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Jessica Dvorak

Professor Amy Harper Russell

WR 222-02

October 30, 2017

500 Pesos for Frida: Exploring Gender Equality Through Currency

In our current social and political climate, the subject of poor standards in gender equality

have increased demand for, and value for, positive female representations in the fabric of our

governmental and social structures. In the United States, this has manifested itself in strong

debate on subjects ranging from healthcare to education and everything in between. One current

hot-button topic is concerning representations of women on currency. (Kevin Liptak, Antoine

Sanfuentes and Jackie Wattles)

In the United States there have been a few instances of women on coinage (examples:

Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea). However, to date, the only paper note to feature a woman

was a $1 silver certificate, printed in both 1886 and 1891. This $1 silver certificate was printed

with the portrait of Martha Washington. In circulation until 1957, it was the second longest

circulated paper currency. ("Martha on $1")

It was for this reason that my reaction to discovering that Mexico currently has a woman

gracing their 500 pesos note, that my response was one of shock. Not only is Frida Kahlo a

woman, but also a revolutionary and an artist.

When I first inspected the bill, I had initially assumed she was on the front of the bill,

with Deigo Rivera (her husband and famous muralist) guarding her back. (figure 1) I believe the

reason I came away with this impression was that Frida was situated to the Left, looking right

with Diego reversed. My American reading style automatically placed more importance on the

article justified to the left.

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The bill itself is beige with reddish-brown ink. Frida, once again, on the left, with a small

recreation of one of her fantastic self-portrait paintings on the right. That painting chosen is titled

Love’s Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego and Señor Xólotl, which

Frida painted in 1949.

Fig. 1. The reverse of the 500 Pesos note issued by the Banco de México showing Frida Kahlo

and her self-portrait. (El Banco de México, "500 Pesos Bill Reverse")

The obverse of the bill shows Diego Rivera on the right, with his famous painting Nude

with Calla Lilies, painted in 1944, on the left.

Fig. 2. The reverse of the 500 Pesos note issued by the Banco de México showing Diego Rivera

and his famous painting. (El Banco de México, "500 Pesos Bill Obverse")
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Frida and Diego’s presence on the bill did not go without notice in the world. Many, in

Mexico and abroad, were excited that the currency residents were artists, revolutionaries,

communists, and included both a man and a woman. With debates in the United States regarding

possible female non-politician choices for currency (Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner

Truth to name a few), my interest was piqued. It felt good to know I wasn’t the only one excited

at the prospect of female representations on money.

Many found the images unacceptable. (Hernandez) The issues raised seemed to have

nothing to do with gender. None seemed to take issue with her being a woman, or with her

placement as in the shadow of her husband. Those that argued against Frida’s image being used

on currency were adamant that Frida herself would be unhappy at her image being used in such a

fashion. Being an anti-consumerist and an outspoken communist, they didn’t think she would

have wanted her image plastered all over currency. Even those that weren’t ‘fans’ claimed to not

understand the connection or purpose for use of her image. (Porr) (Skullxcrusher) For many, her

presence on the note seemed to have stripped away any of her revolutionary spirit. Sexism didn’t

even seem to come into play, they also claimed that Diego had been stripped of his revolutionary

spirit by the Banco de México choice to pick one of his only works to not be political and

completely lacking in his signature feisty communistic commentary. ("Nude with Calla Lilies by

Diego Rivera")

Placing women on currency would, initially, seem to be an act intended to elevate above

the usual omission of women in our governmental representations. However, her placement as

only a contrast to Diego Rivera on the obverse casts a shadow. As does her political leanings,

Frida was an active communist and many (including myself) believe she would have despised

being represented on currency. She will forever stand in the shadow of her husband; all of her

accomplishments will always be as “The Wife of Diego Rivera”. And she will forever be a part
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of the capitalist machine that she very much despised. While the exclusion of women on

currency is a covert act of oppression, the inclusion of women on currency as only a counterpart

to the male story is an overt act of subjugation. Frida, in life, was forever modeled next to and

compared to her more famous husband. Considering their relationship and their life together,

continuing this trend by placing her in contrast to him perpetuates this damaging and false

narrative that her importance is because of his. Frida was her own human, with her own stories,

and her own power.

Frida was born outside of Mexico City to a German father and a Hispanic mother. She

was the first child of her father’s second marriage. Her parents had an unhappy marriage, but

they loved her very much. She was much closer to her father than her mother.

