The Concept of The War on Feminism - Essay Example

Feminist Superhero The war on feminism has ancient roots into a history, and it continues to be waged against the traditionally held perception of women being inferior to men. From the time of old, men have dominated the leadership while women were seen in most cases as mere subjects to men (Freedman, 2001). The women were held more as objects rather than subjects with equal status to men and so the feminist movement was born to seek this lost glory of women (Chadwick, 2007). The present paper is about feminist superhero, Frida Kahlo, who through her painting people can go inside the paintings to see, feel and experience the thematic issue of gendered embodiment. Frida Kahlo mentored by Iris Marion Young, who is a feminist theorist, under whose feministic argument and glow, the superhero sails. The paper exploits the underlying reasons as to why feminists seek liberation as well as how they seek to get that liberation. Frida Kahlo has the power facing the reality as it is fearless. Though she was born in 1907, as she grew up Frida claimed that she was born in 1910 - the year when the Mexican Revolution begun - so that people would directly associate her with the revolution (Chadwick, 2007). Association with revolution signified her fearlessness and ability to go against the social norms of the time. Empowered with the advice of Irish Marion who was very vocal against the gendered positioning of women as objects, Frida revolted against the predominantly held paternalistic ideologies and beliefs of the time (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009). Further, Frida had the ability to communicate her feelings through paintings she was an artist. “Look at the society in which you have been born and see the image that women are presented. Aren’t they seen as objects in the society?” Marion would ask Kahlo referring to the domination of women by men. “I had no choice to be born in such a paternal society where male sex is always considered superior to their female counterparts.” Frida responded naively. “Use then your artistic work to liberate women from the traditional obscurity and bring them to the fore light of recognition in the society.” This mentor’s advice brought hope to solving the historical stalemate that has traditionally positioned women as objects rather than fellow human beings capable of self-expression and independent opinion (Chadwick, 2007). Walking in the light and mentorship of Young Marion, Frida Kahlo staged a revolution through her living experiences and her artworks. Looking through her artwork and paintings, it is clear that Frida’s arch enemy was male chauvinism (Haghenbeck & Obejas, 2012). As a young and active growing female, Marion Young encouraged her to be aggressive and strong to stand tall regardless of challenges. Accompanied by Marion, Kahlo encountered many health problems that otherwise could have slowed her aggressive nature and her assertiveness but her mentor never left her side (Freedman, 2001). However, she did not coil down to the ailments but she continued her revolutionary tendency through her life struggles (Chadwick, 2007). Marion Young, in her fascinating phenomenology on gender and related topics, had criticized the various aspects that had underlain society such as impartiality, inequality and unitary moral subjectivity (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009). Clearly from her writings, her real concern was the newly created social movements about cultural expression, decision-making, labor division that were mainly created by the most marginalized and excluded groups of people. These groups of people included majorly the women, oppressed African Americans and American Indians together with the groups of lesbian and gays (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009). Marion Young’s philosophical thought seemed to be the very guiding principles for Frida Kahlo’s inclusive, participatory framework developed in the society (Chadwick, 2007). She demonstrates her self-assertiveness and confidence as a woman through her choice of color in her portrait paintings. Retrospectively, Marion Young’s dramatic phenomenological and intellectual fascinations seemed to embody and encapsulate the very life of Frida in her struggle to gain a productive space not for herself as such but for her fellow women (Chadwick, 2007). Marion in her writing reduced the existent dichotomy that had previously existed between motherhood and sexuality and thus subsequently reduced the gap between masculine and feminine (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009). Kahlo’s self-indulgence into male-dominated field like boxing and others seemed to have a springboard from her mentors feminine observations and arguments which reflectively embodied feminine liberation tenacities. Iris Marion pointed to Frida to acknowledge the importance of male sex even in her fight through male dominated world. Frida’s feminine artistic portrays in her painting stood the test of time since she got approval of her work from Diego (Freedman, 2001). Kahlo had visited her friend Diego Rivera, who approved of her artwork and so this helped build her confidence and assertiveness (Haghenbeck & Obejas, 2012). This indicated how positively Kahlo took her mentor’s advice. According to Diego, Frida’s self-Portrait in a velvet dress appeared quite original than the other paintings (Chadwick, 2007). This approval added much confidence in Kahlo’s abilities in the world of art as well as assuring her that it could be done. Today, young girls especially those growing in suppressive societies, need only approval to build their confidence. In reference to Kahlo, her confidence can easily be alluded to be the very drive that made her contribute a lot in the society and the world of politics mainly through her pieces of art (Chadwick, 2007). Further the approval also somehow cultivated a sense of autonomy and independence to the girl child and so raises their esteem (Chadwick, 2007). To Frida, the approval contributed a lot to building her own feminine assertion thus liberating the feeling of inferiority among women that camped the society at the time. The male figure by her side, Diego contributed a lot in building her confidence and autonomy so much so that one need, not a mirror to show her who really she was but her artwork could speak volumes in understanding her and her reality. Evidently, Kahlo’s independence and confidence can also be seen in her public bisexual affair that was at the time against the norms (Kahlo, Poda & Berlin, 2010). Through her work, Kahlo’s feminine liberation instincts earned her place in the history of those who fought to gain feminine independence (Chadwick, 2007). Moreover, as the presently considered feminine superhero, Kahlo art expressed much of her as she depicted her self-portrait in the picture she drew and painted. Her constant ability to express herself which is evident in her choice of colors for her dresses, Frida considered herself an individual, and more so as an assertive one (Freedman, 2001). Further, Marion