By Adam Peaker
Pop royalty Taylor Swift’s recent engagement to long-term boyfriend and NFL star Travis Kelce has been described as emblematic of ‘tradpop’, a wave of socially conservative pop music sweeping across the US.
‘Childless cat lady’ to ‘tradwife’?
Earlier this week, the country-turned-pop megastar announced her engagement on Instagram with the caption “your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married”.
The betrothal was celebrated by America’s right-wing – controversial commentator Charlie Kirk stated he hoped it would make Swift “more conservative”.
Even President Donald Trump, who at one point said he “couldn’t stand her”, now wishes the couple “a lot of a luck”.
On the left, the announcement alienated certain fans who believed in the ‘Gaylor’ conspiracy; the theory that Swift was secretly gay or bisexual and simply had not come out yet due to pressure.
The idea that Swift become a ‘tradwife’, a traditional housewife subservient to her husband, is less likely, however, according to other commentators.
This is due to her political activism.
Swift, an outspoken feminist, previously endorsed democratic candidates Joe Biden in the 2020 US election and more recently Kamala Harris in 2024 election.
She signed off Harris’ endorsement by calling herself a “childless cat lady”, a pejorative term used by JD Vance disparaging women who are unmarried and childless, as well as typically over 25 years old.
The singer first made public her political opinions in an Instagram post before the 2018 midterm elections in the US.
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What is ‘tradpop’?
‘Tradpop’, short for ‘traditional pop’, is a style of pop music which blends elements of country and spiritual music and, above all, espouses traditional American and Christian values.
Tradpop has enjoyed boon in popularity in 2025, with Alex Warren’s ‘Ordinary’, described by Vox Media as “love song that easily doubles as a Christian worship song”, reaching #1 in the US charts and remaining in the Billboard Top 100 for 20 weeks.
In an interview with NPR, Holly Zabka, president of Sony’s Christian music division Provident, stated that previously “Christian music felt like a lesser version of whatever was popular”.
Nowadays, Christian musicians “can now simply exist on the same level as all the other artists in the world”, she adds.
It is a far cry from 2024’s brat summer where the likes of more socially – and sonically – progressive Charli XCX and Chappel Roan were the reigning superstars.
The rise in Christian music also correlates with a rise in faith amongst US adults.
Researcher Shane Schaetzel found that more Americans are joining Catholic church than leaving for first time in decades.
In 2025, just under 160,000 American adults are set to convert, a figure not seen since the start of the century, whilst the number of those disaffiliating has declined since the beginning of the pandemic.
What this trend holds for broader popular American culture has yet to be seen.
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