Frida Kahlo Cultural Appropriation Analysis

Fernanda Castillo-Cruz

Gorman 5

Frida Kahlo and Cultural Appropriation

Does it take changing your identity to be noticed?

It has been argued that Frida Kahlo appropriated Mexican indigenous culture throughout her life. Frida Kahlo was mixed; half mestizo and half German. She is well known for her paintings, in which she was inspired by nature, Mexican culture, and gender identities. She even included her disabilities in some of her paintings. However, some argue that Frida Kahlo used Mexican Indigenous culture and appropriated it, which is also called cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is when a person takes a different culture for themselves and does not show respect. Frida used indigenous culture for herself and changed

In Source 2 paragraph 3 sentence 3, it was stated, "I’ve never been to Tehuantepec, nor do I have any connection to the town, but of all Mexican dresses, it’s the one I liked the most, and that’s why I wear it.” This was one from Kahlo's interviews about huipiles. Don't you think that wearing a dress from a culture you have no connection to and wearing it because you like it is quite unusual? Wearing something cultural just for the style is certainly not appreciating the culture. The huipil can mean something really important to the Tehuana culture. Furthermore, in Source 2 paragraph 7 sentence 5, Josie Lopez illustrates, "If you look at the way that she was photographed, the way that she was dressed, the way that she chose to present herself within the cultures of Mexico are very much intentional." With this reference, it can certainly be inferred that Kahlo's way of dressing was all part of her image. She wanted to fit in and borrow the image of the Tehuana women. Did she really want to change her whole identity to look better? Did she think that dressing up in beautiful huipiles and including indigenous culture in her art will make her an indigenous woman? Frida Kahlo is certainly someone full of mysteries, although, something is quite clear about her; she imitated indigenous women and failed to look good in people's eyes. The way Frida Kahlo used Mexican Indigenous culture to

In the interview, "Frida Kahlo and Appropriation of Indigenous Cultures" by Chris Gonzales, paragraph 7 sentence 5 states, "There was this idea of how the Tehuana embodied everything powerful, important, even “magical” or “mystical” about traditional Mexican culture." Kahlo's next step in her plan was to embody the qualities of the Tehuana woman. She wanted the respect the indigenous women received and to become the main public figure just like them. In addition, source 2 also says, "identifying the Tehuana women as the perfect symbol of Mexican national identity, because they were celebrated as a so-called matriarchal, female driven part of the country." Frida also wanted to be part of the matriarchal system to be powerful and mystical, and to take the role of a leader like the Tehuana women. She wanted the look of a leader, she wanted the same respect, making her look like a stronger leader. Although, even if she wanted to achieve the look and public image of a Tehuana, she miserably failed by not taking the right steps of being a respectful