get to know me meme: {14} favorite female characters;
↳ 5/14 ~ hermione granger (harry potter)
“Excuse me, but I don’t like people just because they are handsome.”
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This never gets old
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…Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
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“Image Credit: Carol Rossetti
When Brazilian graphic designer Carol Rossetti began posting colorful illustrations of women and their stories to Facebook, she had no idea how popular they would become.
Thousands of shares throughout the world later, the appeal of Rosetti’s work is clear. Much like the street art phenomenon Stop Telling Women To Smile, Rossetti’s empowering images are the kind you want to post on every street corner, as both a reminder and affirmation of women’s bodily autonomy.
"It has always bothered me, the world’s attempts to control women’s bodies, behavior and identities,” Rossetti told Mic via email. “It’s a kind of oppression so deeply entangled in our culture that most people don’t even see it’s there, and how cruel it can be.”
Rossetti’s illustrations touch upon an impressive range of intersectional topics, including LGBTQ identity, body image, ageism, racism, sexism and ableism. Some characters are based on the experiences of friends or her own life, while others draw inspiration from the stories many women have shared across the Internet.
“I see those situations I portray every day,” she wrote. “I lived some of them myself.”
Despite quickly garnering thousands of enthusiastic comments and shares on Facebook, the project started as something personal — so personal, in fact, that Rossetti is still figuring out what to call it. For now, the images reside in albums simply titled “WOMEN in english!“ or ”Mujeres en español!“ which is fitting: Rossetti’s illustrations encompass a vast set of experiences that together create a powerful picture of both women’s identity and oppression.
One of the most interesting aspects of the project is the way it has struck such a global chord. Rossetti originally wrote the text of the illustrations in Portuguese, and then worked with an Australian woman to translate them to English. A group of Israeli feminists also took it upon themselves to create versions of the illustrations in Hebrew. Now, more people have reached out to Rossetti through Facebook and offered to translate her work into even more languages. Next on the docket? Spanish, Russian, German and Lithuanian.
It’s an inspiring show of global solidarity, but the message of Rossetti’s art is clear in any language. Above all, her images celebrate being true to oneself, respecting others and questioning what society tells us is acceptable or beautiful.
"I can’t change the world by myself,” Rossetti said. “But I’d love to know that my work made people review their privileges and be more open to understanding and respecting one another.””
From the site: All images courtesy Carol Rossetti and used with permission. You can find more illustrations, as well as more languages, on her Facebook page.
This is so beautiful.
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What would you do if you saw ‘flying’ money? Here’s what some did or would do…
Should “Sesame Street” Teach Kids About Breastfeeding?
Some parents are pushing for popular children’s television show Sesame Street to reintroduce and start teaching children about breastfeeding again. (Screengrab: YouTube)
No doubt about it: Breastfeeding still causes controversy. In 2011 alone, a judge ruled that a woman couldn’t do it in “his court" and under "his law,” and Facebook deleted thousands of photos of mothers with babies at their breasts. Stores have thrown women out for discreetly nursing their infants, angry moms protested at places like Target, and any magazine that shows a nursing mother on their cover still sparks outrage, even if the woman is showing less of her breast than a bikini-clad model on the front of a typical fitness magazine.
Now, some parents are pushing to bring breastfeeding back to public television. Specifically, on “Sesame Street."
In the 1970s and 1980s, the landmark show routinely talked about nursing as a normal and natural part of childhood. In this clip from 1977, guest star Buffy St. Marie breastfeed her baby while Big Bird watches. "See? He’s drinking milk from my breast,” she explains to the curious bird. “At first, when he was just born and very tiny, this was all that he wanted and all that he needed. But now that he’s getting bigger, see, I mash up fruit and vegetables and sometimes a little meat, and as he gets older he’ll need more and more different kinds of food to eat.”
In both segments, the women are completely covered up. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that little Gabi was kicking and stretching, one might think Maria was pretending to nurse a doll. But by the 1990s, "Sesame Street” had stopped airing those clips, and had edited a breastfeeding shot out of the montage for their popular song, “You’re My Baby.”
Now, some parents are asking the show to promote breastfeeding again. As of January 10, more than 2,600 people had signed a petition asking the public television program to do so. But others are offended that the long-running children’s show – which routinely features story lines on potty training, younger siblings, and meal times – would consider showing a baby being fed from a breast instead of a bottle.
“There are a LOT of things people might consider ‘normal’ and 'natural’, but many of them do not belong on TV or in public, including this," "Steve68112” commented at The Huffington Post. “This does not belong on TV or in public, it is gross."
Over at Sheknows.com, other commenters felt that the public television icon was overstepping its bounds, even though it had touched on the topic in the past without a problem. "While I agree breastfeeding is important, I don’t think Sesame Street is the place to have it,” “Ula from Michigan” wrote. An anonymous poster added her two cents: “I wouldn’t stand behind bringing it to 'Sesame Street’. I do not feel it is their place to educate a small child on nursing."
And yet… it wasn’t that long ago that some of the toddlers watching "Sesame Street” were being breastfed themselves. And many of those young Elmo fans probably see their own moms nursing younger siblings at home, so the visual is more likely to be familiar to them than awkward.
