ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Liza Donnelly - Cartoonist
New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly tackles global issues with humor, intelligence and sarcasm. Her latest project supports the United Nations initiative Cartooning For Peace.

Why you should listen

When Liza Donnelly joined The New Yorker in 1982, she was the youngest cartoonist on staff and one of only three women at the time to draw cartoons for the magazine. She’s still there. In 2005, Donnelly wrote the definitive book about her colleagues: Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons. She’s been part of many other books, including Sex and Sensibility, Cartoon Marriage (about her life with fellow New Yorker cartoonist Michael Maslin) and a popular series of dinosaur books for kids. Her latest is Women on Men.

In 2007, Donnelly joined the United Nations initiative Cartooning for Peace. She travels worldwide to speak out about freedom of speech, world peace, and other global issues. Along with her New Yorker cartoons, Donnelly writes a column for Forbes, and draws a weekly political cartoon for Medium. She's a founding member of the US branch of the international organization FECO, and has taught at Vassar College and The School of Visual Arts. She received an honorary PhD from the University of Connecticut and is a cultural envoy for the US State Department, traveling to speak about women's rights, freedom of expression and cartoons.

More profile about the speaker
Liza Donnelly | Speaker | TED.com
TEDWomen 2010

Liza Donnelly: Drawing on humor for change

Liza Donnelly: Fent ús de l'humor per aconseguir un canvi

Filmed:
1,435,431 views

La caricaturista de Nova York Liza Donnelly comparteix la seva carpeta dels seus savis i divertits dibuixos sobre la vida moderna- i parla sobre com l'humor pot animar a les dones a canviar les normes.
- Cartoonist
New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly tackles global issues with humor, intelligence and sarcasm. Her latest project supports the United Nations initiative Cartooning For Peace. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:17
(LaughterRiure)
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I was afraidté por of womanhoodfeminitat.
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Jo tenia por de la femineïtat.
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Not that I'm not afraidté por now,
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No que no tingui por ara,
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but I've learnedaprès to pretendfingir.
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però he après a fingir.
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I've learnedaprès to be flexibleflexible.
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He après a ser flexible
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In factfet, I've developeddesenvolupat some interestinginteressant toolseines
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De fet, he desenvolupat unes ferramentes interessants
00:35
to help me dealacord with this fearpor.
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per ajudar-me a superar aquesta por.
00:37
Let me explainexplica.
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Permetin-me que els expliqui.
00:39
Back in the '50s and '60s, when I was growingcreixent up,
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Als anys 50 i 60, quan jo estava creixent,
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little girlsnoies were supposedsuposat to be kindamable and thoughtfulpensatiu
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les nenes petites es suposava que havien de ser amables i considerades
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and prettybonic and gentleamable and softsuau,
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i boniques i gentils i dolces.
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and we were supposedsuposat to fiten forma into rolespapers
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I es suposava que haviem d'encaixar dins uns rols
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that were sortordenar of shadowyombrívol --
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que no estaven gens clars.
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really not quitebastant clearclar what we were supposedsuposat to be.
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No estava gens clar el que es suposava que haviem de ser.
00:52
(LaughterRiure)
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There were plentymolt of rolepaper modelsmodels all around us.
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Hi havia moltíssims models exemplars al nostre voltant.
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We had our mothersmares, our auntsties, our cousinscosins, our sistersgermanes,
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Teníem les nostres mares, ties, cosines, germanes,
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and of coursecurs, the ever-presentsempre present mediamitjans de comunicació
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i per suposat, la sempre present premsa
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bombardingbombardeig us with imagesimatges and wordsparaules,
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bombardejant-nos amb imatges i paraules,
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tellingdient us how to be.
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diguent-nos com ser.
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Now my mothermare was differentdiferent.
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Ara, la meva mare era diferent.
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She was a homemakerama de casa,
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Ella era mestressa de casa,
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but she and I didn't go out and do girlienena things togetherjunts,
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però ella i jo no sortiem a fer coses de noies juntes.
01:15
and she didn't buycomprar me pinkrosa outfitsvestits.
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I no em va comprar vestits roses.
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InsteadEn canvi, she knewsabia what I needednecessari, and she boughtva comprar me a bookllibre of cartoonsdibuixos animats.
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En comptes d'això, ella sabia el que jo necessitava, i em va comprar un llibre de dibuixos.
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And I just ateva menjar it up.
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I el vaig devorar.
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I drewva dibuixar, and I drewva dibuixar,
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Vaig dibuixar i dibuixar,
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and sincedes de llavors I knewsabia that humorhumor was acceptableacceptable in my familyfamília,
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i com sabia que l'humor era acceptable a la meva família
01:27
I could drawdibuixar, do what I wanted to do,
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podia dibuixar, fer el que volgués,
