Tehuana

A "Tehuana" (a woman from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the place in the south of Mexico where the country is the narrowest), Lupe was raised in a society where property is passed from mother to daughter -- an anomaly in patriarchal Mexico.

A festival of Guadalupe 2000

As she appears in her paintings, she's a primal creature at one with the monkeys, a social revolutionary, a martyr to the physical agony of the horrific spinal injuries she suffered in a streetcar crash, revealed in certain works beneath her traditional Tehuana blouses.

This week's new exhibitions 2011

Tehuana women in their elaborate traditional dress.

Tehuana women in their elaborate traditional dress. The underskirt is lace while the skirt and bodice are embroidered black velvet. Coins form part of their sumptuous gold jewelry. Their performance is part of the annual Guelaguetza festivities in Oaxaca, held the last two Mondays of July.   © Oscar Encines, 2008 2008

If her face had unsettling traces of masculinity, her complexly twined, often ribbon-bedecked hair, her goodly amount of jewelry, and her floor-length, sweeping skirts and shawls, based on the traditional clothing style of the women of the Tehuana region of Mexico, were almost militantly feminine.

Much Prettier 2009

According to legend, Tehuana women were the real figures of authority in their society, and Kahlo's wearing of such outfits was a demonstration of strength and will.

Much Prettier 2009

Frankly though, that whole area they live in is a hellhole no matter what Bubba says now that he is the premier tourism director for all of southern Mexico ... unless of course heat, humidity and howling winds are your idea of a vacation spot but if that were true it is a lot easier to get to west Texas and some of those Texas women could stand right up to a Tehuana.

Las Se�oras de Tehuantepec 2006

Frankly though, that whole area they live in is a hellhole no matter what Bubba says now that he is the premier tourism director for all of southern Mexico ... unless of course heat, humidity and howling winds are your idea of a vacation spot but if that were true it is a lot easier to get to west Texas and some of those Texas women could stand right up to a Tehuana.

Las Se�oras de Tehuantepec 2006

Other rooms contain her colorful Tehuana costumes and pre-Columbian jewelry, her diary, masks, more idols, and giant papier-mache Judas figures, monsters traditionally filled with firecrackers and exploded on Sabado de Gloria, the Saturday before Easter.

The Frida Kahlo Museum 2006

Frankly though, that whole area they live in is a hellhole no matter what Bubba says now that he is the premier tourism director for all of southern Mexico ... unless of course heat, humidity and howling winds are your idea of a vacation spot but if that were true it is a lot easier to get to west Texas and some of those Texas women could stand right up to a Tehuana.

Las Se�oras de Tehuantepec 2006

Frankly though, that whole area they live in is a hellhole no matter what Bubba says now that he is the premier tourism director for all of southern Mexico ... unless of course heat, humidity and howling winds are your idea of a vacation spot but if that were true it is a lot easier to get to west Texas and some of those Texas women could stand right up to a Tehuana.

Las Se�oras de Tehuantepec 2006