French Stamp Controversy

Yes, "caganer" is the most popular figure on Catalan nativities (we call it "pessebre"). None would be complete without it (sometimes hidden!) and not even the most strict Catalan Catholics would feel offended seeing it close to the Nativity. Lately it has passed to depict popular people: I've seen Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola, our president, many kings and princes (like HRH Prince Charles)...

My view is that I don't particularily like the stamp. I love collecting France, I particularily love my Mariannes. But this is an insipid image. Marianne is beautiful, yes, but she is not the doe-eyed cartoon of femininity depicted here. This stamp reminds me of a Barbie doll, or one of those comic strip females drawn from male fantasy. There is a photo of the Ukranian model here http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/fre..._269753.html
She has beautiful, strong features, and is a hundred times more Marianne than the unrecognisable, Disneyfied version of her that has made it on to the stamp.
Secondly, regarding the shock and outrage that at woman should bare her breasts. Brigit Bardot was a former Marianne model, was there similar outrage that a woman who was filmed and photographed nude and semi nude in overtly provocative poses should represent the soul of a nation? I am assuming not (I stand to be corrected...). But then of course when a woman is baring her body for the enjoyment of men, it is an entirely different matter. It seems it is more acceptable than to do it for another reason - say to protest for womens' rights, or to breastfeed a baby.
If they were objecting because she is not French, I could understand that. But otherwise, it is hypocrisy through and through.
To sum up, poor choice of image, otherwise fuss about nothing.

If I were French I would boycott because the stamp offends me aesthetically. It looks like they are embracing the kind of schlock that Disney dumps out every year - A Disney princess poster and not a fine work of craftsmanship I think. A detailed engraving of a less schlocky looking princess would be more appealing.

The stamp doesn't offend me, but then I am not French and don't have the ideas and attitudes the French have. I can understand why some are upset about it. Whether or not I consider it pretty is neither here nor there.

I am personally against most boycotts because they don't often have any effect. The stamp and the resulting controversy don't either one have much effect on me.

Picture borrowed from above mentioned article from Yahoo News, same link:
http://news.yahoo.com/french-stamp-...3029804.html


Below image from La Poste (France Post Office), two souvenir sheets (blocs) issued July 16, 2013, older Marianne stamps from over the years, and the new 2013 one, Marianne and the Youth.


The new design is seemingly simplistic compared to what came before from some engravers but I still like it. She has a far gaze towards the future, a hope, a youth in her eyes. She turns her hand to say this is life and I welcome it.

The different colours of the series, Europe, local, International, different weights and sizes of letters (lettres) all have a simple one-colour portrayal, very giving to the sender's envelopes or packages, open to whatever is there and whatever there is to come.

Ah, the poet and romantic in me rises again.


Self adhesive coil stamps shown on Delcampe:

When did the French become so uptight?

Actually I like these new Marianne stamps. Simple, beautiful design and not too colourful, one colour is quite enough IMO. Compared to the other designs in the voting, I'd say this were the best one.

The most beautiful U.S. stamps (back when they were engraved) were one color...

Wellp, I don't like the design, and as far as I am concerned, they should have used a French woman, or even no model at all.

People shouldn't be forced to use a stamp that shows someone or something they don't believe in. As a commemorative, not so bad, as you just plain don't have to buy them. But a definitive should be "neutral". Just my opinion...

They're not quite as artistic as the older stamps, but I don't see why they're worth boycotting.

somebody has too much time on their hands

This is an old thread about the Marianne de la Jeunesse stamps issued from July 2013. At the time, the stamps caused some controversy based on false claims from one of the two persons credited with the stamps' design. Here are some of the stamps and an update on the 'controversy.'

The article to which a link has been provided earlier is a nice example of how some media forget to check facts and the 'informed' opinion people have after reading such articles.

The controversy about the inspiration for the stamp was caused by Olivia Clappa. She claimed Inna Chevtchenko, a Femen activist, had been her inspiration for the portrait of Marianne. Moralists lost no time calling for a boycot.

David Kawena through his lawyer, has claimed he was the sole graphic designer of the stamp. He also made it known he had not modelled his Marianne on Inna Chevtchenko, whose existence had escaped him. Olivia Clappa has acknowledged David Kawena designed the stamps but claims she was co-creator of the stamps.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria..._la_Jeunesse

The stamps show a youthful Marianne and two children (youth, or jeunesse) in the lower right corner playing a ball game. There also exists a green-tariff stamp for carriage by more environmentally friendly modes of transport. This stamp has a tree at the lower right. The inscription 'Clappa & Kawena' appears at the bottom left of the stamps.

I bought these blocks on 15 September 2015, when I was in Bordeaux. I dropped into the post office around the corner from my hotel to buy some stamps for postcards and letters I wanted to send to friends. I liked the stamps and asked for the corner blocks. The guy at the post office was very helpful and gave me a corner block of every denomination he could find.

Correction
The designer is OLIVIA CiAPPA

I had trouble without the scanner, finding "the children"

Also good to know it is the Marianne "Type" Marianne de la Jeunesse (Marianne of Youth)

Sc#4011 2013 1c Yellow
Spink has the type "Marianne de Ciappa et Kawena"

Designer: David Kawena, not Olivia Ciappa.

@Rod,




As the article to which I added a link states, Olivia Ciappa (not Clappa as I wrote) is anything but the designer of the stamps. She claimed she was, but more or less acknowledged this was not the case and now claims she was involved in the stamp design. The stamp itself was designed by David Kawena.

edit: added the quote from the article. It states Ciappa was only Kawena's representative in France and had no involvement in the design (according to Kawena's lawyer).

A shame that Inna wasn't actually the model. As she said at the time, "All homophobes, extermists, fascist will have to lick my arse when they want to send a letter". Some on the right in France called for a boycott of the stamps.