01:29
and not have to performrealitzar, not have to speakparlar --
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i no haver d'interpretar, no haver de parlar-
01:31
I was very shytímid --
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jo era molt tímida-
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and I could still get approvall'aprovació.
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i encara podia aconseguir aprobació.
01:36
I was launchedllançat as a cartoonistdibuixant.
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I em vaig llençar com caricaturista.
01:40
Now when we're youngjove,
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Ara bé, quan som joves,
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we don't always know. We know there are rulesregles out there,
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no sempre sabem-sabem que hi ha regles allí fora
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but we don't always know --
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però no sempre sabem-
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we don't performrealitzar them right,
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no les seguim correctament,
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even thoughperò we are imprintedimprès at birthnaixement
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tot i que som gravades des del neixement
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with these things,
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amb aquestes coses,
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and we're told
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i se'ns diu,
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what the mostla majoria importantimportant colorcolor in the worldmón is.
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quin és el color més important al món.
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We're told what shapeforma we're supposedsuposat to be in.
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Se'ns diu quina forma es suposa que hem de tenir.
02:02
(LaughterRiure)
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We're told what to weardesgast --
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Se'ns diu com ens hem de vestir-
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(LaughterRiure)
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(Riures)
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-- and how to do our haircabell --
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-i com ens hem de pantinar-
02:11
(LaughterRiure)
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(Riures)
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-- and how to behavees comporten.
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- i com ens hem de comportar.
02:19
Now the rulesregles that I'm talkingparlar about
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Ara bé, les normes de les que parlo
02:21
are constantlyconstantment beingser monitoredcontrolats by the culturecultura.
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són constantment vigilades per la cultura.
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We're beingser correctedCorregit,
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Estem sent corregides.
02:25
and the primaryprimària policemenpolicies are womendones,
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Les principals policies són dones,
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because we are the carriersoperadors of the traditiontradició.
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perquè som les portadores de la tradició.
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We passpassar it down from generationgeneració to generationgeneració.
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La passem de generació en generació.
02:34
Not only that --
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No només,
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we always have this vaguevague notionnoció
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tenim sempre aquesta idea vaga
02:38
that something'salguna cosa expectedesperat of us.
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de que s'espera alguna cosa de nosaltres.
02:40
And on topsuperior of all off these rulesregles,
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I a sobre de totes aquestes normes,
02:43
they keep changingcanviant.
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continuen canviant.
02:45
(LaughterRiure)
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(Riures)
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We don't know what's going on halfla meitat the time,
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La meitat del temps no sabem què és el que está passant,
02:52
so it putsposa us in a very tenuoustènue positionposició.
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i això ens posa dins una situació delicada.
02:55
(LaughterRiure)
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(Riures)
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Now if you don't like these rulesregles,
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Ara bé, si no els agraden aquestes normes,
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and manymolts of us don't --
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i a moltes de nosaltres no ens agraden-
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I know I didn't, and I still don't,
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jo sé que a mi no m'agradaven, i encara no m'agraden,
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even thoughperò I followseguir them halfla meitat the time,
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tot i que les segueixo la meitat del temps,
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not quitebastant awareconscients that I'm followingsegüent them --
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sense ser del tot conscient d'estar seguint-les-
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what better way than to changecanviar them [than] with humorhumor?
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quina manera millor de canviar-les que amb humor?
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HumorHumor relieses basa on the traditionstradicions of a societysocietat.
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L'humor es basa en les tradicions d'una societat.
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It takes what we know, and it twistsgirs it.
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Pren el que coneixem, i ho distorsiona.
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It takes the codescodis of behaviorcomportament and the codescodis of dressvestit,
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Pren el codis de comportament i els codis de vestimenta,
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and it makesfa it unexpectedinesperat,
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i els fa inesperats,
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and that's what elicitsprovoca a laughriure.
