Why Taylor Swift is TIME’s Person of the Year

Since 1927, TIMEhas chosen a Person of the Year, the editors’ assessment of the individual who most shaped the headlines over the past 12 months, for better or worse.\xa0

As a tradition,Person of the Yearsprings from the Great Man Theory of history, a belief that individuals have the power to transform society. The selections over the years have tended to follow certain patterns. The person chosen has typically been a ruler over traditional domains of power. He—and yes, usually it has been a “he”—is very often a politician or a titan of industry. Fourteen U.S. presidents, five leaders of Russia or the Soviet Union, and three Popes have all been recognized.

And yet the person whose singular influence was revealed throughout 2023 has held none of these roles—or anything remotely similar. Every year contains light and dark; 2023 was a year with significant shares of darkness. In a divided world, where too many institutions are failing,Taylor Swiftfound a way to transcend borders and be a source of light. No one else on the planet today can move so many people so well. Achieving this feat is something we often chalk up to the alignments of planets and fates, but giving too much credit to the stars ignores her skill and her power.

Much of whatSwiftaccomplished in 2023 exists beyond measurement. She mapped her journey and shared the results with the world: She committed to validating the dreams, feelings, and experiences of people, especially women, who felt overlooked and regularly underestimated. They know she respects her audience, and trusts them with her story. She holds up a mirror to her own life, helping people better see themselves. She embraces her past, foibles and all, and in doing so encouraged others to do the same.

While Swift’s success can feel like a counterweight to traditional forms of power, the secret to her mastery has ancient roots. She is writing her own myth, informed by her own journey. And it has been an epic. So many have turned to those tales because they’ve been so disappointed by the storylines that emerge elsewhere in society. Any student of that Great Man Theory of history knows how deeply intertwined it is with centuries of sexism and the exclusion of women from power. Indeed, this isn’t the first time Swift has been part of TIME Person of the Year; in 2017,she was among the “Silence Breakers”we recognized for standing up and speaking out against discrimination, harassment, and assault faced by too many women for far too long.

Swifthas been both avatar and author of shifting narratives, never more so than in 2023. Where do they take us? It might look something like what Swift has created, making a space for 70,000 people, night after night, to experience joy together. What is a higher form of influence, after all, than giving millions of fans, young and old, the time of their lives, where they can revel not only in Swift’s voice but in finding their own? These moments were all the more magical for taking place as we exited a pandemic, rediscovering the communal experiences that were so recently taken from us.

For building a world of her own that made a place for so many, for spinning her story into a global legend, for bringing joy to a society desperately in need of it,Taylor Swift is TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year.

Let me know what you think:Sam@time.com.