Dear Taylor Swift,
I want to apologize for hating you when I was younger. I’m sorry I called you boy-crazy and self-involved. I’m sorry that I refused to like you because I didn’t want to be like “other girls.” I wanted to keep up with my brothers and that meant I couldn’t act like I liked girly things, and you counted as that. The world had me convinced that you were not worth your fame, and I never took time to find out for myself. I knew the bare minimum about you, and I chose to hate you.
My internalized misogyny was showing, but I’m older now, and when I watched “Miss Americana,” I saw myself in you. I will never understand what it is like to be in the world’s eyes at seventeen, but I have empathy for you. The entire world expected you to be perfect at all moments—how unfair. The more that you achieved, the worse your haters got. And then I saw what happened with Kanye. As a young woman, I felt for you. Every woman knows what it feels like to have some entitled man speak over them or put them down. I’m sorry that happened to you in a moment where you should have been allowed to celebrate your accomplishment.
You are so incredibly strong and inspiring. Through all the years of abuse you’ve experienced from other artists, your producer and the public, you maintained your kindness and genuineness. I cannot express what “folklore” and “evermore” (and even “Lover”) have meant to me. I am in love with your music and you. Please never change and please keep inspiring us.
Sincerely,
A New Forever Fan
(P.S.: I saw you talking to Harry at the Grammys and I know we love Joe, but please give us the tea.)