Posted on 07/16/2013 11:50:17 AM PDT by Pyro7480
French President Francois Hollande has chosen a controversial Ukrainian feminist known for her topless protests as the new incarnation of Marianne, one of France's national emblems, in a move that is drawing mixed reactions.
Hollande chose July 14 -- Bastille Day, the country's most popular national holiday -- to unveil a new stamp inspired by Femen movement leader Inna Shevchenko.
It is the first time a foreign woman has been picked to represent Marianne.
One of the stamp's creators, French artist and gay-rights activist Oliver Ciappa, confirmed on Twitter that his Marianne was based chiefly on 23-year-old Shevchenko....
Shevchenko said she was grateful for the honor, which comes just a week after she was granted political asylum in France.
The flamboyant activist ran afoul of Ukrainian authorities after cutting down a cross with a chainsaw in central Kyiv, wearing only skimpy shorts, in support of jailed members of the Russian punk feminist collective Pussy Riot....
Religious groups and opponents of gay marriage -- fervently advocated by both Ciappa and Shevchenko and recently legalized in France -- are particularly upset by the new stamp....
"So the stamp's Marianne is a Femen," reads another comment. "A fine illustration of secularism according to Socialists: insulting and intolerant."
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
"The cross -- erected during Ukraine's 2004-05 Orange Revolution in memory of the victims of communism..."
Catholic ping!
Lady GaGa had a prior commitment.
Femen is not known for its faces.
Nothing to see there. Don't give The Atlantic any traffic.
Nice how 'flamboyant activist' is now a synonym for 'bigoted, intolerant vandal'. Sawing down crosses --- well, maybe she's a Muslim? Pretty small burqa, though.
France is dead anyway.
I visited Paris last year and was massively underwhelmed.
I'd be more concerned by what appears to be the drawing's mustache, though.
What did the Ukrainians do to the b&tch? They have been known to be very violent.
God help France.
Ukraine never caught her. She fled to France and was granted asylum there. France is really turning into something strange.
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