When Frida was a child she contracted polio. This caused her to miss school, feel

isolated, and resulted in one leg developing thinner and shorter than the other. This left her with a

lifelong disability at a very young age. Her father, also disabled, felt closer to her as a result of

their sharing an understanding of living with disabilities. (Sáenz) (Taymore)

She healed, lived, schooled, and progressed through her school years. She decided to

become a doctor, and even attended a prestigious school comprised mainly of boys. Then, at the

age of 18, on her way home from school, her wooden school bus was in a collision with a trolley

resulting in a horrific accident. She was literally impaled, with a metal bar entering her body

through her pelvis and exiting her vaginal area, leaving her with even more issues with mobility,

lifelong pain, perpetual illness, and a destroyed reproductive system.

The accident changed her life. Caused more isolation, more feelings of loneliness, and

caused her to withdraw into herself more so than before. It was at this time that she first became

bedridden, which would become a trend later in life. She had a mirror installed so she could look
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at herself, and a special easel constructed so that she could paint while lying down. This was the

start of her self-portraiture.

Frida and Diego had met once when he was commissioned to paint a mural when she was

a very young school girl. They did not meet again until 1928, when Frida was 21 years old and

Diego was 42. They met at a party held by a mutual friend, and immediately started a romantic

relationship. They married the next year, with her mother objecting loudly and her father giving

the quietest of blessings. Her father knew Diego was a womanizer, but also that he had enough

money to care for Frida’s lifelong medical costs.

Almost from the start, each one of them had many instances of unfaithfulness. Both

one-night stands, and long-standing affairs. They moved around the world, following Diego’s

painting assignments. Each location bringing new lovers, new problems, and new artistic

inspiration for each of them.

After a small and unsuccessful stint in New York, Diego reluctantly moved back to

Mexico as Frida was homesick. When they returned home he used his unhappiness to try to

excuse an affair with her sister. Frida, upon discovery, left him and moved out. The separation

only lasted a year before they reconciled and remarried.

While her works were praised, by collectors and investors, she was always compared and

contrasted to her husband and his artwork. In her lifetime only having one single solo exhibit,

every other exhibit was as a side-note to Diego’s work.

Frida’s work is considered to be groundbreaking and breathtaking, easily as skilled as her

husband. So why is it that we continue to place her, and women in general, as the alternate to the

‘standard gender’? Why are the accomplishments of women always compared to, and in the

shadow of, the male experience?

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Frida was known to speak the truth as she knew it. Bowing to no person or entity. She

looked at the world through her own lens, never compromising her ethics, creative vision, or

political views. She wasn’t afraid to make people uncomfortable, preferring to highlight things

that people tried to tell her she should hide. She would dress in men’s clothing, purposely

darkened her facial hair, and eschewed popular fashion. And this only drew people more to her

center of gravity.

Frida was not afraid to be sexual. She never hid her desires or pretended to be virginal.

Considering the mores of the time, this was revolutionary in and of itself. She enjoyed sex with

many partners and didn’t care if people knew. She didn’t feel it was something she needed to

hide. If men could want sex, so could she. She was open about her attraction to men and women,

seeing the beauty of both sexes.

Frida never practiced self-silencing. She loudly criticized her own government, as well as

The United States government. She never understood the American obsession with wealth and

material possessions, preferring the company of the proletariat class.

Frida Kahlo’s inspirational approach to life, art and politics are necessary to the success

of future generations of women. Women are in dire need of role models. It’s not that men haven’t

the same achievements or haven’t accomplished the same things as women, but that women need

to see women as role models. Penelope Lockwood and Ziva Kunda, at the University of

Waterloo, researched the impact of role models. They found that role models that shared

identifiable characteristics with the influenced party created a sense of attainability, and that

sense of attainability was imperative to the overall success rates of those influenced. (Lockwood

and Self 01) There are thousands of studies on how important female role models are to women

in STEM careers, but the positive impact really encompasses so much more than career choice or

career success. When a girl or woman sees a woman in a place of power, given respect and
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admiration, it gives her hope and allows her to break down the walls of impossibility in her goal

creation process.

We live in a time and place where there have been zero women chosen to be the

commander-in-chief of our country, where women are consistently paid less than men, where

women have to struggle for body autonomy, and where our positive female role models are few

and far between. When women do manage to claw their way to the top of prospective careers,

their very woman-ness is often used against them as a reason that they should or would not

succeed in their ventures.

Frida’s presence on the 500 pesos note, even if she was reluctantly thrust into the very

capitalistic system she abhorred, is a beacon. And it gives women all over the world a light to

look towards. It gives them a chance to see someone like them, an amazing and wonderful

woman who fought for her own individuality and for the right to be true to herself, being

celebrated and elevated.

