After years of singing her heart out about being a woman, Taylor Swift has finally come out as being a feminist.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Swift revealed that she just realized she has been preaching the message of a feminist throughout her whole career without realizing it.

"As a teenager, I didn't understand that saying you're a feminist is just saying that you hope women and men will have equal rights and equal opportunities," she said."What it seemed to me, the way it was phrased in culture and society was that you hate men. And now, I think a lot of girls have had a feminist awakening because they understand what the word means."
Swift went on to say her album shows this new found knowledge with the message. Unlike the damsel-in-distress songs of Swift’s four previous albums, 1989 will portray a happier, more confident Swift.

“…it’s the phase after that, when you go out into the world and make changes in your life on your own terms, make friends on your own terms, without literally saying ‘C’mon girls, we can do it on our own!’”

Swift credited a lot of her realizations regarding feminism to her new BFF, Girls star Lena Dunham.

"For so long it's been made to seem like something where you'd picket against the opposite sex, whereas it's not about that at all. Becoming friends with Lena Dunham... has made me realize that I've been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so."

Swift’s new album, 1989, is set to be released October 27, according to TheCelebrityCafe.com. Her new single “Shake It Off” is available on ITunes.

Credit: ACE/INFphoto.com