by Lydia James
Potatoes, crocodile skin umbrellas and legalizing prostitution are just some of the subjects that tickled your interest this year. Our Argumentfeatures have done particularly well, occupying four of the coveted ‘best of’ slots for 2013. Money and sex were also high on your radar this year with Vanessa Baird’s hard-hitting Sex Selection issue from October shooting into the top three. Ultimately it was the antics of the rich in India that proved to be our most popular article with over 100K views.
If you missed these delights first time round, here they are again…
1. India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement
Urvashi Butalia’s feature on wealthy Indians living in Delhi went viral sparking a lively discussion among online readers.
2. Should prostitution be legalized?
The first of four Arguments to make it into the top 10, lawyer Dianne Post and writer and filmmaker Bishakha Datta polarized opinion in April.
3. Girls not allowed
In a world where boys are seen as more important, sex selection is increasingly skewing the world’s gender balance. In October co-editor Vanessa Baird’s second keynote article in the top 10 assessed the damage and how to tackle it.
4. Is male circumcision harmful?
A fierce debate between Richard Wamai and Ronald Goldman in March mirrored an international discussion as the World Health Organization pushed for male circumcision to prevent the spread of HIV.
5. Cameroon’s women call time on breast ironing
Breast ironing is little heard about but widely practiced. Former New Internationalist intern Amy Hall investigated a harmful practice aimed at ‘protecting young girls’ from unwanted male attention.
6. Laying into the poor
Owen Jones wrote about the global demonization of the ‘have-nots’ that has continued during the year. Happily, so has the growing resistance to austerity measures and inequality by the 99%.
7. Feral rich keynote
Co-editor Vanessa Baird investigated the super wealthy and what they spend their money on. (Clue: Crocodile-skin umbrellas worth $55,000 and Harrods Posh Instant noodles at $43 a pot.)
New Internationalist for more