The ratio of economics to pop culture rises throughout Swiftynomics, building into a narrative crescendo that’s hard to resist; care-privilege is real and it is a barrier to gender equality. Not only is Taylor Swift, and her canon, drawn upon by Misty L. Heggeness to steer us through the fundamental pillars of feminist economics, the Barbie movie is also deployed, along with cameo appearances from Melinda Gates, Beyoncé, Simone Biles, Rosie the Riveter and many more.
Reinvention, masterminding, living your era – even if the Swiftie references elude you, Heggeness drives home the now established core principle of feminist economics – until we have greater equality in the home, and until society appropriately values the unpaid care labour that is overwhelmingly carried out by women, we will never be gender equal.
The first half covers some economic and gender equality basics – the “stubborn legacy” of economic man, and the pervasive misogyny in society. Heggeness establishes the concept of care-privilege (that some people glide through life without ever having to provide any significant amount of care) and we’re introduced to the women who have achieved much progress already. The Generations chapter is wonderful; US-centric but a veritable coterie of feminist heroes. Heggeness’s optimism repeatedly reminds us throughout this book that “we are closer to equity than at any other time in history even if we still have much more work to do”.
The second half of the book drills much deeper into care-privilege, reminding us that mothers can’t fairly compete in the workplace alongside those who are care-privileged, that reproductive rights are critical for economic independence, and that continued blindness to these truths will backfire in demographic disaster. Heggeness espouses that we must build on the work already done to address economic equality outside the home, and resolve the same imbalance that exists inside the home.
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At times Swiftynomics reads like a self-help book – not too heavy-handed but enough to rouse us from jaded resignation to see our own role in the journey to gender equality. It also offers a rich economics history and carries hefty political analysis that speaks to the entrenchment of these challenges, along with solid solutions. Simply put, “If systems that support the public good ... are made available equally across the country ... societal benefits accrue”.
Sinéad Gibney is a Social Democrat TD for Dublin-Rathdown.
