Eliott Ahumada

Theater R1A
10/22/14
Politics of Representation essay
Throughout our lives we go through experiences that define and shape the person we will
become. While sometimes this can be the reason that we act can be traced to one sole occurrence
but more often than not it they are due to a messy mixture of experiences both good and bad. The
world changes us as much as we change it but at times in the twists and turns in life others try to
make things appear linear. Such can be seen when we examine Frida Kahlos painting without
hope. At first glance many people just interpret the drawing as some poor lady in bed throwing
up in pain. Through basic analysis many find that the artist Kahlo depicted herself when she was
in a hospital and from this we assume we know the purpose intent and whole reason for the
painting; Simply some lady painting her self in pain. This binary way of thinking limits us from
seeing the mixture of depth and complexion that this painting actually holds. To express the
complexity of this painting I will go into an in depth analysis of this simple pain and show the
multiple aspects juxtaposed to form her concept of pain.
While Kahlo did face much pain in her life from physical injuries and deformities she
also had to deal with being looked down upon as a woman and because of this challenged the
hegemonic norms through her painting. In this painting Kahlo shows her self with unruly hair
tossed in a bed but instead of looking inviting she looks ill and helpless. As Bost puts it, The
artists body is an organic machine that both contains and moves all (Bost). Kahlo makes it very

apparent that she is not the ideal woman that men should crave want or try to conquest instead
she is something else. She instead in a way compares herself to something broken and sad due to
the oppression and objectification that she has seen and experienced. In a way it could be some
sort of secret punishment forced on her for not submitting to the norm for not being the docil
timid quiet Ideal woman. It can also instead of a punishment be a depiction of a personal
expression of self sacrifice. As Bost points out With both sun and moon in the sky, again
positioning the painter at the crux of an Aztec style sacrifice and at the juncture of life and death
day and night (Bost). Kahlo is in what is one of the most painful moments of her life where she
feels powerless and exposed. She is abandoned by her womanizing husband, treated by a doctor
that disregards her wishes and no one close to support her. What does she do in this exposing
painful experience? She shows the world. She shows how her great husband a man that stands
for mexican revolution and paints what many want society to be like leaves her. When she is
needing him the most he lets her down. She isn't worth anything in this patriarchal society when
she malfunctions she is left out in the mountains by herself to suffer. She knows that while her
situation is unique in itself she is not the only victim of this society and she is not the only one
left out. Kahlo sacrifices what should be this private, almost in a way intimate personal moment
in her life to show that the women out there suffering in a society that devalues, objectives and
pushes them to the side that they are not alone. This doesn't necessarily mean that she was trying
to change the powers that be but in a way this is what she herself needed to know that when
society turned their back on her that someone was going through the same thing and she had
fellow comrades in this struggle.

While she did not directly intend it to happen a very notably branch that grew out of this
painting is the hagiographic nature of Kahlo's painting. During the time when the popularity of
Kahlo's painting were going up in Mexico the most common religion amongst the people was
Catholicism. Stories on how pure innocent loving people gave up their lives for the betterment of
others is amongst the main stories of Catholicism; the stories of saints. They give up their lives
sending beautiful messages at a great expense and for that they are respected and adorn. This self
sacrifice really resonated with many as while a lot of previous culture and history was lost during
the time of the conquistadores many indigenous morals still remained. Contrary to popular belief
many of the human sacrifices in the Aztec culture were completely voluntary and to be chosen to
be the one who will help the gods bring rain that will save your family and friends was often
times an honor. The sacrifices were seen as heroes paying the ultimate price for the good of
everyone. The pain that they experienced in death helped people their pain was celebrated, their
pain brought life. When the mexican people saw Kahlo's paintings they instinctively flocked to
them. It wasn't something that was actively passed down but instead indirectly passed down a
respect for suffering. As Bost says People are fascinated by her body and her pain The
suffering of others reminds them of their own health and security.(Bost). While this sounds bad
it a subconscious truth for all of us and even more so for the mestizo culture. Pain is something
we all go through and all will go through again it is in a sence a universal factor that plays into
all of us. This fascination of pain is critical for Kahlo's painting because as the title states she has
experienced so much pain that she is Without Hope.
Kahlo through the embodiment of her pain represents the two most predominant
identities that she has at the moment, somewhere between life and death and mestisa. In the

painting she is under a western style blanket that depicts the process of fertilization and the
serpent deaths god Coatlicue. One to symbolise the beginning and one to symbolise the end. At
first though one may think that this simply represents her transition into death but there may be
another factor at play. While during her time period indigenous culture was getting more
attention it was mainly in a past tense a relic even though it still very much existed. Many
popular artist herself included greatly contributed to this ---- however she soon saw what she was
doing and attempted to stop it. Quote about her trying to stop her appropriation(Unknown).
She saw this issue with her own eyes and saw that she contributed to the objectification of a
culture. After this she stopped including her iconic tuhua dress in her paintings but the damige
had been done. Her inclusion of the western style blanket and the death god could have ment the
death of a rich culture, the indigenous culture, and the birth of something else. She wasn't sure
quite what as depicted by the multiple embryo plates but what she did know is that whatever
came out would be strongly influenced by western culture. This may bring her pain as she knows
that she helped contribute to this phenomenon. If she hadn't overglorified indigenous culture then
there would not be a mass of people wanting to get the Frida Look rushing to buy aztec style
clothing, causing the objectification of a culture. It doesnt actually have any physical effect to her
but she is forced to watch the death splash out of herself while she harbors the blue prints for its
rebirth or future.
While even the simplest things may look to have one meaning it is not true. Every piece
that an artist makes has their own meaning and the ones you make of it. Each different to another
person than the meaning you have. We grow up trying to find the simple path the direct route to
our destination but that isnt always necessarily the best route to go. There is so much to find

interpret and discover that we cannot afford to simply glance over something. Even something as
simple as another person's pain can have multiple political meanings behind its creation both
meant by the artist and an accident brought about their own history and culture.