The sculpture, called “The Fearless Girl,” by artist Kristen Visbal was placed at the northern tip of Bowling Green facing down the iconic “Charging Bull” late Tuesday, on the eve of International Women’s Day, as part of a campaign by finance company State Street Corporation to promote women in leadership in the financial sector.
BY COLIN MIXSON
Downtown woke up to the latest socially conscious selfie phenomenon on International Women’s Day, in the form of a diminutive bronze girl, hands on her hips and chest puffed out, staring down Bowling Green’s Charging Bull.
Where the tourists once posed fondling the bull’s prodigious testicles, they now pose beside the “Fearless Girl” statue emulating her defiant posture for Twitter accounts nationwide in posts bookended by #FearlessGirl, #equalrightsamendment, #shemakesthedifference, and #girlpower.
Fidi-based investment firm State Street arranged for the statue’s placement to publicize a campaign to promote women in business leadership, vowing to use its position as a major institutional investor to pressure corporate boards to diversify.
But Fearless Girl may not be around forever. State Street installed Fearless Girl through a temporary week-long event permit, although the buzz generated by the feminist effigy ensured the permit was extended by a month.
Now, as with artist Arturo Di Modica’s iconic bull — which was installed in guerrilla fashion in 1989 and later preserved by popular demand — the statue’s fans are calling on the city allow Fearless Girl to remain permanently on Broadway opposite the furious cow and his big brass balls. An online petition to that effect currently has found 32,997 supporters.
Locally, the effort to retain Fearless Girl is led by Downtown Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, who organized a well-attended rally around the statue on March 17 and penned a letter to DeBlasio requesting the statue be maintained that was signed by 50 elected officials across the state, including members of the City Council, state Assembly and Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives.
Fearless Girl is more than a selfie-generating hunk of bronze, she’s a conversation starter, according to Niou, and dialogue is the most important part of change.
“I feel like its so critical that as a city and a state we encourage the discussion that revolves around gender diversity, and we need to recognize that we need women in leadership roles,” Niou said.
But the sudden appearance of Fearless Girls wasn’t necessarily met with universal acclamation.
Bowling Green booster Arthur Piccolo, founder of the Bowling Green Association, was livid that the installation was done without community consultation, calling the placement of the statue “a corporate advertising coup.” He wants a full review before the city rushes to give permanent sanction to what he sees as a cynical publicity stunt the “mocks equality.”
Piccolo isn’t alone in calling out State Street for apparent hypocrisy on gender equality. News of the photogenic statue’s ostensible mission prompted a mini-backlash pointing out the would-be feminist-crusader corporation is, unlike Fearless Girl, a fairly poor role model when it comes to women in leadership. Of State Street’s 11 board members, only three are women, and of its 28 top executives, only five are women.
The company acknowledges that is has work to do on the diversity front, and says its call to action went out to itself as much as other companies, according to State Street spokeswoman Anne McNally.
“In terms of practicing what we’re preaching, we absolutely know what have further to go,” McNally said.
For Niou’s part, the freshman lawmaker has no problem separating the statue from the company, and said State Street must have known what was coming considering its own gender track record and the attention it anticipated from Fearless Girl’s unveiling.
“Some people think that because of where she came from it matters more that the organization that created her doesn’t enough women on her board, but I think it’s good that they’re self-reflecting,” Niou said. “It’s about making sure to recognize the issue, and State Street is talking about the issue — they can’t help but talk about their diversity. They must have seen that coming.”
As it stands, it seems like Fearless Girl has a decent shot of finding a permanent home Downtown. The city’s public art gatekeeper, the Public Design Commission, is reviewing the statue, and the Department of Transportation is looking at any safety concerns related the statue and its considerable draw, according to Niou.
“She’s so popular right now, so it’s actually been kind of an issue,” the assemblywoman said.
