Blog #4

Instead of reading a lecture for class this week we were assigned to watch the movie Frida. In many art classes and my Spanish class in eleventh grade I have seen and heard about the paintings of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera but, I did not know their story. I was very interested in this movie to see the story of Kahlo and Rivera. Frida Kahlo is a prime example of a woman who strives for what she believes in and does not let her disabilities stop her from achieving her dreams. Frida had a love for drawing and painting and even after her tragic trolley accident that left her stuck in bed for long periods of time she was able to create images that expressed emotions that many were feeling but not able to express. Frida was exemplified a strong woman. Frida knew her husband what not being faithful to her but she kept her head high and stuck by his side in New York City. It was not until she found Diego sleeping with her sister that she had the courage to leave him. Her strength, courage, and emotion, and her disabilities allowed her to create more and more images that would later become very well known.

There is a clear connection between the movie Frida and the article “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory,” by Garland-Thomson. The connection between the two is the theme of disabilities. On page 75 of the Garland-Thomson article it is stated that, “Feminist disability theory addresses such broad feminist concerns as the unity of the category woman, the status of the lived body, the politics of appearance, the medicalization of the body, the privilege of normalcy, multiculturalism, sexuality, the social construction of identity, and the commitment to integration.” Many of these topics are addressed in the movie Frida. A few examples are Frida is physically disable after the trolley accident and has to undergo many surgeries throughout her life, she is unable to have children and miscarries during her pregnancy, she is also not very attractive and has a uni-brow which is considered a disability, and sexually she had the disability of cheating on her husband with other men and she is also attracted to the opposite sex which in that period of time is considered to be a disability.

One part of the article we read that I found to be very interesting is on page 78 where it states woman are “mutilated males.” Woman are always seen as second class to men. The article also discusses how woman are considered physically disabled compared to men and men who “throw like a girl” are also considered to have a disability. This is something that always angers me because I played three varsity sports throughout high school and as good as my teams were or no matter how much better shape I was in compared to a lot of the guys I was friends with, the girls teams were still seen as lower and not as important as the guys teams. I feel that stereotypes against genders shouldn’t also be considered disabilities because women are just as able to play physical sports as men and are sometimes even better then them at various sports.