Travis Kelce’s proposal makes Taylor Swift break ‘forever girlfriend’ trope

After two years of dating, Taylor Swift announced her engagement to Travis Kelce on Aug. 26. The duo went public in the summer of 2023, with Kelce attending her concerts and Swift watching his football games.

Swift announced their engagement in a post on Instagram, captioned “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” with her song “So High School” playing over the photos.

This was a complete shift from her previous relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, who maintained a low profile with Swift. The British actor and Swift dated from 2016 to 2023. Alwyn was the subject of a plethora of Swift’s hits, such as “Don’t Blame Me,” “I Think He Knows,” “invisible string” and more.

Yet following their breakup, Alwyn was the alleged subject of her heartbreaking lyrics in “You’re Losing Me” and “So Long, London.”

What is different about Swift’s engagement compared to other celebrity relationships? Part of it may be tied to her longtime brand built on writing about the men she has dated.

Although many artists release music inspired by life experiences, they also clarify that it’s more important for fans to interpret their work through the lens of what it means to them, thereby releasing it from their personal story and allowing fans to make it their own.

Do celebrities get imposter syndrome from the art versus the artist?

In Swift’s case, she said on a “New Heights” episode, the Kelce brothers’ podcast, that their relationship is the love she’s been writing about for the last two decades. Swift said she was drawn to Kelce’s public pursuit of her, calling his “wild romantic gesture” the kind of thing she has written songs about since she was a teenager.

Of all the men she’s written love songs about in the last two decades, Kelce is the first to step up to the plate and marry her.

But why do people care so much about it?

Maybe consumers pay too much attention to celebrities. However, celebrities are part of the culture and culture influences how we interact with everyday life.

How does it relate to her longtime influence on millennial and Gen Z women? What we store on the inside comes out on the outside in the way we act. Women and young girls who listen to Taylor’s songs internalize her lyrics as a part of their sense of self.

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No girl listens to “Mine” and doesn’t envision a future with the love of her life on her mind. I don’t play “Midnight Rain” without allowing the song to make me think about the choices that accompany different outcomes in life.

My prediction is that those who have gone through long-term breakups will pick up on the “forever girlfriend” idea — the concept that men don’t marry the love of their lives, they marry the woman in front of them when they’re ready.

This reminds me of people who break off lasting bonds, but then marry the next person they’re tied to for a shorter period of time (i.e., Justin Bieber dating Selena Gomez for years, yet marrying Hailey Rhode Bieber; Austin Butler and Vanessa Hudgens breaking up after dating for 10 years).

Maybe spending years with someone who didn’t commit to them made people like Swift realize how valuable their time is. Their relationship could prompt both men and women to reflect on how they spend their time together – or lack thereof.

Going back to “The Tortured Poet’s Department” album, “So Long, London” supports the invaluable sentiment of time spent on the one who didn’t commit.

“And I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free/…You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues?/I died on the altar waiting for the proof.”

Unlike Swift’s last serious relationship, Kelce didn’t leave her to wonder. His intentions were clear; he showed pride in her, and he put a ring on it in a third of the time that she spent waiting for Alwyn.

zimmer82@miamioh.edu