On Sunday night, city officials in Palm Springs, California, unveiled a Marilyn Monroe statue, per TMZ. But, the statue is already drawing criticism for its misogynistic depiction of the famous actor. In fact, the publication pointed out that many individuals gathered in the Palm Springs area to protest the statue of Monroe.
Palm Springs officials unveiled the Monroe statue on Sunday night and it was instantly met with criticism from those in attendance and fans online. The statue, which has been titled “Forever Marilyn,” is 26 feet tall and made of stainless steel. The figure stands in front of the Palm Springs Art Museum, blocking the view corridor to the location. It depicts the actor from the classic scene in The Seven Year Itch, which premiered in 1954, in which she stands on top of a subway grate. Palm Springs reportedly hopes that the statue will bring tourists to the city in order to boost local revenue. However, it seems like they’ve received a totally different kind of attention for the piece.
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The sun is just dipping behind the San Jacinto mountains. How the statue blocks the view corridor to the midcentury modern PS Art Museum by E. Stewart Williams becomes clear. The museum tried, failed to stop the city statue project. pic.twitter.com/4SmOFdmmYz
— Christopher Knight (@KnightLAT) June 21, 2021
TMZ reported that protestors who gathered near the statue were vocalizing chants such as “Hey hey! Ho ho! Misogyny has to go!” … and “Exploitation! Exploitation!” The main issue that many have with the statue is that Monroe’s underwear is visible, as her dress flows up behind her. Emiliana Guereca, who is the executive director of the Women’s March Foundation, explained why the statue is considered to be misogynistic. She told The Desert Sun, per TMZ, “When you exit the museum, the statue is designed to look at her crotch and look at her buttocks and take photos. And that is no longer acceptable.” Guereca continued, “It may have been acceptable in the 1950s, but we are in 2021 fighting the same thing and women are saying enough is enough.”
There is already a Change.org petition that was started to try to remove the statue. The petition — which has already garnered over 41,000 signatures of its 50,000 goal — takes aim at Palm Springs for placing a “hyper-sexualized, misogynistic statue” in front of the city’s museum. They noted that they want Monroe’s legacy to be respected, writing, “She wanted to be taken seriously as an artist and not just a sexual icon. We join others in asking the City of Palm Springs to venerate — not defile— her memory.”
