By: Rebecca Capozzi | Staff Writer

Taylor Swift has been one of music’s biggest figures for over ten years now. At the age of just 14, she signed a music publishing deal with SONY/ATV, becoming the youngest singer to ever be signed to this company in its history. At the age of 18, she had sold more than 1,000,000 copies of her debut album, Taylor Swift. She also had four consecutive albums sit at #1 for six weeks, which is something only The Beatles have done.

Pretty incredible, right? Well, her career has only skyrocketed since then. She now has seven albums and has sold 50 copies worldwide. Not many people can accomplish what Taylor Swift has, however her Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, showed how truly relatable Taylor Swift actually is.

“Taylor Swift” by Chelsea Peters is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Like all of us, Taylor Swift is afraid of failure. She is in the industry of receiving approval and applause, so when that doesn’t happen, she does not feel as though she has succeeded. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, she received an award for Best Female Video. As she was making her speech, Kanye West infamously grabbed the microphone from her hand and announced that he believed that Beyoncé should have won that award. The crowd instantly began to “boo” Kanye West. However, all Taylor Swift heard was people booing, and her initial thought was that they were booing her for receiving the award.

“For someone who’s built their whole belief system on getting people to clap for you, the whole crowd booing is a pretty formative experience,” Swift said in her Netflix documentary. In that moment, Taylor Swift thought that she had failed. Everyone is scared to fail. Even when someone has had so much success in their life, failure is always a fear in the back of their mind.

Taylor Swift has also had problems with her body image, much like many people today do. She no longer looks at paparazzi pictures of herself, as she tends to get triggered by them. If she saw a picture of herself that was unflattering, like her stomach looking too big, she would stop eating. Fortunately, she realized how unhealthy this was and decided that she no longer wanted to look at paparazzi pictures of herself. Whenever someone takes a picture, people tend to point out the tiniest flaws on themselves that no one else would notice except them. It is important to accept yourself for who you are and to not let anything get in the way of that.

Taylor Swift is also a victim of sexual assault. In 2013, she was taking a picture with an ex-DJ before a concert when he put his hand up her skirt. Unfortunately, this happens to many people. Fortunately, Taylor Swift has the following to have a voice for victims and to make sure that everyone is heard. The ex-DJ sued Taylor Swift for causing him to lose his job, and she countersued him for $1. She won. The only reason that she countersued was because she wanted people to know that they have a right to be believed.

She also wanted to stand up for the people who do not feel comfortable doing so. Many people feel that it is too late for them to say something or they are scared that no one will believe them, so Taylor Swift stood up for them. She understands the pain that many sexual assault victims are going through. Although many people feel like they are alone in that situation, they are not, and Taylor Swift definitely showed that.

Under all of the money, fame, and talent, Taylor Swift is really a regular person. She has fears and has gone through struggles like everyone else has. Her Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, shows fans a different side of her that not many people have seen before. She really just seems like any other person-who just happens to have a huge following across the entire world. She does not let that get to her head like many celebrities do. That is definitely what sets her apart from many other famous people nowadays. She really is just one of us.

And of course, she also lives in Rhode Island!