Pop megastar Taylor Swift has sway — and not just in a musical sense. As her record-breaking world tour winds down, she once again has made headlines by sparking a surge in voter registration.

After encouraging her fans to engage politically via a single Instagram post, more than 400,000 people flocked to the U.S. voter registration website almost instantly, reports say.

But some pop culture mavens note that Ms. Swift’s impact on her largely female fanbase isn’t just about party politics. It’s a symbol of a growing divide between young American men and women, a shift that may shape the country’s socio-political landscape in years to come.

According to the Survey Center for American Life, while nearly 6 in 10 Gen Z men have a negative view of the pop superstar, the majority of Gen Z women enjoy Ms. Swift.

Similarly, recent polling shows that 68% of young women support Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, compared to just 30% who back former President Donald Trump. Young men, on the other hand, are much more evenly split.

Molly, a 25-year-old marketing associate in Queens, New York, has been a “Swiftie” since she was 11. She has supported Sen. Bernard Sanders for many years. But she says she doesn’t feel politically swayed by Ms. Swift so much as she feels empowered by her.

“I mean, she’s not making my decision for me. I was going to vote regardless, but her [political] choices remind me that, you know, my personal [choices] are good,” Molly said.

Ms. Swift recently revealed her plans to pull the lever for Ms. Harris in November, citing her thorough research as the reason. “As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country,” Ms. Swift posted to her 284 million Instagram followers.

Leah Jacobson, founder and CEO of the nonprofit women’s health clinic The Guiding Star Project in Minnesota, has worked with young women for more than 20 years. She says the female allure of Ms. Swift is not one of political and social savvy — it’s of control.

“You never hear political discussions surrounding Taylor Swift posed as, you know: ‘What is her level of education?’ It’s just what everyone is so focused on — that she gives off the persona of living the exact life she wants to live, like she’s on top,” Ms. Jacobson said. “She’s in control. She gets to make the choices and do exactly what she wants to do. And I think so, in a sense, she’s kind of redefining success.”

Of course, success may be an understatement.

Ms. Swift’s world-spanning Eras Tour has grossed more than $2.165 billion, making it the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, Time magazine reports.

Ms. Swift’s economic influence has earned its own media term — “Swiftonomics.” It has been credited with boosting local economies worldwide and revitalizing businesses from hotels to restaurants in every city she visits, Time data shows.

She has collected oodles of music industry awards, and she dominates on streaming platforms, becoming the most-streamed artist on Spotify in 2023 with more than 100 million monthly listeners.

The recent and higher frequency of her music releases could have something to do with it. Since losing the rights to her master recordings during the sale of her label to Scooter Braun, Ms. Swift has embarked on a quest to reclaim them. She’s been rerecording all of her old records, reliving her past years as an artist, or — as she calls them — “eras.”

And despite their status as re-recordings, these albums haven’t failed to top the charts. Last year’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” topped the Billboard 200 and surpassed its original release’s sales.

Ms. Jacobson says this re-recording effort is a major part of her appeal to women.

“That’s a big part of her storyline, is that, you know, men have tried to own her, and she cannot be owned. The movie theaters cannot own her because she releases her film on her own terms,” Ms. Jacobson said. “Maybe that’s why the Democratic Party is also seeing so much support and alignment from young women. They’ve done a really good job of creating that narrative of ‘you are in control.’ And they’ve, you know, absolutely made that synonymous with reproductive rights and abortion rights.”

Like many celebrities, Ms. Swift openly champions progressive causes such as LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive freedom — two movements many young men are starting to abandon in favor of more conservative values.

Mark Hall, a scholar of Christianity & Public Life at George Fox University in Oregon, has observed this shift firsthand.

“Obviously, young women are far more likely to be progressive politically than men,” Mr. Hall said. “We’re all detecting a shift among young men, especially those 18 to 28, moving in a more conservative direction.”

This is surprising to some, since men have historically been more likely to be religiously unaffiliated, while women have long been seen as the more religious sex — a dynamic so common that some scholars called it “a universal truth,” according to research from American Enterprise Institute.

Indeed, church membership has been on the decline in the U.S. for years, but Generation Z is driving that trend in a new direction. Nearly 40% of Gen Z women now identify as religiously unaffiliated, compared to 34% of their male peers, says a survey from the Survey Center on American Life.

Mr. Hall sees this as a response to what many young men view as an overreach of liberalism in cultural spaces, driving them toward more traditional values.

This shift is not just political but also cultural. Mr. Hall noted that young men are increasingly likely to embrace traditional roles and norms as a reaction to what they see as the erosion of these values in mainstream culture. What’s deemed restrictive to many women, he says, is becoming enticing to young men.

“They’re far more interested in political arrangements where our rulers promote the good life by reinforcing traditional norms,” Mr. Hall said. “Young men are done with liberalism that champions neutrality on moral questions.”

Erika is a University of Texas psychology graduate who says she’s planning to vote for Mr. Trump in November. She has listened to Ms. Swift for years, but says she only knows the radio hits, so she doesn’t plan to heed her political advice.

“Honestly, I don’t super love a lot of the attention she gets — it’s kind of annoying. Dear God, she’s everywhere. Every girl I know seems to listen to her,” she said. “But, look, I don’t hate her, you know, in the way my fiance does.”

Erika said she thinks his annoyance is, in part, driven by her political leanings. “He just doesn’t think pop stars should be commentating on politics, which is fair. But, yeah, I actually think he just wishes she wouldn’t keep showing up at football games,” she said, laughing.

Indeed, Ms. Swift has flaunted her romantic relationship at quite a few football matches — and it’s proven very profitable. Her presence at the Kansas City Chiefs’ games in support of her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, led to a significant spike in viewership, and reportedly drew millions of new fans to the games.

The NFL capitalized on this surge, prominently featuring Swift-related content during broadcasts, which resulted in the most-watched games of the season — something many men also weren’t happy about.

Instagram comments on the NFL’s account feature plenty of requests to show less of Ms. Swift on the Jumbotron this season, which will mark her second since she began publicly dating Mr. Kelce. “Can we not this season,” asked one user, while another demanded “Show me football!”

“I’m just there to support Travis,” she told Time magazine late last year. “I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads and Chads.”

But Ms. Swift apparently has become aware of the attention — and has sparked speculation by not showing up at the Chiefs’ most recent games.

Ms. Swift’s representation did not respond to The Washington Times’ request for comment.

• Emma Ayers can be reached at eayers@washingtontimes.com.