In what many are calling a publicity stunt originally timed to International Women’s Day in March, McCann New York installed the “Fearless Girl” statue, facing down the famed “Charging Bull” of Wall Street. As Adweek noted, it was meant to be not only a symbol of the power of women in leadership roles, but also “emphasize that companies with women in top positions perform better financially,” as part of an advertising campaign from SSGA.
And while McCann initially got the permit to put up the statue (the Charging Bull, on the other hand, was installed illegally in 1989), it has stayed long past when the permissions ran out and even got a vote of confidence from New York City mayor Bill de Blasio.
Men who don’t like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl. https://t.co/D2OZl4ituJ
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 12, 2017
But the artist behind Charging Bull is calling for the removal of Fearless Girl, because he says it’s recast his piece as chauvinistic (it was originally intended as a salve on the wound of the 1987 stock market crash).
But maybe more important than it being public art, notes The Washington Post, “Fearless Girl” has rekindled the debate about women’s roles on Wall Street, the dearth of women in executive suites, and the ongoing call for equal pay.
Read the full Washington Post article here.
Find out more about the “Fearless Girl” statue from CBS This Morning.
—RealClearLife
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