Semi-Tennessean Taylor Swift now reigns as Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Reigns again, sort of. Yay or meh?

“In a divided world, where too many institutions are failing, Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light,” Time said in announcing her selection. “No one else on the planet today can move so many people so well.”

She does not move me. I couldn’t name one of her songs if you promised me free beer for life. I doubt I would recognize her if she were in the checkout line ahead of me at Kroger, unless she were wearing one of her sequined bodysuits and had Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs star tight end and her current beau, at her side. In uniform.

I had more or less assumed that her devoted fan base – Swifties, in the vernacular – consisted largely of willowy 12-year-old girls, like my niece Jayne. And while I was vaguely aware that she had something of a reputation of trashing previous beaus in her lyrics, I had no awareness of specific examples.

No surprise there. Septuagenarian males are not her prime demographic. We’re all still busy debating which is the quintessential Beatles song, or whether Tom Brady was a better quarterback than Joe Montana. (Correct answers: “She Loves You” and “No.”)

But I don’t begrudge her selection. At 33, she’s been stacking career success on career success for years. Her Eras concert tour is apparently making so much money and creating so much commercial hubbub that world leaders have beseeched her to play gigs in their countries. Demand for tickets is such that fans crashed Ticketmaster in their pursuit, even at face prices I’ve seen up to $499. And good luck paying face price; resale tickets can go for thousands.

(Point of reference: The price for a field level box seat for the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965, including fees, was $5.65.)

Forbes estimates Swift makes $10 million to $13 million per concert. She’s said to be quite generous, handing out millions of dollars in bonuses to people working the tour. Good for her.

The Time honor she received started out as Man of the Year, the very first being Charles Lindbergh in 1927. (Being the first to fly solo across the Atlantic was a pretty big deal in those days.) Wallace Warfield Simpson became the first woman named, in 1936, her notable achievement having been to inspire the abdication of her third husband, King Edward VIII of Britain.

Men still have a considerable lead in the category but, strictly speaking, you don’t even have to be a person to qualify. Among the finalists Swift beat out for the honor this year was Barbie.

And if you are a person, you don’t have to be a good or noble one. Hitler was named in 1938, Stalin in 1939 and 1942. It’s all about impact, whether for good or ill.

I mentioned that this is not Swift’s first accolade from Time. In 2017, she was included as one of the Silence Breakers, women (and a few men) who spoke out against sexual abuse from their own experience. Still, not everyone has welcomed her latest distinction.

“It’s shameful and sad that a hyper-promiscuous, childless woman (Taylor Swift), aging and alone with a cat, has become the heroine of a feminist age,” Eric Conn tweeted after her selection.

Conn is host of the Hard Man podcast, “producing premium content that aims to recover biblical masculinity in a world of softness.” Among the blog entries on his website is one titled “Why Men Need a Gang.” A man who doesn’t have one should form one, he writes.

“It can be many things. But remember two principles for your activities: Blood and dirt. Fighting and work.”

With enemies like that – I’m particularly peeved at his cat slander – Swift should probably be on my playlist 24/7, even if she sounds like Tom Waits stepping barefoot on a Lego piece. Which she does not, as I learned the other night after asking Siri to play her music for me. She has quite a pleasant voice.

But yes, she does stick it to us guys in some of her stuff. I hope that football boyfriend knows what he could be in for.

Joe Rogers is a former writer for The Tennessean and editor for The New York Times. He is retired and living in Nashville.