Over the past couple of years, women have gone through the #MeToo movement, countless amounts of abuse and rape cases, and mixed emotions about the election of our President Donald Trump. In 2017, there was also the largest women’s march in American history, which helped to kick start a movement towards women and their influence.
With all the current events focused on women, the idea and roles of women have been discussed as these historical events have occurred sparking conversation on who the modern leaders are of these movements.
Using their American freedom of speech, many celebrities have spoken up and are leading many younger girls throughout this age to help women define themselves. The influence that these celebrities have is much greater than anyone could know. One in four teenagers admit that they are more influenced by celebrities than people they know; thus giving these women celebrities a very important job.
Taylor Swift, who has been on the world-stage since the age of 16, is a renowned country and pop singer. Generations of women and young girls have watched her grow up due to her expansive career creating music. She has not used her influential platform to create music, or the image, of a woman who only cares about acceptance from society and what other men think of her.
Freshman Grace Davidson says, “Having loved Taylor Swift my whole life, I am grateful to her for coming out with her political stance, so that it gives young girls like myself throughout the world more of a push to be politically active.”
Not only does the pop star spread her ideologies, Swift recently came out with her political statement while encouraging her fans to participate in voting this upcoming season. The Tennessee native told those in her home state to vote for Democrat Phil Bresden and other various office holders to help influence the impact they may have on our country. After she released her statement, voting percentages increased throughout the country. Voting went up 65,000 registrations per hour in a 24-hour period from when Taylor Swift posted her political video sparking change.
Other celebrities on YouTube and other platforms such as Sarah’s day, a health and fitness guru, encourage people similarly. Senior Cecilie Schieffer says, “Sarah’s day has influenced me to listen to my body and to #actconfidentandnoonewillquestionyou and that influence and knowledge has flipped my life.” Sarah’s day is an Instagram model, YouTuber, and fitness clothing designer, who helps influence women on helping them obtain positive body image and confidence.
In addition to these smaller scale YouTubers such as Sarah’s day and mega-billionaire Swift influencing society, one may become surprised about how much change can be brought about. Another celebrity using her platform specifically to aid young women is runway model Karlie Kloss.
Kloss, originally from St. Louis, has modeled for companies such as Victoria Secret, Adidas, Covergirl, Vogue, and more. With her fan base and platform so large, she was able to start the coding company Kode with Klossy which gives young girls ages 13-18 the opportunity to learn how to code for free and possibly get scholarships for the work they do.
Without her previous modeling and connections with brands, she would not be able to have such a successful company that allows so many young women to create a brighter future for themselves. The example she sets of using her fame for this kind of good, helping other women in their lives, demonstrates that anyone can be a Victoria Secret Angel and anyone can be a entrepreneur of a coding company.
With these two women, Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss, leading with their example for all the other women in the world, it gives the world hope and direction compared to where it is heading right now.
