Beauty Unlimited

11. Beauty between Disability and Gender: Frida Kahlo in Paper Dolls

243 11. Beauty between Disability and Gender: Frida Kahlo in Paper Dolls fedwa malti-douglas Beauty, disability, and gender crossing: The first two, though provocative, are not an altogether unexpected pair. Disability can be an object of beauty, as Anita Silvers has shown, just as it can be fetishized.1 Yet one more often thinks of beauty and disability as opposites. But what is gender crossing doing in this mix? Sometimes, apparently, when beauty is conjugated with disability in an atmosphere of glamour and celebrity, games with gender result. This is certainly the case with the representation of the Mexican female artist Frida Kahlo, especially as seen in a book of paper dolls for children. Beauty and disability are, in the popular imagination, two concepts that do not normally appear together. Each, however, has produced an enormous scholarly literature. The attraction to beauty is universal, but may obviously be subject to cultural variation.2 Disability, while it has always existed among world populations, entered the world of cultural scholarship later than beauty.3 Frida Kahlo (1907–54) is without doubt one of the most visible woman artists in the centuries-long history of art. We may ask, in the words of Linda Nochlin, “Why have there been no great women artists?”4 Frida Kahlo is one woman artist who has succeeded in becoming, if not a great artist (I would say she is; others might disagree), an artist whose fame transcends artcritical circles, and whose paintings have become part of our international circulation of images. She did this partly through her life, partly through her art, and partly through the connections between her life and her art. Married to the Mexican artist and muralist Diego Rivera, Frida led a pain-filled and tumultuous life. She was afflicted with polio in her right leg 244 FEDWA MALTI-DOUGLAS at age six, and was bedridden for almost a year. The result of this misfortune was an atrophied right leg and a limp. At age eighteen, she was grievously injured in a streetcar accident which almost took her life. The multiple fractures of her spine and other bones left her with chronic severe pain for the rest of her life, adding to her disability. Yet it was a life to which art was vital. Frida Kahlo has had an uncanny appeal to an enormous international public as well as to art aficionados. Her admirers are insatiable. How else could Frida-inspired objects fill a store in and of themselves? Frida key chains. Frida designer scarves. Frida designer ties. Frida pins. Frida art cubes. Frida T-shirts. Frida pens. Frida wooden boxes. And on and on. Some of these objects can be had from street vendors in Xochimilco, the area of Mexico City where Mexicans gather on weekends and holidays not only to enjoy the stands but to take a ride in colorful and highly decorated barges, trajineras, that transport passengers through the canals in the area. But for those who do not wish to chase Frida objects in such a general tourist location, there is always the store attached to La Casa Azul, the Blue House, where Frida lived. Here, one can purchase books on Frida, postcards featuring photos of Frida, and photos of Frida and Diego, as well as copies of her paintings and other memorabilia. Margaret Lindauer in Devouring Frida and Bárbara C. Cruz in Frida Kahlo present even more types of memorabilia.5 Mexicans venerate Frida. On a visit to San Cristóbal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas during the November Day of the Dead celebration, my husband and I found ourselves in a restaurant that was decorated inside with an enormous altar dedicated to Frida, on which a large picture of the artist was surrounded by all the flowers, foods, and decorations associated with that holiday. For those who did not know her, Frida’s reputation was sealed with the appearance of the prize-winning Hollywood film Frida (dir. Julie Taymor, Miramax Films, 2002), with Salma Hayek in the title role. The film did not shy away from Frida’s bisexuality or her general magnetism. It should come as no surprise that Frida’s work, including her stunningly visual and verbal diary, has attracted numerous critics and writers.6 How does one introduce children to a beautiful and famous female artist who was flamboyant, creative, and extremely passionate? One way to fulfill this task is to take advantage of the varied clothing for which the...