Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce & What God Really Says About Feminism
Why biblical truth and girl power aren’t as far apart as the church says.
There are two camps that exist this week in culture:
Those that watched, listened, and have since obsessed over all the Taylor & Travis goodness.
-AND-Those that haven’t.
I am of the former camp, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
When I first started this Substack, I was searching for a place to explore truths —oftentimes as they related to pop culture because that’s something I’ve always loved. My first exploration came from psychoanalyzing what Kristin Cavallari’s audacity and Jesus had in common. An unlikely pairing, this I know, but also - welcome to my brain.
On Wednesday, as I listened to what felt like in the moment, a very candid normal 2 hour long conversation between an in-love couple and his brother, but that I now recognize as VERY MUCH part of the SHOW (homegirl is a straight mastermind), I was struck - as I think many of us were — with the pure golden retriever energy of Travis toward Taylor.
The smile his eyes gave, his persistent use of “I’m the luckiest guy in the world” and the next level supportive boyfriend vibes he gave off — had every single woman in the world renewing hope that waiting for THAT level of adoration from a partner was worth it.
One of the primary criticisms I’ve heard of Taylor Swift (and why I shouldn’t be her fan) is her continued elevation of feminism. She is ‘girl power’ epitomized which has become a label laced with negative connotations when it comes to the church. Culture celebrates the label, and the church shuns it. It’s a criticism I hear loudest from the conservative right camp, and is the exact thing that has always made me cringe at best, and be riddled with self-doubt at worst. With songs like “The Man”, “Nothing New”, and “I Did Something Bad”, the right will shout, “See - these lyrics are proof! She’s too empowered! Her messages are satanic! She’s teaching a non-Biblical feminism because look at her and all her power!”
And while Taylor has most definitely NEVER made any faith claims of leadership or that she subscribes to Christian theology at all (nor am I defending that any of her art speaks to such) the anti-feminist movement she tends to invoke is something I want to explore.
Google tells me that the feminist movement began in the mid 1800s when two women from New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, organized a movement to advocate for a woman’s right to vote. Most people today though oftentimes associate the beginnings of American feminism as really taking rise in the 1960s - the bra burning era - when deep cultural changes were happening as it relates to a woman’s rights. More females than ever were entering the paid workforce and breaking the mold in a post WWII era. Preceding this, the cultural moment in America during the 1950s was the original “trad-wife era”, with pop culture looking to Leave it To Beaver for guidance on acceptable female purpose and vocation.
To be a modern day feminist today, or subscribe even partially to that title, is widely celebrated on the left and earns you labels of questionable theology on the right.
My brain and heart always want to know though, “But what does God say about this?”
The most quoted scripture that the right uses to justify their anti-feminist stance is in Ephesians 5. Paul is writing to his friends in Ephesus, laying out some guidelines on how to live. When he addresses husbands and wives he says, “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.” (Eph 5:24)
The word “submit” has come to be gospel for how a wife should act, both in her home and publicly. It carries with it connotations of a submissive spirit — someone who is weak, quiet, meek, and obedient to her chosen (human) male leader(s). And while I can get behind this idea for the structure of a home (in an egalitarian setting of course), I don’t think it’s a prescription for how women have to act outside of the home.
The Church has oftentimes helped spread the message, using this verse as the justification, that ‘to be Godly’ means to be meek, quiet, and submissive. It’s a message that has always rubbed me wrong as someone who discovered early on that I was gifted as a leader, a speaker, and with confidence — not segregative to the audience at hand. In other words, my gifts were my gifts — they weren’t limited to only being used for certain audiences (to make people in the church feel comfortable or to abide by some imaginary rules).
‘Submit’ means yielding to authority — a singular action.
‘Submissive’ is more an identity term describing someone’s disposition to always yield.
The two are not always interchangeable.
Again, on their own, I have no problem with either. As a daughter of the King, I recognize my job and the benefit of submitting to my Creator — primarily because I know He has every good intention for me. Same with my husband — we are equal partners and I can safely trust that he, through his vows and commitment to me, has the best of intentions. Sure, he leads our family in some ways, and I lead in others — both of us always leaning into and elevating the gifts God has given to us that make us a strong TEAM.
But this verse is not a call for women —believing or non-believing—to dim their light, hide their gifts, or quietly sink into the back row.
Because while Ephesians 5 is often the Biblical basis used to “prove” God’s disproval of feminism, what are we to do with all the other verses where God speaks fully into who we are? Verses that elevate our worth, secure our identity, and stake claim of our place in the Kingdom as equals to our male counterparts. Are we to dismiss in Genesis 1 where it says,
“So God created man and woman and shaped them with his image inside them. In his own beautiful image, he created his masterpiece. Yes, male and female he created them.”
