Let’s stop wondering what might be if we were men. Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are showing us how

I make no secret that pop culture is not my strong suit. I don’t keep up with what’s streaming on Netflix and I rarely get to the movies—notable exception is the new Barbie film. But I would have to be living under a very heavy boulder not to know that this is the summer Taylor Swift and Beyoncé smashed records and showed us who wields the power in pop music.?What’s as amazing as their performances is the undeniable impact they are having on local economies wherever they go.?

In May, Beyoncé, who has won more Grammys than any other musical artist, kicked off her blockbuster Renaissance Tour—which is on track to earn more than $700M—in Stockholm. Swedish finance experts credited the tour with inflating consumer prices in the city.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour sold over 2.4 million tickets on the first day of ticket sales–the most ever sold by an artist in a single day. Ticketmaster crashed—and caused a firestorm among Swifties. In July, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve credited Swift with sparking the strongest growth in hotel bookings since the pandemic began.

Both of these artists have generated tens of millions of dollars for the economy and are on track to take home more than $1B each.?

And that’s just the financial impact. An even longer-term impact is the one they’re having on multiple generations of women.?

I was lucky enough to get to take my just-turned 13-year-old daughter (to her first-ever concert!) to see sold-out Taylor Swift in L.A. this past weekend. It was incredible to be surrounded by a crowd of 65,000 people, 90 percent of whom were women and girls. There was no smoking and no beer smell wafting through the air, as one would generally experience in a co-ed crowd. And oh, the pink! It. Was. Everywhere. #lovedit

More than anything, I was taken in by Taylor’s musical genius and her ability to perform and entertain, all while seeming to be a normal, kind person. (I fully appreciate it can’t be completely normal to live her life at this point.) Before I went to the show, I honestly didn’t know if I’d even recognize more than half a dozen songs. Turns out, I knew about 70 percent of them—I was quite proud of myself. But more than the music itself, I came away feeling inspired by how joy-filled and energizing the experience was.?

This may sound odd, but it felt almost spiritual.? What I imagine it was perhaps like to see the Beatles 60 years ago, with tens of thousands of women screaming their hearts out. I love that so many tweens, teens, and young women have an opportunity to witness the power of these performers. Their energy is euphoric and contagious. Their lyrics—which everyone knows word-for-word— are infectious. The show put the strength and joy of being a woman center stage.?

Both women have songs that reflect on how much easier it is to be a boy or a man. That has historically been—and is still—true. But the phenomena of these tours proves that Taylor Swift never need worry about being The Man and that Beyoncé is way cooler than a boy. They’re showing sold-out stadiums and the global economy that women really can run the world.

#tothetop