Arturo Zaldívar's Interesting Obsession

I knew you were trouble

Every other Tuesday, Mexican Supreme Court justice Arturo Zaldívar writes a column for the major Mexican newspaper Milenio.

Born in 1959, Zaldívar received his law degree from Mexico City's Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He taught constitutional law at that institution and practiced law until 2009, when he was appointed as a justice to the Mexican Supreme Court. In 2019, Zaldívar was elected by his peers to be president of the court - the first president of the Supreme Court who had never had a judicial career before his Supreme Court appointment. His presidency concluded this year, but he remains a justice on the court.

Zaldívar's court presidency was marked by human rights reform, with a focus on advancing social justice for indigenous and vulnerable groups. Notably, Zaldívar's court also acted in a role of containment with respect to some of the executive branch's quest for increased power and influence under Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico's current president.

But none of that is why I'm writing about Arturo Zaldívar today. I am writing about Arturo Zaldívar because he is, unapologetically, quite possibly the biggest and most outspoken Taylor Swift fan in Mexican politics.

Zaldívar spends a good deal of time singing (not literally) the praises of Taylor Swift on his Twitter account. In fact, he spends so much social media energy on Taylor Swift that people have started criticizing him - questioning whether he should instead be focusing his free time on matters more important than one of the world's biggest pop stars. This criticism led Zaldívar to aim his most recent Milenio column at defending his candid and unabashed admiration for Taylor Swift.

In "¿Por qué me gusta Taylor Swift?", Zaldívar writes that people (translation by Google):

...point out that, as a justice of the Supreme Court, I should take care of more important tasks, instead of making my appreciation of [Swift's] music visible.

The truth is that there is nothing trivial about Taylor Swift. Beyond malicious criticism, such voices are deeply unaware of what this artist represents for millions of women and young people in Mexico and around the world.

Zaldívar goes on to write that he likes Taylor Swift

because her music is a rebellious cry, in a world where women are told to keep quiet. Because her lyrics portray what it means to be a woman and grow up in a macho and patriarchal society, in which girls are told that her role is to please and not bother...Because her songs denounce machismo, objectification, double standards and gender violence that they face every day.

I listen to Taylor Swift for what she represents for the fight for the rights of sexual diversity. Because she has used her voice to denounce hatred and violence against LGBTI + people, and to support essential laws to guarantee the rights of all people equally.

In his column's penultimate paragraph, he writes:

I will continue promoting narratives that advocate building a different world: more compassionate, sensitive and open to diversity.

When I first read about Zaldívar's obsession with Taylor Swift, I thought it was cute, colorful. And, in some ways, it is. But, the more I looked into Zaldívar, the more I understood how his interest in her music was a reflection of his progressive beliefs, and in his hopes and aspirations for Mexico itself. I believe - and Taylor Swift might even agree - that Mexico and the world need more people like Arturo Zaldívar, Swift obsession or no.