Female role models are not only important to women, but men as well. Diego Rivera was

quoted as saying about Frida, “Through her paintings, she breaks all the taboos of the woman's

body and of female sexuality.”. He recognized the power in her voice, and it affected him deeply.

It wasn’t enough to stop him from being a womanizing philanderer, but it was enough to change

the way he looked at women in general.

While positive female role models are imperative to women and their rates of success,

positive female role models for males help to break down the entire patriarchal system that

thrusts the idea of male superiority onto women and men alike.

There have been plenty of studies discussing how important it is for humans to have role

models they can identify with, but some are starting to wonder if a lack of female role models is

harmful to males. Gesu Antonio Baez, in his TEDxDeiraWomen speech titled Why Men Need
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Female Role Models says, “It is time that men confess to having female role models, because we

will never, ever have gender equality or sustainable peace in this world if we do not look at

women as being equal to men in value or what they can offer. And honoring that.” But, what if

those role models are hidden in the shadow of men and difficult to locate?

In a society where one of the most offensive things you can call a man is “girly” or “a

pussy”, at some point we have to honestly examine whether we are creating a caustic

environment for half of the world’s population that wrecks havoc on us all.

We are not a planet comprised of men alone, it’s time to start projecting ourselves as

diverse as we are. Frida Kahlo on the 500 Pesos note isn’t going to cure us of our systemic

misogyny. But it’s a start.

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Works Cited

500 Pesos Bill Obverse. Photograph. 2010.

www.inside-mexico.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Billete_500_Mexico_Tipo_F_

Anverso.jpg. Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.

500 Pesos Bill Reverse. Photograph. El Banco de México, 2010,

www.inside-mexico.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Billete_500_Mexico_Tipo_F_

Reverso.jpg. Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.

Banco de México. "Billete De 500 Pesos De La Familia F - Los Grandes." YouTube, Banco

de México, 25 Aug. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxlo_IwUVSE. Accessed

10 Oct. 2017.

Frida. Directed by Julie Taymore, Perf. Selma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Roger

Rees. 2002. Miramax, 2002.

Hernandez, Daniel. "Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera to Be Reunited on Mexican Bill La Plaza

Los Angeles Times." La Plaza - Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2010,

latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/08/mexico-frida-diego-500-peso-bill.html.

Accessed 7 Oct. 2017.

Kahlo, Frida, et al. Frida Kahlo, the Unknown Frida, the Woman Behind the Work: An

Unedited, Private Collection of Letters from Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera, and Other

Documents : October 12-November 9, 1991, Louis Newman Galleries. L. Newman

Galleries, 1991.

Kevin Liptak, Antoine Sanfuentes and Jackie Wattles. "Harriet Tubman Will Be Face of the

$20." CNNMoney, 20 Apr. 2016,

money.cnn.com/2016/04/20/news/10-bill-hamilton-20-tubman/index.html. Accessed

19 Oct. 2017.
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Lockwood, Penelope, and Ziva Kunda. "Superstars and Me: Predicting the Impact of Role

Models on the Self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 3.1 (1997),

"Martha on $1." George Washington's Mount Vernon,

www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/martha-washington/martha-on-1/.

Accessed 23 Oct. 2017.

"Nude with Calla Lilies by Diego Rivera." Diego Rivera, www.diegorivera.org/nudecalla.jsp.

Accessed 15 Oct. 2017.

Porr, Jeremy. "Frida Kahlo Would Hate Your Frida Kahlo Shirt – Golden Gate

Xpress." Golden Gate Xpress, 29 Mar. 2016,

goldengatexpress.org/2016/03/29/frida-kahlo-would-hate-your-frida-kahlo-shirt/.

Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.

Skullxcrusher. "Stop Bastardizing Frida Kahlo." ANGRY WOMEN OF COLOR UNITED,

3 Nov. 2016,

angrywocunited.tumblr.com/post/101677533705/stop-bastardizing-frida-kahlo.

Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.

Sáenz, Sebastián. "Frida Kahlo: 7 Things You Didn't Know About Our Favorite Mexican

Artist." Hornet Stories, 22 Mar. 2017,

hornetapp.com/stories/7-things-didnt-know-frida-kahlo/. Accessed 5 Oct. 2017.

"Why Men Need Female Role Models | Gesu Antonio Baez | TEDxDeiraWomen." YouTube,

1 Feb. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN8q8pO1mcc. Accessed 26 Oct. 2017.