Swift explained the meaning behind the song—which stands up for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the rights of women—to Apple Music's Beats 1.

"I've observed a lot of different people in our society who just put so much energy and effort into negativity, and it just made me feel like, 'You need to just calm down. Like, you're stressing yourself out. This seems like it's more about you than what you're going off about. Like, just calm down.'"