edits and input please!!
prompt : what work of art, music,science and mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled you, and in what way?
Growing up in a pop-culture saturated world, my ideals of perfect beauty and femininity were formed by the animated starlets of Disney films, until I encountered the self-portraits of Frida Kahlo.
During my childhood I had learned to connect Princess Aerial and Jasmine's amazing looks with what real woman must inspire to look like to live a fulfilled life. To be deserving of true love, I determined at the wise-old age of nine, you had t be jaw-droopingly beautiful. Maybe this impression is what had led to my previously low self-esteem.
One day in my sixth grade art class, my teacher presented the class with a quick intro to famous Mexican artist. In the slideshow there were the Stalinist murals of Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros, but then an un-orthodox portrait appeared, the image of a mustachioed woman with a unibrow. Predictably, this inspired a fit of giggles amongst my American students. I was intensely curious as to who would depict themselves in such brutal honesty. So I quickly scribbled the name underneath the slide to conduct some independent-research after school
Frida Kahlo's visage was incongruous to the dainty features of the Disney Princesses, but I discovered that her life had been more exciting and fulfilling that the deep repose of Sleeping Beauty. She managed to utilize her real life struggles with her physical handicaps and imposed female stereotypes as a muse for her renowned paintings.
Through her honest self-depictions I learned to embrace my unique looks and that real beauty transcend the thin layers of epidermis.
gladys manzur
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