<aside> 💡 Analysis -

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<aside> 👂 Social Media Analysis Relating To This Theme:

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https://x.com/dorothea_pod/status/1777122496250003601?s=46

<aside> 👸 Relevance to Taylor’s Life: “Frozen at the age they get famous—and that’s kinda what happened to me” - Miss Americana Documentary quote

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<aside> 🌈 Queer History: It has been a common homophobic rhetoric to say to a young LGBTQ+ person that they’ll “grow out of it”. This sentiment is rebutted in girl in red’s song “girls” (2018): “no this is not a phase or a coming of age this will never change”. It’s interesting that Taylor uses this phrase on her 2020 record ‘folklore’ in the opening lyrics of ‘peace’: “our coming-of-age has come & gone/suddenly, this summer, it’s clear/I never had the courage of my convictions as long as danger’s near”. Whether Taylor intentionally wanted to nod to GIR here or just use a common phrase, this lyric (and the ones following it) could be interpreted as “I haven’t grown out of my sexuality, it’s clear that this is something that won’t be a phase but that is now part of my adult identity”

Some examples of proof that this is a common homophobic rhetoric are below:

In a guide for parents & caters of “what not to say” to their LGBTQ+ kids - https://thebeyouproject.co.uk/parents-carers-and-friends/

https://derrenbrown.co.uk/curing-gays/comment-page-2/

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<aside> ➕ See also: Her Childhood/Children/Girlhood/Child/Kid/Infant/Baby Frozen/Time Freezes/Stuck in time/Can't Grow/Time Stood Still/Peter Pan

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Debut

Fearless

Speak Now

• Never Grow Up - (Growing up = things going wrong in life, people breaking your heart)

  • Oh, darlin', don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up Just stay this little Oh, darlin', don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up It could stay this simple

  • Wish I'd never grown up

    I wish I'd never grown up

    Oh, I don't wanna grow up

    Wish I'd never grown up

    Could still be little

    Oh, I don't wanna grow up

    Wish I'd never grown up

    It could still be simple

Red

1989

Reputation

Lover

• The Archer - I never grew up, it’s getting so old

folklore

• cardigan - when you are young they assume you know nothing

• Cardigan - Peter losing Wendy

  • Peter Pan refuses to grow up, that’s why he loses Wendy

• Peace -

  Our coming-of-age has come & gone, (we’re stuck young, haven’t grown up OR we’re not young anymore, we’re supposed to be mature now)

  suddenly this summer it’s clear,

  I never had the courage of my convictions (if I was brave I’d be able to do the thing that would mean we could grow up/stop being frozen in time, but I can’t?)

  as long as danger’s near