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i això és el que provoca riures.
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Now what if you put togetherjunts womendones and humorhumor?
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Ara bé, què passa si ajuntem la dona i l'humor?
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I think you can get changecanviar.
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Jo penso que podem obtenir un canvi.
03:30
Because womendones are on the groundterra floorpis,
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Perquè les dones estan a la planta baixa,
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and we know the traditionstradicions so well,
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i coneixem les tradicions tan bé,
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we can bringportar a differentdiferent voiceveu to the tabletaula.
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podem portar una veu diferent a la taula
03:36
Now I startedva començar drawingdibuix
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Bé, jo vaig començar a dibuixar
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in the middlemig of a lot of chaosChaos.
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en mig de molt de caos.
03:40
I grewva créixer up not farlluny from here in WashingtonWashington D.C.
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Vaig créixer no molt lluny d´aquí a Washington D.C.
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duringdurant the CivilCivils RightsDrets movementmoviment, the assassinationsassassinats,
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durant el moviment dels Drets Civils, els assassinats,
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the WatergateWatergate hearingsaudiències and then the feministfeminista movementmoviment,
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el judici de Watergate i el moviment feminista.
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and I think I was drawingdibuix,
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I crec que jo dibuixava,
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tryingintentant to figurefigura out what was going on.
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per intentar entendre el que estava passant.
03:52
And then alsotambé my familyfamília was in chaosChaos,
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I a la vegada, la meva família estava en caos llavors.
03:55
and I drewva dibuixar to try to bringportar my familyfamília togetherjunts --
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I dibuixava per intentar mantenir unida la família-
03:58
(LaughterRiure)
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(Riures)
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-- try to bringportar my familyfamília togetherjunts with laughterriure.
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-intentar unir la meva família amb riures.
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It didn't work.
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No va funcionar.
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My parentspares got divorceddivorciat, and my sistergermana was arresteddetinguts.
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Els meus pares es van divorciar, i a la meva germana la van arrestar.
04:11
But I foundtrobat my placelloc.
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Però vaig trobar el meu lloc.
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I foundtrobat that I didn't have to weardesgast highalt heelstalons,
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Vaig descobrir que no havia de portar tacons,
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I didn't have to weardesgast pinkrosa,
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no havia de vestir de rosa,
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and I could feel like I fiten forma in.
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i podia sentir que encaixava.
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Now when I was a little oldermés vell, in my 20s,
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Ara bé, quan vaig ser una mica més gran, als 20,
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I realizedadonar-se'n there are not manymolts womendones in cartooningen treballar.
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Em vaig adonar que no hi ha gaires dones dins el món de la caricatura.
04:26
And I thought, "Well, maybe I can breaktrencar
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I vaig pensar, "Bé, potser puc rompre
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the little glassvidre ceilingsostre of cartooningen treballar,"
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el petit sostre de vidre del món de la caricatura."
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and so I did. I becamees va convertir a cartoonistdibuixant.
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I així ho vaig fer; em vaig fer dibuixant.
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And then I thought -- in my 40s I startedva començar thinkingpensant,
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I llavors vaig pensar, als 40 vaig començar a pensar
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"Well, why don't I do something?
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"Bé, per què no faig alguna cosa?
04:37
I always lovedestimat politicalpolític cartoonsdibuixos animats,
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Sempre m'havia agradat la caricatura política,
04:39
so why don't I do something with the contentcontingut of my cartoonsdibuixos animats
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així que, ¿per què no faig alguna cosa amb el contingut de les meves caricatures
04:42
to make people think about the stupidestúpid rulesregles that we're followingsegüent
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per fer reflexionar a la gent sobre les normes estúpides que estem seguint
04:45
as well as laughriure?"
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a més de fer riure?"
04:48
Now my perspectiveperspectiva
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Ara la meva perspectiva
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is a particularlyparticularment --
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és particularment-
04:52
(LaughterRiure)
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(Riures)
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-- my perspectiveperspectiva is a particularlyparticularment AmericanNord-americà perspectiveperspectiva.
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- la meva perspectiva és particularment una perspectiva americana.
04:56
I can't help it. I liveen directe here.
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No ho puc evitar. Visc aquí.
04:59
Even thoughperò I've traveledviatjat a lot,
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Tot i que he viatjat moltíssim,
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I still think like an AmericanNord-americà womandona.
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encara penso com una dona americana.
