Three years ago, I complained here* here about how difficult is to see women on stamps. At least, if they do not belong to at least one of the following categories: queens, princesses, moms, symbols, muses, or, in fewer cases, artists.
I thought that maybe it was just my impression. Sure, my so-called collection is made of the stamps I receive on letters and postcards, so it is everything but representative. To prove that I am wrong and things are changing, I had the idea of taking all the stamps issued by Spain last year and simply... count them.
Man**, it was soooo disappointing!
Out of 92 single stamps issued by Correos last year:
I thought that maybe it was just my impression. Sure, my so-called collection is made of the stamps I receive on letters and postcards, so it is everything but representative. To prove that I am wrong and things are changing, I had the idea of taking all the stamps issued by Spain last year and simply... count them.
Man**, it was soooo disappointing!
Out of 92 single stamps issued by Correos last year:
- 19 were dedicated to men (including one stamp with two famous men, and one stamp dedicated to the artistic work of several men). Among those men you can find kings, writers, explorers, thinkers, artists, foreign men, etc.
- In three more stamps (total: 22) recognizable men were depicted.
Now for women. Any guess?
- 2 stamps (no mistake here) were dedicated to women: the actress Amparo Rivelles and the singer Rocío Jurado.
- In 2 more stamps (no mistake here either), two women appears: the queen Isabella I of Castile (see the stamp above), on a stamp dedicated to the medal, not the woman; and the Virgin Mary***, on one of the Christmas stamps. Not exactly, errr... contemporary models. Because we cannot count the astronaut Laika as a female... or can we?
The fact is that they dedicated more stamps to religious (7) and military (3) matters, for instance, than to women. Actually, even dinosaurs appear on more stamps than women.
Probably you are thinking that mine is a strange country... But no: I assure you that in Spain, as everywhere, more or less half of the population are women.
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* Updated post
** Notice the irony, please.
*** Let's be egalitarian, though: in 2017, only Saint Joseph will appear.
** Notice the irony, please.
*** Let's be egalitarian, though: in 2017, only Saint Joseph will appear.
Looking through the 2016 Royal Mail (UK) stamps
ReplyDeleteThere's a woman rowing a boat to deliver mail
3 out of the 6 British Humanitarians depicted on stamps are Sue Ryder, Eglantyne Jebb, and Josephine Butler.
The set remembering The Great War has a female munitions worker.
The Agatha Christie set - chalk outline of a dead woman murdered in the library, and there is a maid (?) holding the newspaper where A Murder is Announced.
The Great Fire of London stamps has the history drawn in comic form, so there's depictions of women there (one escaping out the window and climbing over the roof).
4 Little Misses to go with the 6 Mr Men. Also, some female characters created by Beatrix Potter.
Thanks for the search!
DeleteI receive most of the post from three countries: the UK, the USA and the Netherlands. I had already realised that the three issue more stamps about women, or depicting women, than Spain. Let alone Morocco, where I live... :(
Suddenly I remember to have received stamps from you about women's right, from both Spain and Morocco!.. See
Deletehttp://nogmeerpost.blogspot.nl/search/label/women, my blog pot of March 2016 and July 2015 :-)
I would like they issue more about women!
DeleteI thought I would do the same for the US in 2016.
ReplyDeleteOf 136 (!) stamps issued last year, there are men on 9 of them (Richard Allen, George Washington x 3, Benjamin Franklin x 2, Abraham Lincoln, Jaime Escalante, Henry James).
There are women on 2 stamps (Sarah Vaughn, Shirley Temple).
The fictional superhero Wonder Woman has 4 stamps to herself.
A man's outline appears on one of the Star Trek stamps.
Men and women reading a notice are on the Repeal of the Stamp Act stamp.
A woman is the main feature on the Kwanzaa stamp.
Madonna and child are on one Christmas stamp, and Jesus, Mary and the infant Jesus are on another.
So men (if you include baby J): 9+1+4=14
Women: 2+4+1+1+2=10
I have the impression that women appear often on the stamps on my letters from the USA. 10/14 sounds a bit better than 2/19, anyway. But I still wonder... why not 50/50?
DeleteSuch a good research and blog! Thank you very much, Eva! And also thank you, M and Phillip!
ReplyDeleteI should check the Dutch stamps, too.
Sad that women are so much neglected.
As is diversity - that's why I like the Kwanzaa stamp so much (FinnBadger, if ever you happen to get that stamp, could you please, er, I don't want to be brutal or greedy ir demanding, hopefully you know what I mean?)
I think that's going better in some countries. But too slowly :(
Delete@Heleen, I'll see what I can do :)
DeleteEn France en 2016,il y a eu 5 émissions de timbres "femmes"(Marguerite Long,Sophie Germain,Louise Labé,Catherine De Médicis et Françoise Giroud )contre 8 hommes ( Georges Charpak ,Pierre Messmer ,Edmond Locard,Jouffroy D'albban,Édouard Nieuport Pierre Mauroy Léo Ferré et François Mitterrand
ReplyDeleteJe n'ai pas comptabilisé les peintres puisque ce sont leurs œuvres qui sont mises en avant ! Merci Eva !
5/8, pas mal!
DeleteJ'ai reçu le timbre de Louise Labé sur un des enveloppes françaises, il y a quelques semaines.
Malgré tout ,en France les femmes sont mises à l'honneur en philatélie ,en 2012 un beau carnets de 12 timbres sur "les portraits de femme dans la peinture et en 2013 ,un autre carnet sorti pour la journée de la femme appelé " Valeurs de la femme ,femme de valeurs "
ReplyDeleteMerci pour les informations!
DeleteIci il y avait un serie en des 90s avec que des femmes....je vais t'envoyer quelques pour l'annee prochaine ;-)
ReplyDeleteÇa serait super! :D
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