The Internet has long wondered: Is T-Swift a feminist?

And now, finally, the age-old debate can be put to bed. Yes, the “BFF to planet Earth,” as Swift was described by friend Tavi Gevinson, is of the feminist persuasion.

In an interview with The Guardian published Friday, Swift discussed her recent come to Wollstonecraft moment. She says her awakening was due, in part, to her friendship with Lena Dunham, who is known for being an outspoken feminist on social media.

Swift told The Guardian:

“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. What it seemed to me, the way it was phrased in culture, 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. 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 – without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for – has made me realize that I’ve been taking afeminist stance without actually saying so.”

Swift has previously skirted around labeling herself a feminist, but now we know that’s probably because she wasn’t so clear on what it really means to be a feminist.

When asked by The Daily Beast’s Ramin Setoodeh in 2012 if she considers herself a feminist, Swift, then 22, replied: “I don’t really think about things as guys versus girls. I never have. I was raised by parents who brought me up to think if you work as hard as guys, you can go far in life.”

Her past attempts to distance herself from that designation upset writers like The Frisky’s Jessica Wakeman, who wrote of Swift in 2012: “[S]he’s 22 now and has been exposed to a lot in these past few years. I do not expect that Taylor Swift would have the politics of Kathleen Hanna, India.Arie, Ani DiFranco or even Alanis Morrissette. But I do wish she could correctly identify what a feminist is — even if she does not want to identify as one.”

Swift’s avoidance of feminism even inspired the popular parody Twitter account @FeministTaylorSwift.

[[Breaking: Taylor Swift learns about feminism, decides she’s into it: http://t.co/xfXc8D5ZlM #proud ]]

— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) August 23, 2014

While you’ve been getting down and out about all the structural inequality of the world / You could’ve been getting down / To this sick beat

— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) August 21, 2014

Oppressors gonna oppress oppress oppress oppress oppress

— FeministTaylorSwift (@feministtswift) August 19, 2014

Now it seems Swift has grown up and gotten a proper schooling in feminism along the way.

Swift, welcome to the club.