Fearless Girl is a bronze sculpture by Kristen Visbal, commissioned by State Street Global Advisors via McCann New York, depicting a girl facing the Charging Bull (or Wall Street Bull) statue. It was installed on March 7, 2017, at Bowling Green in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The statue measures approximately 50 inches (130 cm) tall, and weighs about 250 pounds (110 kg).
Fearless Girl was commissioned by investment firm State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) to advertise for an index fund which comprises gender-diverse companies that have a relatively high percentage of women among their senior leadership. The plaque below the statue states: "Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference," with "SHE" being both a descriptive pronoun and the fund's NASDAQ ticker symbol.
A duplicate of the sculpture was unveiled outside the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway on March 8th, 2018. It faces the Norwegian parliament Stortinget. The permanent location of the original sculpture has not been decided.
Video Fearless Girl
History
The statue was installed on March 7, 2017--the day before International Women's Day--by State Street Global Advisors, in a campaign developed by advertising agency McCann New York. SSgA was celebrating the first anniversary of its "Gender Diversity Index" fund that "invests in U.S. large-capitalization companies that rank among the highest in their sector in achieving gender diversity across senior leadership". The concept for the statue was developed by Senior Art Director Lizzie Wilson and Senior Copywriter Tali Gumbiner. Wilson and Gumbiner established both the idea for the statue as well as the overall look of the girl using countless moodboards and imagery, which Visbal referenced. Fearless Girl, which measures approximately 50 inches (130 cm) tall and weighs about 250 pounds (110 kg), faces Charging Bull, a much larger and heavier bronze statue that is 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and weighs 7,100 pounds (3,200 kg). Both are located in Manhattan's Bowling Green, at the intersection of Broadway and Whitehall Street.
Fearless Girl is meant to "send a message" about workplace gender diversity and encourage companies to recruit women to their boards. The plaque below the statue states: "Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference," with SHE referring to both the gender of the subject and the fund's NASDAQ ticker symbol.
The commission by State Street Global Advisors specified that the statue should depict a girl with hands on her hips and chin up, with a height of 36 inches, which Kristen Visbal and her collaborators then increased to 50 inches, to better match the size of Charging Bull. Still, Visbal commented that "I made sure to keep her features soft; she's not defiant, she's brave, proud, and strong, not belligerent".She modeled the sculpture on two children, but many of the distinguishing features were removed so that it would be universally appealing. A child who would represent all children "so everyone could relate to the Fearless Girl."
Fearless Girl was originally given a one-week City Hall permit that was later extended to 30 days. Later, it was announced that the statue would remain in place through February 2018. Among those advocating for the statue to stay longer was U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York's 12th congressional district, who stated, "This statue has touched hearts across the world with its symbolism of the resiliency of women." A petition on Change.org asking for the statue to be made permanent gathered 2,500 signatures in its first 48 hours. Efforts to make the statue permanent continued after the statue was granted a one-year permit.
Maps Fearless Girl
Reception
Some women criticized the statue as "corporate feminism" that violated their own feminist principles. New York Times columnist Gina Bellafante called it "an exercise in corporate imaging" by State Street, which, she wrote, had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the United States Department of Justice, agreeing to pay more than $64 million to resolve fraud charges for secretly billing clients for unwarranted commissions. "Corporate feminism", she wrote, "operates with the singular goal of aiding and abetting a universe of mothers who tuck their daughters in at night whispering, 'Someday, honey, you can lead the emerging markets and sovereign debt team at Citigroup, and then become a director at Yahoo.'" Christine Emba, an opinion writer for The Washington Post, wrote that the statue "portrays the empowered woman as a child, reinforcing the idea of femaleness as cute and inoffensive -- a child with potential, maybe, but not all the way there."
The Gothamist reported on March 20, 2017, that masked New York activists covered the statue in "Make America Great Again" apparel and an American Flag. They also placed pro-Trump signs on it, including one reading "VETS B4 ILLEGALS" and another with a drawing of Pepe the Frog.
As reported by Bloomberg News, analysts from marketing firm Apex Marketing estimated that the statue resulted in $7.4 million in free advertising for SSGA as of April 2017, broken down into $201,075 worth of free radio advertising, $393,047 worth of free social media advertising, $3,115,751 worth of free TV advertising, and $3,729,926 worth of free online/print news advertising.
Public advocate Letitia James asked for the statue to be a permanent installation. In a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, James said, "Fearless Girl stands as a powerful beacon, showing women--young and old--that no dream is too big and no ceiling is too high".
Arturo Di Modica, who installed Charging Bull in 1989, asked that the statue of the girl be removed, arguing that the piece exploits his work for commercial purposes and alters the perception of the bull. He called Fearless Girl "an advertising trick" that he wants relocated, citing its political messaging. On April 12, 2017, Di Modica and his attorney, former New York Civil Liberties Union director Norman Siegel, challenged city officials who let the Fearless Girl statue be installed. Di Modica said that the statue corrupted Charging Bull's artistic integrity by distorting the intent of his statue from "a symbol of prosperity and for strength" into a villain, and does so for SSgA's commercial gain. Siegel said a lawsuit had not been filed as of yet. Mayor de Blasio supported keeping the statue, tweeting that "Men who don't like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl."
On May 29, 2017, artist Alex Gardega added a statue of a small dog, titled Pissing Pug (or Peeing Pug or Sketchy Dog), but he removed it after approximately three hours. He describes the Fearless Girl statue as "corporate nonsense" and "disrespect to the artist that made the bull."
On October 6, 2017, State Street, the company that funded Fearless Girl came to a settlement to pay up to $5.5 million USD for violating equal pay rights with female and minority employees.
At the 2017 Cannes Lions festival, Fearless Girl won three Grand Prix on the first day of the event alone, in the Glass (which deals with marketing addressing gender inequality) and PR categories, and tying for first in the Outdoor category alongside a campaign by Twitter.
See also
- 2017 in art
- Day Without a Woman, a general strike held on March 8, 2017
- Women in business
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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