What do you think? Is it appropriate for a show like “Sesame Street” to talk about breastfeeding?
Highest-Paid Asian Leaders
Multi-billion dollar corruption in India and a whopping 36 percent cut in the salary for Singapore’s Prime Minister have once again raised the question: how much should politicians be paid?
We’ve tallied up a list of Asia Pacific’s highest paid politicians based on figures from a number of publicly available sources including The Economist.
Some of Asia’s fastest growing and largest economies, such as India and China, have the lowest salaries for their leaders.
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for example takes in just $36,200 per year, according to the AFP.
8. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia
Annual Salary: $124,000
President Yudhoyono, the leader behind Indonesia’s newfound status as Asia’s “economic golden child”, pulls in $124,000 a year.
This sum amounts to over 25 times the country’s GDP per capita, according to The Economist. The leader is working on narrowing the wealth gap in the country by raising the salary of civil servants by 10 percent in 2011.
The former army general is credited with initiating a crackdown on corruption.
7. Lee Myung-bak, President of South Korea
Annual Salary: $162,000
Keeping tensions under control on the Korea peninsula is no easy task.
Lee Myung-bak’s annual salary which is set to rise to $162,000 this year, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, from $156,000 in 2011, puts him at 7th place amongst Asia’s top paid politicians.
However, Mr. Lee clearly isn’t in the job for the money. Shortly after he was elected president, the former CEO of Hyundai Construction & Engineering pledged to donate his full salary to the underprivileged during his five-year term.
He was said to be the richest presidential candidate in South Korea’s last election, with personal wealth exceeding 35.3 billion won or $31 million.
6. Ma Ying-jeou, President of Taiwan
Annual Salary: $184,000
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou rakes in a salary of $184,000 per year.
The Hong Kong-born, U.S.-educated lawyer has played an instrumental role in improving cross-strait relations.
Ma has raised the country’s permit quota for Chinese tourists, eased restrictions on Taiwanese investment in China and approved measures to open Taiwan’s equity markets to mainland investors.
5. John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand
Annual Salary: $310,000
Fifth on the list is the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key.
He takes home an annual salary of around $310,000, according to the Wall Street Journal. Impressive for some, but probably not for Mr Key.
Prior to politics, the Kiwi PM amassed a personal fortune of around $40 million, working as a foreign exchange trader with Merrill Lynch, where he earned as much as $2.25 million per annum.
He is now New Zealand’s wealthiest Member of Parliament and one of the region’s wealthiest leaders.
4. Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan
Annual Salary: $316,000
Japan’s Yoshihiko Noda makes an annual salary of $316,000, according to The Asahi Shimbun newspaper. If you add in the regional allowance of 18 percent, he makes around $384,000 per year.
The rising strength of the Japanese yen has helped boost his earnings in dollar terms.
To put the number into perspective though, it’s a mere fraction of the $10.7 million earned by the CEO of Nissan in 2010.
Still, with 6 prime ministers in 5 years, the Japanese leader might not be expecting to be on that salary for very long.
3. Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia
Annual Salary: $495,000
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard just got a significant 31 percent pay hike, taking her salary to $355,000 per year.
The Prime Minister however may have reason to cry poor because shadow ministers are getting pay hikes of 64 percent, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
But with retirement perks including a fully staffed office, unlimited free first class travel and a permanent driver for the rest of her life, the Prime Minister might not complain just now.
2. Donald Tsang, Chief Executive, Hong Kong
Annual Salary: $550,000
The salary of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong would probably be causing a few eyes to roll in Beijing.
Donald Tsang earns around $550,000 a year, according to Reuters. That’s roughly 30 times the size of the $18,000 salary earned by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
But the perks of the job haven’t come easily for Mr Tsang. He’s been working in Hong Kong’s public sector since 1967 and some might say no amount of money would be enough to compensate for that.
1. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister, Singapore
Annual Salary: $1.65 million
The Prime Minister of Singapore just took a salary cut of a whopping 36 percent, but he still makes a basic salary of $1.65 million (S$2.2 million).
That makes him far and away the highest paid politician anywhere in the world.
His salary is still 4 times the salary of President Barack Obama, who reportedly makes around $400,000 a year.
But it’s not just the Prime Minister in Singapore earning big bucks. The Singapore President, who just had his salary cut by 51 percent, will make $1.2 million a year and new ministers will get salaries of $840,000 after the pay cut.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
We have been smacked on the face with news that the people, ‘working for us’, are actually earning a little too much more than they actually might need to. As the media presents a compilation of our top earning Asian ministers, we realise that we live in a nation, where the minister receive’s more than he deserves for reasons unknown. As the highest paid minister, Minister Lee Hsien Loong earns some four times more than President Barack Obama, occasionally dubbed as the 'President of the World’. Why does Singapore’s Prime minister earn as such without having to worry about a nuclear crisis or the North Korean War this is almost being considered preemptive corruption. Is it because he is not being provided additional incentives or retirement incentives? Even if so, that does not equate to this amount of a basic salary for a servant leader of a nation.
