Feminism or passionate love? Frida Kahlo’s emotional life through her letters

Abstract

Introduction: Mexican by birth, Frida Kahlo has become an icon of the feminist movement internationally, and her figure has been studied from different prisms. Within this framework, the present work raises the following question: can this feminist character be studied through the analysis of emotions, such as her passionate loves? Methodology: This research makes use of the analysis of Frida Kahlo's private correspondence, examining in it the concept of passionate love, and with the intention of studying the Mexican artist from a new point of view. Results: After a brief bibliographical review of the author, the letters that Kahlo addressed to three of the most influential men in her life have been analyzed: Alejandro Gómez Arias, a companion during her adolescence; her husband Diego Rivera, with whom she married twice; and the photographer Nickolas Muray, with whom she maintained a relationship in parallel to her marriage to Rivera. Conclusions: It has become clear that, despite the more passionate and irrational side that Kahlo presents in her correspondence, that vision does not come to contradict or overpower her image as a feminist and empowering icon.