“Cause baby, now we have bad blood!”

Those were the lines me and my sister screamed at the top of lungs, sitting in the back of my grandparents’ RV, while our annoyed brother yelled at us to be quiet. 

My sister and I loved Taylor Swift growing up; she was the epitome of my childhood and music I have so many good memories of. 

As a young girl, Taylor Swift was my idol — I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to be a singer and perform on stage. I had a journal I wrote songs in, many of which were influenced by hers. I had big dreams as a small child, and I want girls today to have the same big dreams and aspirations that I did. 

When I was growing up, Taylor Swift was admired by many. Everyone loved her album “1989,” and her songs were always on the radio. But now, the world has turned to hatred. The once-beloved singer is now the world’s favorite target of hate.

The hate only grew when she started dating professional football player Travis Kelce. She was blamed for “ruining football” and “being too extra.” In reality, all she was doing was showing up to her boyfriend’s football games to support him.

It makes me so disappointed to see men tear down a woman for simply existing. What makes me even sadder is seeing fathers doing it in front of their daughters, brothers doing it in front of their sisters and boyfriends doing it in front of their girlfriends. People don’t realize how much their “innocent” words can affect the people, specifically women, they care about. 

Even though there is so much hate in the world, Taylor Swift has brought people together; instead of being hated for that, she should be praised. 

Fathers will sit down to watch football while their daughters run behind them, excited to see Taylor Swift on screen. Dads have posted on social media platforms about how happy they are that their daughters or wives will finally watch football with them. Additionally, girls have posted on TikTok about how they can bond with their football-loving boyfriends. 

A woman cannot “ruin football” by simply showing up to her boyfriend’s games. Society has used their relationship as a way to diminish women for far too long. It’s time that we start realizing she’s helping create bonds between people who have different interests. It’s easy to think that two worlds can’t collide, but Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have proven different.

It is possible for little girls today to have the same dreams that I did when I was growing up without scrutiny. However, as a society, we must stop tearing those dreams down and instead, build those dreams up for the girls of future generations.