advised Frida Kahlo that through her bisexual orientation she could show an equal treatment of sexual orientation without aligning oneself to a specific one (Young, 2011). As such Kahlo never chose to identify with any one particular sex that may have been due to her dualistic personality. Again she never shied from publicly embracing these personalities and through this she advocated both genders (Chadwick, 2007). Iris Marion Young, assisted Kahlo in her advocacy for the deconstruction of the then gender dichotomy (Young, 2011). Kahlo advocacy for both genders to emphasize equality between the genders can also be seen in her going against the norm to embrace some of the things that were left only for men (Chadwick, 2007). She wore monobrow that was seen by the society as masculine; she was also known to dress in men’s clothing as well as cut her hair like a man (Chadwick, 2007). Worse still Frida engaged in sexual relationships with both men and women. Though seen as rebellious from the societal perspective, Frida Kahlo actions reflected her convictions and ideals without the pretentious and cowardice attitude to hide from the masses of men to make her assertion publicly felt and recognized (Freedman, 2001). Banking on her abilities in an art world, Marion enabled Frida to openly express her innermost feelings through her art just like she (Young) used her writing ability to communicate her feelings (Young, 2011). She used her art as an emotional therapy and as an outlet to pour out her immense emotional and physical pain that she had to endure after the fatal accident that subjected her to numerous surgeries and pain (Chadwick, 2007). Reflecting on one of the famous portraits by Kahlo, The Broken Column of 1944, an assertive self-portrayal comes to mind. She must have expressed her internal pain that she was experiencing as well as the pain that was intrinsic to the dual nature of society (Haghenbeck & Obejas, 2012). She must have used the painting to underline the vulnerability of her own body as well as the vulnerability of society when dichotomized. The duality in society brought about by the dichotomy of gender or gender imbalance so to say, weakens the very tenets that hold the society together. This is evident as illustrated in the painting represented by the broken backbone and the numerous nails used to hold the fabric of society together (Chadwick, 2007). By a use of this painting, Kahlo denounces the dichotomization of gender as this weakens the society. Elevating women especially in their role of procreation through childbearing, Frida expresses the pain of that woman undergo when she cannot bear children. Reflecting on her painting titled My Miscarriages in Detroit of 1932, Frida seemed to painfully depict her various miscarriages. One can easily be moved to feel for her especially in her pains of not able to have children (Haghenbeck & Obejas, 2012). The picture demonstrated her feminine qualities of endurance of truth, reality, suffering, and cruelty. Through the painting, Kahlo point to the importance of women in society as vessels of procreation and continuity of a human race. The picture pointed to her ability of self-expression even when clouded with emotional daring of a woman who badly needed a baby, to a mother (Chadwick, 2007). Like her mentor who used words to express her fight against the male domination, Kahlo dramatically expressed herself assertion and fight for independence on behalf of women through her art (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009). As a symbol of the victimized group of people, Frida showed the various aspects under which women having been victimized. Women have fallen victims of a patriarchal society, domestic violence, unequal pay and treatment at a workplace, submission to their husbands among other case scenarios. These are the same victimizations that Frida’s mentor, Young had to content within her writings as well (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009). Viewing her artworks, Marion advised Kahlo never to underestimate the nature of pain in her life but use it to express the pain that women endure in society under the yoke of men. Talking the mentor’s advice, Frida used the theme of pain in most of her paintings (Haghenbeck & Obejas, 2012). One being her own expression of pain that she had to endure almost all her life and the other can be said to represent the pain that women of the day had to bear under the yoke of male domination (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009; Chadwick, 2007). Women at the time were denied equal opportunities to men, they were not to own property and they lacked sexual freedom and liberation. In a word, feminism, as was evidently proclaimed by Kahlo, was but a campaign for women’s rights (Chadwick, 2007). Through the dramatic expression of pain in her artwork, Frida Kahlo demonstrated agreeable point of intersection with her mentor regarding the pain of marginalization, exploitation and powerlessness that women and other marginalized groups had to endure (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009; Freedman, 2001). Marion Young argued in her fight against the days structural inequalities that these imbalances in the society slowly but surely were breaking the very tenets that hold society together (Ferguson & Nagel, 2009). Her grief can be seen as demonstrated dramatically by the Kahlo portrait of her own body held together simply by nails and steel corset since the column that makes up her spine is broken and weak (Chadwick, 2007). The column, in Iris Marion’s terms, would represent the very tenet that holds the fabric of society in one place. Conclusively, dramatically walking in the shadow of her mentor, Frida Kahlo illustrates her fight against the domination of men in the society by the use of her artwork. Her life, though full of painful moments almost entirely, she showed a brevity to counter anti-social and quite pre-modernized ideologies and norms of male chauvinism. Frida Kahlo used herself portraits as her windows of expressing both the emotional and physical pain that she as a representative of women have to undergo through under the yoke of men. Pain is one common theme depicted from her artworks that can be interpreted representing the pain of marginalization, exploitation, and powerlessness that women in society were and still encounter. As such she agrees with her mentor-Marion Young feministic philosophy to fight and liberate women from this yoke of slavery. Reference Chadwick, W. Women, Art, and Society. 4th. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson World of Art, 2007. Ferguson, A. and Nagel, M. (eds.), Dancing with Iris: The Philosophy of Iris Marion Young, Oxford University Press, 2009. Freedman, J. (2001). Feminism. Buckingham Pa: Open University Press. Haghenbeck, F., & Obejas, A. (2012). The secret book of Frida Kahlo: A novel. New York: Atria Books. Kahlo, F., Poda, H., & Berlin, G. (2010). Frida Kahlo: Retrospective. Munich: Prestel. Young, I. (2011). Responsibility for justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More