Statues of women in public places do seem to draw attention. Particularly if they are at street level. After the awful spectacle of the Fearless Girl being frotted by a Wall Street Wanker I wondered if statues of grown women at street level would suffer the same fate. I visited Dublin and learned that yes, they do. Lucky girl Molly Malone is routinely groped.*
This week the Fearless Girl is back in the news. It’s all about context. The ‘Charging Bull’ sculptor says ‘Fearless Girl’ violates his moral rights. It’s a derivative work, he says. Without his bull the power of her stance would not be as significant. Her presence changes his meaning. She makes a difference.
All very interesting in the week that Edinburgh University begins to discuss signing up to the UN ‘HeForShe’ campaign.
HeForShe is the UN Women’s solidarity movement for gender equality, with the aim of “bring[ing] together one half of humanity in support of the other half of humanity, for the benefit of all”.
* Molly is in a song. Fearless is in our minds. Bum and Bobby lived long lives.