Or countless other places in Scripture where he breathes LIFE into our identity, not discriminating by gender, but showering his daughters as any good and loving father would, about the truths of their identity: loved, chosen, forgiven, blessed, purposeful, and very very very good.
If being a feminist in modern day culture means advocating, and celebrating, the equality of men and women, then based on what I see in Scripture, I’m not sure how God could not be that. He’s so proud of his creations - it’s evident in every word he speaks over women.
The value he restores to them when culture says no.
The inclusivity he grants for leadership in town hierarchies and within his ministry when culture says “not qualified'“.
Jesus, the incarnate representation of God, brought so much affirmation to women at every turn —especially when culture didn’t allow it.
He created seats at the table for women, his valued beloved creations, in the same way he did for his bros. Culture was the only one that excluded or counted out those women — not Him.
So yes, I’ll hear out the argument that people left of culture — the ultimate Swifties and feminists — have swung things too far at times. To idolize Taylor, or any celeb for that matter, is a cautionary tale in putting false hope in things of this world which humanity has participated in since the beginning of time. But extremes exist everywhere, so I don’t often speak to them because ‘I’m a little crazy but the world is insane’ — a fact Morgan taught us and I’ve accepted.
But the shame that comes from particularly the right about celebrating Taylor & Travis (and their clear equal bad assery relationship) is unwarranted if the basis for such critique is she represents feminism, and a femininity that isn’t biblical.
Travis isn’t scared of her talent. He knows he out-kicked his coverage. He celebrates her intelligence, her business acumen, her power skips, and her questionable athletic abilities. She is allowed to shine in all the ways God has created her, to her fullest ability.
And frankly, so are you.
We bring glory to God every time we show up and use our giftings to their fullest. Is she using all her talents for God’s glory? Not explicitly thats for sure. But is God using her gifts to work together for His good? Possibly. I’m definitely not big, wise, or omniscient enough to understand or know the intricacies of her influence.
I have though scoured my Bible, both as it relates to Taylor and in many seasons prior, trying to discover how God could create a spirited strong woman in myself but that doesn’t match the church’s description of biblical femininity. Was there something wrong with me or something wrong with how the church defined biblical femininity? I’ve searched and searched for places where God says, “Okay I know I made you a leader, with a confident loud voice, one that is naturally gifted to influences others — both male and female alike— but like probably you should do that a little quieter around the men because you’ll intimidate them and those gifts are really only meant to be used in kids and women’s ministries”.
I can’t find that translation.
Instead I see a Father who grants permission to his beautiful, good, creation and says, “Run, my beloved. I died for you so that you could shine as bright as you possibly could and you don’t have to be quiet or scared of anyone else that is intimidated by you. I created you perfectly in my image so that your gifts can be used to their fullest in the world, and ultimately bring glory to me. Whether you choose to do that or not, is up to you. But that’s how I created you.”
So while the world’s over there critiquing the heirarchy of Taylor’s love life or rolling their eyes as each person in their feed posts an Easter Egg with orange glittered letters, I think God’s up there feeling proud at the joy his daughter’s getting to experience through using and sharing her gifts. He’s so happy that she’s found love in a partner who celebrates that about her and loves her with a reverence only another God-made creation could (and should).
Men are meant to hold women with the utmost respect and adoration. Same for women with their male counterparts. This is the biblical harmony I believe God intended for us in the garden way back when. He never needed Adam to be OVER Eve — he created them for each other, “because it was not good for humans to be alone”. That’s how God commanded them to and created us to be.
Culture may say Christians aren’t allowed to be feminists, that it’s heretical and they should be knocked down a peg or two — or at minimum submit to men — but when I look at God’s words for women, I see a slightly different message. One where he asks you to repeat after Him:
I am a child of God.
I am a new creation.
I am a friend of Jesus.
I am created by God to do good works.
I am free in Jesus.
I am chosen and loved.
I am the light of the world.
I am not ruled by fear.
I am forgiven.
That’s what he speaks over you.
Don’t listen to what the world says you should or shouldn’t do. Go to your Creator — he’s got the real tea. ;)
My new book Permission Slips: Burn the Rulebook and Set Your Soul Free is available for pre-order now. No more rule-following for the sake of approval—this isn’t a book for women who want to color inside the lines or chase the next self-help formula. It’s a soul-deep invitation—poured like a glass of wine with your favorite girlfriend—to stop asking for permission and start living free.
