Topic > Fearless Girl as a Feminist Artwork

Twenty-first century feminism is a movement that embraces all people regardless of predispositions and establishes an ideal of equality. Feminism involves looking at the world through an analytical lens that places gender on a pedestal. Feminism is not about hating men, but rather about giving everyone the opportunity to feel like they have an important place in the world, regardless of race, gender, or creed (Tarrant 52). Fearless Girl is a bronze statue of a young girl with her hands on her hips staring at the iconic Wall Street Bull statue, this statue is commissioned by State Street Corporation. Fearless Girl, as a work of art, can be read on two different levels. Firstly, if one only appreciates the message conveyed through the image of the statue, Fearless Girl can be seen as a work of art that can be interpreted as feminist. However, the second reading of Fearless Girl involves not only the physical art, but the context in which it was created. If the art and the artist, and in this situation, the society that commissions the art, are understood and appreciated as a unity, then Fearless Girl cannot be considered feminist. The Fearless Girl was revealed to the world the night before International Women's Day twenty-seven and got a huge response from the public. In the first twelve hours since the statue was revealed to the public, it generated one million tweets on Twitter and two hundred and fifteen thousand posts on Instagram. The campaign was also ranked as the most successful in promoting good causes in Twenty-Seventeen by advertising site The Good Report. (Lynette Dicey, 3). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At first glance a cursory reading of Fearless Girl might persuade a person to think that this is a message of female empowerment and ideology. As conscientious citizens, we must look deeper to uncover the stereotypes and lack of racial representation that are embedded in this artistic work. For example, the statue represents a very narrow view of women, as it depicts a fearless girl with white features, such as straight hair, eye shape, and Westernized clothing. The feminist movement has fought hard to allow women of all cultures and races to feel represented, regardless of social status, the clothes they wear, or how they choose to present themselves. A woman is not defined by anyone but herself. Fearless Girl was created by artist Kristen Visbal. In an interview she said: “I made sure to keep his features soft; she is not rebellious, she is courageous, proud and strong, not belligerent. "(Suzanne Doyle-Morri,3) There is something very wrong with stating that he made the sculpture to be "soft", he is conveying that if he made it to look strong and older people would feel threatened. In Twenty-Fourteen a campaign came out called #LIKEAGIRL, this campaign was trying to change the meaning of the phrase "like a girl". They wanted to show that usually when people hear someone say "like a girl" it has a negative connotation The campaign had a strong effect on people's lives and every woman, young or old, could relate to this campaign because all their lives women have fought to be seen as strong and fierce when a woman stands up for what she believes in and puts her voice on issues, people tend to discern a woman's opinion by calling her a bitch or aggressivedesign was to make sure it didn't look provocative, she said she designed it not to look bilegert although Kristen Visbal's sculpture design is taking steps backwards to end gender stereotypes, since many women fail to identify with the girl design. There is nothing wrong with a woman wanting to dress or act more "feminine", but there is a problem when to gain respect a woman has to look, behave and dress more feminine.in a certain way that's why there's a problem with the way Kristen Visbal designed the statue. “Feminism isn't about making women strong. Women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” —GD AndersonState Street may have commissioned what was intended to be a statue with a feminist message, However, the actual practices within the company conveyed a message that was clearly not in line with the feminist vision. “Know the power of women in leadership” This is the slogan of the Fearless Girl statue that is monumentalized on Wall Street, New York. To the observer, this statue may seem authentic and a genuine attempt to encourage more female representation in the workplace, but there is more to the story. State Street Corporation installed this statue, this company's message was that companies with women in leadership perform better, but how can a company claim this in front of the world despite the evidence that women in leadership are underrepresented in the company of State Street. Research conducted by journalist Sam Degremount shows that the company has only three women on its 11-person board of directors and five women on its 28-member leadership team. It was also discovered that in early October, State Street Corporation quietly settled allegations that it had paid female employees less than their male colleagues, agreeing to release five million dollars in back pay (Sarah Banet-Weiser, Chicago Tribune ). These statistics and articles show that the company does not practice the values ​​it claims to promote in the Fearless Girl slogan. It is vital that there is awareness about the lack of female representation in the workplace, but this statue will not change that. This statue is a mere cover up for the lack of representation: if the State Street Corporation is willing to pour millions of dollars into this company, but not to get female representation in their companies, there is a real problem. State Street Corporation has a presence in many countries around the world, thus providing them with a powerful platform to change the way people portray women around the world. Furthermore, according to documents filed on October 5 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP), "since at least December 1, 2010, and continuing thereafter, State Street has discriminated female employees in the Senior Vice President (SVP), Chief Executive Officer (MD) and Vice President (VP) positions by paying them less, in terms of base salary, bonus and total compensation, than similarly situated male employees employed in the same position. ” (Annalisa Merelli,4) This is yet another representation of the hypocrisy State Streets portrays. The fact that State Streets underpays and underrepresents women in the workplace takes nothing away from the Fearless Girl statue and the message it is intended to represent. For States Street's message to be truly effective, you need to lead by example and improve yourself before challenging others. State Street commissioned Fearless Girl as a way to improve your own character and reputation 18”