05:03
But I believe that the rulesregles that I'm talkingparlar about
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Però crec que les normes de les que parlo
05:05
are universaluniversal, of coursecurs --
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són universals, és clar-
05:07
that eachcadascun culturecultura has its differentdiferent codescodis of behaviorcomportament
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cada cultura té els seus diferents codis de conducta
05:10
and dressvestit and traditionstradicions,
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i de vestimenta i tradicions,
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and eachcadascun womandona has to dealacord with these samemateix things
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i cada dona ha de lluitar amb aquestes mateixes coses
05:14
that we do here in the U.S.
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que fem aquí als EE.UU
05:16
ConsequentlyEn conseqüència, we have.
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Com a conseqüència, tenim-
05:18
WomenDones, because we're on the groundterra, we know the traditiontradició.
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dones, perquè estem de peus a terra, coneixem la tradició-
05:21
We have amazingsorprenent antennaeantenes.
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tenim una antena impressionant.
05:24
Now my work latelyúltimament
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Ara, últimament la meva feina
05:26
has been to collaboratecol·laborar with internationalinternacional cartoonistsdibuixants,
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ha estat col.laborar amb caricaturistes internacionals,
05:28
whichquin I so enjoygaudir,
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que de fet m'encanta
05:31
and it's givendonat me a greatermajor appreciationapreciació
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I m'ha aportat una apreciació major
05:33
for the powerpoder of cartoonsdibuixos animats
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pel poder de les caricatures
05:35
to get at the truthveritat,
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per arribar a la veritat,
05:39
to get at the issuesproblemes quicklyràpidament and succinctlysuccinta.
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per arribar als problemes ràpida i succintament.
05:42
And not only that, it can get to the viewerespectador
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I no només això, pot arrivar a l'espectador
05:44
througha través not only the intellectintel·lecte, but througha través the heartcor.
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a través, no només de l'intel.lecte, sinò també del cor.
05:47
My work alsotambé has allowedpermès me to collaboratecol·laborar
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El meu treball també m'ha permès col.laborar
05:50
with womendones cartoonistsdibuixants from acrossa través de the worldmón --
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amb caricaturistes dones de tot el món-
05:52
countriespaïsos suchtal as SaudiAràbia Saudita ArabiaArabia,
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països com Aràbia Saudí,
05:54
IranL'Iran, TurkeyTurquia,
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Iran, Turquia,
05:56
ArgentinaArgentina, FranceFrança --
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Argentina, França-
05:58
and we have satassegut togetherjunts and laughedva riure
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i ens hem assegut juntes i hem rigut
06:00
and talkedva parlar and sharedcompartit our difficultiesdificultats.
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i parlat i compartit les nostres dificultats.
06:02
And these womendones are workingtreball so harddur to get theirels seus voicesveus heardescoltat
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I aquestes dones estan treballant tan de debò per aconseguir que les seves veus siguin escoltades
06:05
in some very difficultdifícil circumstancescircumstàncies.
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en circumstàncies molt difícils.
06:08
But I feel blessedbeneït to be ablecapaç to work with them.
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Però em sento afortunada de poder treballar amb elles.
06:12
And we talk about
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I parlem de
06:14
how womendones have suchtal strongfort perceptionspercepcions,
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com les dones tenen aquestes percepcions fortes
06:16
because of our tenuoustènue positionposició
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degut a la nostra posició tènue
06:18
and our rolepaper as tradition-keeperstradició apicultors,
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i el nostre rol com a conservadores de la tradició,
06:21
that we can have the great potentialpotencial
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que podem tenir el gran potencial
06:24
to be change-agentsagents de canvi.
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de ser portadores del canvi.
06:26
And I think, I trulyveritablement believe,
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I jo penso, crec de veritat,
06:29
that we can changecanviar this thing
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que canviem això
06:31
one laughriure at a time.
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riure a riure.
06:33
Thank you.
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Gràcies.
06:35
(ApplauseAplaudiments)
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(Aplaudiments)
Translated by Helena Ripoll Hazell
Reviewed by Carmen Vega-Reina

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Liza Donnelly - Cartoonist
New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly tackles global issues with humor, intelligence and sarcasm. Her latest project supports the United Nations initiative Cartooning For Peace.

Why you should listen

When Liza Donnelly joined The New Yorker in 1982, she was the youngest cartoonist on staff and one of only three women at the time to draw cartoons for the magazine. She’s still there. In 2005, Donnelly wrote the definitive book about her colleagues: Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons. She’s been part of many other books, including Sex and Sensibility, Cartoon Marriage (about her life with fellow New Yorker cartoonist Michael Maslin) and a popular series of dinosaur books for kids. Her latest is Women on Men.

In 2007, Donnelly joined the United Nations initiative Cartooning for Peace. She travels worldwide to speak out about freedom of speech, world peace, and other global issues. Along with her New Yorker cartoons, Donnelly writes a column for Forbes, and draws a weekly political cartoon for Medium. She's a founding member of the US branch of the international organization FECO, and has taught at Vassar College and The School of Visual Arts. She received an honorary PhD from the University of Connecticut and is a cultural envoy for the US State Department, traveling to speak about women's rights, freedom of expression and cartoons.

More profile about the speaker
Liza Donnelly | Speaker | TED.com