At the end of last summer I did a lightning quick trip to the Chicago area to see some art and eat out in the big city. The Delta variant was more or less waning, the vaccine was more or less protecting people and it didn't see crazy to travel a little. One stop was an exhibit of Frida Kahlo's early work, and a retropsective on her life. The thing I was struck by, other than that I really love her work, which marries the beautiful with the macabre, is that she was a gorgeous woman who thought she was ugly and unlovable.
She was left with severe disfiguring injuries from an automobile accident, but grew up feeling different, marked by polio as a child and never getting over it either physically or emotionally. I think it is worth bearing in mind that we as a culture and a society place a very high value on physical attributes and that that message is heard at the earliest stages of life. It is worth the time and effort to be a champion for those who are a bit different and to make them feel welcome in our homes, our schools, and in our communities. The GOP run states are going out of their way to marginalize those who are different, and it is more important than ever to push back against that.
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