Taylor Swift Was *Definitely* Not Here For This Assumption About Her Turning 30 Soon

Just because Taylor Swift is about to celebrate her 30th birthday, that doesn't mean she should be expected to start retiring from the spotlight to have a family. According to Entertainment Tonight, Swift shut down an interviewer who asked if she'll "settle down" now that she's about turn 30, and made a great point about the different ways men and women are perceived once they reach that milestone age.

During an interview with the German outlet Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Swift was reportedly asked whether her upcoming 30th birthday marked a "turning point" in her life, and means she will settle down with boyfriend Joe Alwyn soon. "I really do not think men are asked that question when they turn 30. So I'm not going to answer that question now," the singer responded, according to ET.

Instead of addressing the possibility to retiring from the spotlight to raise a family, Swift instead reflected on what turning 30 means to her, saying, "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 has been doing quite a bit of reflecting about the lessons she's learned in her twenties recently, even writing an essay for Elle magazine in which she chronicled the 30 biggest lessons she's learned thus far in her life. One of the most significant things she shared is learning that she doesn't need to be miserable in order to produce good music — a lesson that seems to be at the center of her inspiring, rainbow-themed new music.

"I remember people asking me, 'What are you gonna write about if you ever get happy?'" Swift wrote, referencing the oft-cited remark that she only writes about her many, public breakups. "There’s a common misconception that artists have to be miserable in order to make good art, that art and suffering go hand in hand," she explained, adding, "I’m really grateful to have learned this isn’t true. Finding happiness and inspiration at the same time has been really cool."

Another common misconception that Swift has frequently debunked over the years; in 2014, she explained that male songwriters don't get criticized for writing about their relationships in the same way that she does, pointing out the double standard in the way she's portrayed in the media compared to her male peers. "You’re going to have people who are going to say, 'Oh, you know, like, she just writes songs about her ex-boyfriends.' And I think frankly that’s a very sexist angle to take," she said on the Australian radio show Jules, Merrick & Sophie.

"No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says that about Bruno Mars. They’re all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life, and no one raises the red flag there," she explained. "I have a really strict personal policy that I never name names. And so anybody saying that a song is about a specific person is purely speculating."

Despite her policy of not explicitly naming the people who have inspired her songs, Swift has been incredibly open about her life and experiences in her music — and has said that her upcoming seventh album will actually be her most personal one yet. Describing the record as "much more playful and actually inward facing," than reputation, the singer continued, "Like, when you get into this album, it’s much more about me as a person — no pun intended with the song title. But it’s kind of taking those walls, taking that bunker down from around you that I felt like I had to put up."

Clearly, turning 30 means that Swift is much more comfortable with who she is, both as a person and as a celebrity, and she's more willing than ever to shut down any sexist double standards that the media wants to throw her way these days.