By Dylan Wells, The Washington Post (c) 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris’s appearance Friday night alongside Beyoncé, one of the world’s biggest female pop stars, embodies a trend: the overlap between her campaign for the White House and the icons of “girl culture.”
The phenomenon of “girl culture,” epitomized by last year’s box-office blockbuster “Barbie” and the record-shattering, financial powerhouse tours of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, is distinctly feminine, celebrates girlhood and has been embraced by women of all ages. Beaded friendship bracelets, glitter, gemstones, pink bows, girl dinner, reflections on female friendship and feminism – call it “girl culture.”
Harris has not emphasized the possible barrier-breaking status of her presidential bid, but it has crystallized the collision between the campaign and the persistent pop culture phenomenon.
On Friday night, Beyoncé is scheduled to perform at a Houston rally for Harris that will focus on reproductive rights, a definitive issue for the vice president. Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, and country music star Willie Nelson, also will attend the rally.
Harris has long used Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” a song by the 32-time Grammy winner, as her walk-on music at rallies.
Supporters in battleground states have cited the organic fandom surrounding Harris’s campaign as extending the longevity of girl culture – something the endorsements from the pop superstars Beyoncé and Swift have helped to underscore. For fans, the overlap between the culture surrounding some of the biggest girly musicians, movies and vibes is a way to celebrate Harris’s gender and the power of female voters. They hope the same takeaways from summer 2023 – that women can drive the economy – can translate to them pushing Harris across the finish line to become the nation’s first female president.
Felicia Weigel, 53, who wore a Barbie-themed pro-Harris hoodie to a rally in Reno, Nevada, said her choice of outfit (including Harris-inspired Converse sneakers and a pearl necklace) encompassed the theme of the election.
“It’s feminism. It’s girly. … There’s no apologies,” she said. For her, Harris’s campaign is particularly meaningful due to the chance for greater representation of women and women of color.
“She’s multiracial. I love the fact that the little girls that look like us, that can now see what’s out there – what’s possible – so representation is a big one for me,” she said, later adding: “Could you find a more representative candidate? I don’t think so.”
She said she believes Harris’s approach to de-emphasize her gender is the correct one, and “enough people will do that without her needing to.”
Harris, who would be not only the first female president but the first Black and Indian American female president, has not emphasized her gender the same way that then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton did in 2016. Asked why she has been reluctant to do so in a recent interview with NBC News, Harris said: “Well I’m clearly a woman; I don’t need to point that out to anyone. The point that most people really care about is, can you do the job, and do you have a plan to actually focus on them?”
Harris leads among female voters in swing states by seven points and former president Donald Trump leads among all men by the same percentage, according to The Post’s recent polling. The divide is largest among younger voters – perhaps the top purveyors of girl culture – with women under 30 favoring Harris by 20 points while men under 30 favor Trump by 15 points.
In every presidential election since 1980, more eligible female voters have cast their ballots than men. So far, early voting in three of the battleground states that provide a breakdown based on gender – Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina – show more women then men have voted.
The girl culture extended universe got new characters this summer, with more pop girlies taking the scene and a fresh slate of TikTok trends and styles fueling girlhood’s endurance.
“Kamala running, Swift out there doing all these things, Beyoncé, Charli, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, all of these young women with agency and the platform that are saying: ‘It’s okay to be political. It’s okay to stand up for your values and to fight for help so that we can have health care and we can have autonomy over our body.’ I love seeing them come together,” Weigel said.
Vicki Larson, 63, purchased a similar pink Barbie-stylized Harris shirt featuring a rainbow and hearts after seeing it posted in a Michigan Women for Harris group on Facebook, gushing, “If I could wear that Barbie speech on my chest every day, I would do it,” a reference to a monologue in the film about the challenges and competing pressures of being a woman. (The actress who delivers the lines, America Ferrera, has been a surrogate for Harris on the trail.) She paired it with a pearl necklace and Converse sneakers, and a friendship bracelet reading “I’m with her” to attend a rally featuring Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
She dismissed any criticism that things like Barbie, Swift or Beyoncé – things that marked the increased focus on girl culture – are frivolous, arguing that they are a way for women to feel empowered.
Larson cited women’s rights and the overturning of Roe v. Wade as her top reasons for supporting Harris, and she expressed both disbelief and excitement at the prospect of electing a female president in her lifetime – let alone this November.
“It’s almost life affirming. I feel like, as a female, it’s given me strength in ways I just really can’t wrap my head around yet. I think this is the example we need to set for our younger generation,” she said.
Online, the campaign has embraced girl-coded pop culture references – beyond just Charli XCX’s “Brat” album and aesthetic which launched a pop culture phenomenon. In recent days, the KamalaHQ TikTok account has used sounds including Swift’s “Bejeweled,” the theme song from HBO’s “Sex and the City,” Beyoncé’s “I’M THAT GIRL” and an audio from “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”
Deeper cuts that have made appearances in the account’s viral videos include sounds of Abby Lee Miller from Lifetime’s “Dance Moms,” immediately recognizable to Gen-Z women, and an audio from a breakup story time from Brooke Schofield, an influencer and co-host of a podcast popular with young women. Harris herself appeared on “Call Her Daddy,” the most listened to podcast by women on Spotify.
At rallies, the dad rock of President Joe Biden’s playlist is now interspersed by recent top hits from the music industry’s biggest female pop stars – Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” and “Femininomenon,” Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” and “so american,” Charli XCX’s “Apple” and “Von Dutch,” and Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” from the Barbie soundtrack. In Detroit last weekend, Lizzo encouraged supporters to get out the vote in front of a backdrop of painted signs reading “It’s About Madam Time.”
Since Harris took over the ticket, supporters at her and Walz’s rallies have plotted their outfits as if attending Swift’s Eras Tour or Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, partnering Easter eggs for their musical allegiance with their support of Harris.
At a rally in Arizona, supporters’ shirts christened Walz “Midwest Princess,” a reference to fellow artist Chappell Roan, who said she is voting for Harris but notably declined to endorse the ticket. A camo and orange “Harris Walz” baseball cap that resembles Roan’s merchandise has become the signature look of the campaign and is now stylized in a sign format as well – the girly counter to the right’s various shades of Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hats.
In Las Vegas, attendees wore “Swifties for Harris ’24” shirts and one sported a full President Barbie costume – a hot pink jumpsuit with a sash reading “president.” At Harris and Walz rallies in Pennsylvania, which have featured tables of friendship bracelet making materials, fans have sported shirts in Swift’s Red-era style reading “We are not going back. Like ever.”
Chelsea Wiersema, 32, a mental health therapist who attended a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, recently launched an Etsy business selling Harris themed merchandise, including an Eras Tour-style shirt of “The Harris Tour” that she wore to the rally.
“Taylor Swift concerts are not attainable for everyone, but I think Taylor Swift and Barbie are embedded into our culture, whether we like it or not, and they are role models for young girls and young women,” Wiersema said, reflecting on the crossover between girl culture icons and the campaign trail.
“I think it makes it more approachable for people to get involved in campaigns and politics if they’re seeing relatable things, instead of just taxes and the top one percent and White men in suits.”
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Emily Guskin contributed to this report.