I really enjoyed finding sources about Frida, which solidified my choice for my topic of my paper. I started out my search process by going to JSTOR and searching “Frida Kahlo Feminism”. This helped me find an article called “Frida Kahlo: A Contemporary Feminist Reading” which really helped solidify a thesis for my paper. Once I had a thesis I was able to narrow down my search, and I started to include key words in my JSTOR search such as “Chicano movement” or “Madonna”. I also started my research with a basic google search, which provided me with a couple of broad articles on the life and work of Frida Kahlo, including a New York Times article written by Frida’s biographer Hayden Herrera. This article was very well written and brought up some good points, so I decided to check out the entire biography. This source was also nice because it wasn’t as comprehensive and overwhelming as the entire book, but provided me with a basic summary and some good basic points to dive deeper into.

Finding hard copy sources was really the fun part of my research. I went to the Sherman Art Library and started by looking up the location of the Frida biography by Herrera. I went down to the stacks and found the book but I also had a great time exploring the books around that title. All of the surrounding books were also about the life and works of Frida so I spent a long time sitting on the floor flipping through the books and deciding which ones would be most useful. I also went to the feminist art section of Sherman stacks and looked through the indexes of all the books there to see if they included sections on Frida. If they did, I flipped to that section to see if it would be helpful. In addition to using the Sherman resources, I realized I wanted another book about feminist art that featured Frida that was already checked out, so I used borrow direct.

Synthesizing my sources in my paper was at times challenging, but I had such a wealth of sources that I could often find a quote or a point from a source that fit my particular argument. I tried to use a combination of direct quotes and paraphrasing and vary the structure I used to include the sources in my sentences.

Many of the topics we discussed during the first half of the term interested me, but ultimately I knew I wanted to pic a topic that had relevance in the present day. I knew vaguely of Frida Kahlo before this course, but watching the movie Frida and reading the introduction to her journal really sparked my interest. Her character in the movie inspired me, and I could easily identify her as a modern feminist. I coincidentally watched the Frida movie right around the time of the Women’s March on Washington, which made Frida’s feminist characteristics especially shine and gave her a renewed sense of relevance. I believe the feminist social movement that is thriving today will define my generation, and I appreciate the opportunity to grasp a better understanding of this movement through the thorough analysis of the life and work of Frida Kahlo.

Prior to this class, my only acquaintance with Frida was through a shirt my friend had with a print of Frida’s iconic self-portrait and stories of her blue house that my friends all toured on a trip to Mexico. My friends were enchanted by what they had learned about the famous Frida and came home singing her praises. When choosing my research paper topic, I recalled this experience and knew I wanted to take the opportunity to develop my own admiration for Frida.

What really solidified my choice for my research paper topic was going to the Sherman Art Library and flipping through the many books on Frida’s art and life. The images of her artwork were captivating and I knew I wanted to take the time to further analyze specific pieces. The one book that most intrigued me was the reproduction of Frida’s journal (we also flipped through this in class). I feel like the journal gives intimate insight into Frida’s personal life and reasons behind her art, something I hope to get a comprehensive understanding of through my research. All in all, I think writing a research paper on the relation between Frida Kahlo and feminism will be an extremely rewarding experience and I can’t wait to get started!