By - សតិវអតុ
Today is International Women’s Day. All across the globe people are honoring
various women who have in some way contributed to both the better of society
and the betterment of women.
Like all holidays in America today, this one has been
co-opted into a day of frivolous and condescending non-sense. I saw a commercial by
Wal*Mart for International Women’ Day. It is hard to imagine anyone less
serious about promoting women, than that corporation. This morning I saw the
crew at ABC
News Good Morning America fawning all over Duchess Meghan as she celebrates
International Women's Day. She is a woman who married into royalty. She did
nothing outstanding besides getting married. There are many women who have
contributed to politics, arts and other facets of modern society. Despite being
on that news show she has done little to support women’s rights or
advancements. According to ABC News:
“Duchess Meghan makes advocating for
women a focus of her work as a royal originally appeared
on goodmorningamerica.com
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex,
has held true to a prediction royal watchers made about the role she would play as
a member of Britain
The
mom-to-be, who is expecting her first child with Prince Harry, has made advocating for women a focus
of her work….
…Meghan, 37, was named on Friday, International Women's Day, as vice president of the Queen's Commonwealth
Trust, an organization led by Prince Harry that supports and connects young
leaders. Meghan will work particularly with young girls and women in her new
role.”
So she and her husband gave
that institution some funding. They did little of anything else.
I have chosen a woman who I find inspirational and popular
in out society and that woman is Frida
Kahlo. She is a famous artist and she was a communist. She and her husband,
Diego Rivera, also a communist, were
painters from Mexico .
They both had interesting careers and they both had interesting political
leanings.
Naturally I have decided to focus on women I believe has
contributed to the political or artistic developments of modern society. Kahlo
was an artist from Mexico .
I liked her artwork. She seemed to have a surrealistic slant to much of what
she did. According to a biography of her
online:
“Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is
remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colors.
She is celebrated in Mexico
Kahlo, who suffered from polio as a child, nearly died in a bus accident as a teenager. She suffered multiple fractures of her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, broken foot and dislocated shoulder. She began to focus heavily on painting while recovering in a body cast. In her lifetime, she had 30 operations.
Life experience is a common theme in Kahlo's approximately 200 paintings, sketches and drawings. Her physical and emotional pain are depicted starkly on canvases, as is her turbulent relationship with her husband, fellow artist Diego Rivera, who she married twice. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits.
The devastation to her body from the bus accident is shown in stark detail in The Broken Column. Kahlo is depicted nearly naked, split down the middle, with her spine presented as a broken decorative column. Her skin is dotted with nails. She is also fitted with a surgical brace.
Kahlo's first self-portrait was Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress in 1926. It was painted in the style of 19th Century Mexican portrait painters who themselves were greatly influenced by the European Renaissance masters. She also sometimes drew from the Mexican painters in her use of a background of tied-back drapes. Self-Portrait - Time Flies (1929), Portrait of a a Woman in White (1930) and Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky (1937) all bear this background.”
Kahlo, who suffered from polio as a child, nearly died in a bus accident as a teenager. She suffered multiple fractures of her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, broken foot and dislocated shoulder. She began to focus heavily on painting while recovering in a body cast. In her lifetime, she had 30 operations.
Life experience is a common theme in Kahlo's approximately 200 paintings, sketches and drawings. Her physical and emotional pain are depicted starkly on canvases, as is her turbulent relationship with her husband, fellow artist Diego Rivera, who she married twice. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits.
The devastation to her body from the bus accident is shown in stark detail in The Broken Column. Kahlo is depicted nearly naked, split down the middle, with her spine presented as a broken decorative column. Her skin is dotted with nails. She is also fitted with a surgical brace.
Kahlo's first self-portrait was Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress in 1926. It was painted in the style of 19th Century Mexican portrait painters who themselves were greatly influenced by the European Renaissance masters. She also sometimes drew from the Mexican painters in her use of a background of tied-back drapes. Self-Portrait - Time Flies (1929), Portrait of a a Woman in White (1930) and Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky (1937) all bear this background.”
Kahlo was very
popular and made quite a name for herself. And that is despite the fact
that she was an active member of the Mexican Communist
Party, which she joined in her 20s. There are many women we could focus on today. There are many
women who have contribute much to support left-wing politics, be they the arts,
political theory, such as Rosa Luxemburg
or others. Kahlo is just one of many women who deserve to be honored today.
1 comment:
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