Taylor Swift shuts down misogynist question about turning 30

The 'Me!' singer called the interviewer out for asking her a question they'd never ask a male in the public eye

Taylor Swift arriving at the Time 100 Gala at the Lincoln Center in New York on April 23, 2019. AFP

Taylor Swift is turning 30 this year, on December 13 to be specific. And honestly, she seems to be excited about it.

"According to my birth certificate, I turn 30 this year. It's weird because part of me still feels 18 and part of me feels 283, but the actual age I currently am is 29," the Me! singer wrote in Elle. "I've heard people say that your thirties are 'the most fun!'"

However, an inevitable reality of turning 30 for women, it seems, is questions about becoming a mother and "settling down". Swift is not enjoying that part of getting older.

This week, German press agency, Deutsche Press-Agentur, asked her if the birthday was a "turning point" and if she "would like to be a mother someday [and] have children".

She was having none of it.

"I really do not think men are asked that question when they turn 30," she said. "So I'm not going to answer that now".

She was polite, however, adding: “I hear others say that one in his thirties no longer has as much stress and anxiety in life as in my twenties. And I can join in the observation that we are in our twenties looking to gain experience, try things out, fail, make mistakes.”

Swift is currently dating British actor Joe Alwyn.

Shutting down sexism 

This isn't the first time Swift has shut down a question she deemed sexist.

In October 2014 she was quizzed about penning songs about her exes by Australian radio host, Sophie Monk, to which she replied: "Frankly, I think that's a very sexist angle to take.

"No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says it about Bruno Mars. They're all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life, and no one raises a red flag."

What she knows at 30 

Ahead of her big birthday, Swift penned a story called 30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30 for Elle. It is full of honest advice, both funny and frank, and can be read as celebration of growing older.

A few of the highlights include an unabashed love for Command tape — "This is not an ad. I just really love Command tape" — and the honest realisation that "being sweet to everyone all the time can get you into a lot of trouble."

She talks vitamins, cooking, skincare, self care and love.

"All that glitters isn’t gold," she says of jumping in feet-first and learning to protect herself. "Are they honest, self-aware, and slyly funny at the moments you least expect it? Do they show up for you when you need them? Do they still love you after they’ve seen you broken? Or after they’ve walked in on you having a full conversation with your cats as if they’re people? These are things a first impression could never convey."