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March 27, 2017

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Should ‘Fearless Girl’ stay on Wall Street?

SHOULD the “Fearless Girl” stand up to Wall Street’s charging bull forever?

That’s the question New York City officials are facing after a statue of a ponytailed girl in a windblown dress went up in front of the bronze bull early this month and immediately became a tourist draw and internet sensation.

What was intended as a temporary display to encourage corporations to put more women on their boards is now getting a second look in light of its popularity, which has spawned an online petition seeking to keep it.

But does keeping the girl past her scheduled April 2 deadline forever alter the meaning of the bull? After all, the 3.4-meter- tall, 3,220-kilogram bull has been hugely popular in its own right; it was placed in a lower Manhattan traffic median in the wake of the 1987 stock market crash as a symbol of Americans’ financial resilience and can-do spirit.

Some fans of the bronze girl already see the bull much differently.

“The bull represents men and power,” says Cristina Pogorevici, 18, a student from Bucharest, Romania, who visited the statues this past week. “So she is a message of women’s power and things that are changing in the world right now.”

Holli Sargeant, 20, a visitor from Queensland, Australia, says the 1.2-meter-tall, 113-kilogram bronze girl “is standing up against something and we see her as powerful image. She represents all the young women in the world that want to make a difference.”

Such shifting perceptions of the bull — from American hero to villain of sorts — outrage bull sculptor Arturo De Modica, who wants the girl gone.

“My bull is a symbol for America. My bull is a symbol of prosperity and for strength,” the Italian-born sculptor told MarketWatch.




 

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