And it sure made for a fun summer!