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It stands with its chin raised and hands placed defiantly on its hips, rigidly facing a massive thing of enormous size and even greater power. Its name is Fearless Girl, and it is currently one of the most famous statues in America and one of the most impressive representations of female power in existence. Placed in opposition to the New York Stock Exchange building in lower Manhattan, the statue effectively relays the strength and resolve women have always possessed, but just as it did when placed in opposition to Charging Bull—the sculpture made to symbolize the "bull market" and America's economic power—the immovable object represented by Fearless Girl again relays a subtle, unwanted, and wholly inaccurate message of women's firm opposition to our capitalist economy, and that messaging detracts from the statue's otherwise potent symbolism of women's empowerment.
The success of every modern woman is the legacy of activist legends such as Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and Victoria Woodhull. No entity in support of women here in America would ever seek to diminish the financial basis of the very nation in which women are rightfully making their presence and power known in unprecedented ways. Yet, Fearless Girl was placed to block the progress of the longtime symbol of America's financial might that is Charging Bull, and it now stands in defiance of the New York Stock Market. Accordingly, it is my firm opinion that American women deserve to have Fearless Girl placed in a location that powerfully represents the rise of the female presence and conveys an empowering message devoid of any and all alternate interpretations.
I believe there is but one place in all of New York City where a sculpture of Fearless Girl's significance should be placed, and that location is in front of the Brown Building at 23-29 Washington Place in Greenwich Village, NY. Formerly called the Asch Building, it was the location where, on March 25th, 1911, a raging inferno blazed through the structure's top three floors. The levels were then occupied by a blouse manufacturer in which a legion of 123 seamstresses and 23 men toiled away behind locked doors, each working for just $6 a week (about $192 today). All exits were sealed because the employers did not want their workers to take unauthorized breaks and to deter theft, and the lack of any means of escape doomed most persons on the factory floors when a massive fire erupted and gutted the levels completely.
In an eerie precursor to the fires that would rage within the towers of the World Trade Center in 2001, some of those trapped in the factory jumped to their deaths while others had no choice but to wait for the flames to consume them or for the smoke to choke them to death. Amazingly, despite the massive loss of mostly female life, the factory owners were not convicted of murder or manslaughter due to the locked exits. Instead, they were awarded a large sum of insurance money that profited them about $400 per victim (about $12.8 thousand each in today's dollars for a total payout that would currently exceed $1.89 million).
The predominantly female workforce was worth far more dead than they ever were alive, and their grieving families were left shattered. That is why I am adamant in my assertion that Fearless Girl needs to be placed before the Brown Building. In 1911, scores of women, girls, and some unlucky men were trapped and left to die by heartless male employers, and the women's lives were literally discounted by the courts. Fearless Girl would stand in opposition to such atrocities while continuing to symbolize the power of modern women. It would show just how far women have come in our nation, just how far they have risen since the horrific tragedy that was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
Advancing from sweatshops to boardrooms is just part of the tale of women in America. The Brown Building, with Fearless Girl standing defiantly outside, would symbolize that progress while honoring the many women whose lives were not valued, whose deaths were never avenged, and whose modern-day counterparts struggle ever forward despite many powerful forces aligned against them.
That's my opinion. Please let me know yours in the comments below.
All the best,
TechRider
Note: A less-detailed version of this was previously in a since-deleted WordPress blog.
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Möbus
I knew both statues and in the representation that made sense to me was quite different.
The bull, not only as the United States Capital might but also as a literal bull, a male, preparing to charge and take over whatever there is in front, and yet in the other side there is no cow but a little girl representative of the adamant force of will the women jave against a literal bull, non important of their capacities or of their size, they stand for themselves and with proudness defy that male might with heroism (hence why the pose with the fists on the waist)
Even if that's how I saw it, there's also the non talked aspect of the redundancy about how a little kid does not make money, nor does it spend it themselves, being in most parts, outside of that capitalist scheme, as a result the statue acts as a (almost) perfect antagonist to the bull.
I think the idea of putting it in a place where women died might not be the most likeable place, but it's with good intentions and I can see it being a really powerful message, again in concordance to the title of the statue "Fearless Girl"
Thank you for reading and responding! I understand your viewpoint. You also saw the statue of the little girl as something meant to stand up to the power of the male, the bull. However, the bull was meant to represent financial power, not male power. The bull stands for the "bull market," when the power of Wall Street and the American economy are surging. The meaning of the bull was explained when the statue was created decades ago. Placing "Fearless Girl" in opposition to it changed the meaning of the bull (or made those who were unaware of its true meaning assume it stood for something else), and to many it made "Fearless Girl" more a symbol of anti-capitalism and less a symbol of female power. I am one of those who saw it that way.
As for placing the statue before the Brown Building, that is the place where women were horribly de-valued. The Brown Building has two small plaques to commemorate the tragic Triangle Factory Fire, but that's it. The deaths of the women who worked there (and who were likely paid less than the male laborers) spurred many women's rights efforts, culminating with the creation of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. If the fire represented a low point for women's rights, then the empowering "Fearless Girl" represents their new highs. Placing it before the Brown Building would send a strong message of "The lives of women will never be made worthless again" to the world.
by TechRider (Mélange); ; Report