Fearless Girl is the Statue of a young girl in New York City’s Financial District; she is made out of Bronze, stands with her hands on her hips, her chin raised, and portrays herself with significant confidence. Ever since the launch of Fearless Girl, she has become an iconic symbol of female empowerment. Although she has received negative backlash from the public, her message made an impact globally. The City of New York decided to give her a permanent home right outside the New York Stock Exchange.
“Know the Power of Women in Leadership. SHE makes a difference.”
Background
Fearless Girl arrived in New York City on March 7th, 2017; this was because the creators of this statue had a plan to install it just before International Women’s Day that year. It all started when the State Street Global Advisors were celebrating the 1st anniversary of their campaign to advocate for gender Diversity on corporate boards. They appointed the Uruguayan sculptor Kristen Visbal, who is known for her work with bronze, to create a piece for this project. She was originally placed on Wall Street, directly facing the Charging Bull. When she arrived, she received a lot of attention from the press and the public. Originally, she was a temporary statue lasting only a week, but because of all the attention she was receiving, they decided to extend her time to a month but the love towards her kept growing that they pushed for a year eventually they decided to make her a permanent figure.
Fearless Girl was more than just a statue she represented the spirit of resilience and determination. She stands at the height of four feet tall, and although she is tiny, she demonstrates how her size does not stop her courage or represent her strength it’s about the confidence she has that she is willing to face challenges. Many people were inspired by her message because so many people were able to relate to her and saw her speaking for not just a particular group but all people of all ages and sizes. Her presence created many debates about her actual motives, and many argued that she was just part of a Marketing Plan and had no actual intention of representing a particular group of people. In the 21st century, we have seen the significant impact that social media has had on what we see going on around the world because of this, Fearless Girl has gained the attention and became one of the faces of Female Empowerment. She had become a tourist attraction, and many people lined up to get photos with her, making her a Cultural icon.
The Controversy
Due to all the publicity she was receiving, within a month, she started to get negative reactions. Many questioned the real motives of the State Street Global Advisors, and others called out the SSGA for hypocrisy as they have faced allegations of gender discrimination (CNN 2017). People disagreed that the image of a young girl should not be used to promote the ambition of a grown woman. The public was not the only one upset, the creator of the Charging Bull, Arturo Di Modica, also had a lot to say regarding Fearless Girl. During a press conference, he mentioned, “She’s there attacking the bull.” The Charging Bull arrived in New York City in 1989 it was inspired after the stock market crash and represented financial prosperity. He and his lawyers believed that Fearless Girl violated his rights as an artist and his copyright, and they argued that she should be removed. They suggested moving the Bull to another place but Di Modica strongly opposed.They threatened to sue, but nothing was ever finalized. This only furthered the negative publicity that she was facing, but more controversy started when the artist Kristen Visbal was called out by the SSGA because she was not respecting the terms of their contract and was accused of selling unauthorized replicas of Fearless Girl. They agreed to a settlement but the terms were never released to the public. All this eventually led to her removal from Bowling Green Park.
On top of all the negative publicity, Fearless Girl ran into another problem the city of New York found the area where she was a safety hazard because the statue gathered large crowds of people in a narrow space and found it unsafe. After all the controversy, they decided that the best decision was to remove her. The removal of Fearless Girl was already going to happen regardless of the negative backlash because her installation was always meant to be temporary. The impact she had globally inspired the city of New York, and she decided to find a permanent home. The mayor at the time said Bill de Blasio mentioned “We are proud to be the home to the Fearless girl. She is a powerful symbol for the need of change for the highest levels of corporate America- and she will durable part of our city’s civil life”. The goal of the city was to make sure that Fearless Girl kept spreading her message they wanted the move to keep challenging corporate America to embrace gender diversity. Even though the relocation changed the dynamic with the charging bull it reinforced her message that women belong in leadership roles. The hunt of a permanent home was over when the city decided to put her facing directly in front of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. After her removal from Bowling green park they left a plaque as well as some footprints to show where she once stood the plaque read ” Until SHE’s there, stand for her”. The relocation of Fearless Girl just furthered proved that there is still work needed to be done in order to reach real equality.
“Since Fearless Girl’s placement, more than 150 companies have now added a woman to their board. Our hope is that by moving closer to the NYSE she will inspire many more companies to take action”.
Cyrus Taraporevala (SSGA President and Executive Chief Officer)
Her legacy
Fearless Girl made such an impact around the world that her image was used in various movements and served as educational material. She had such a huge influence even outside of New York; she inspired movements taking place abroad, like in Australia, England, Norway, etc. Many believe that she has changed the game for Women in leadership roles. According to a study done in 2021 by McKinsey & Company, Women in leadership roles created a return on equity of 10.1% per year as opposed to teams that aren’t diverse, which only generated 7.4% this means that there is a 36.4% increase of return on equity. They also found no proof that having more females in leadership roles created dislike among the peers. This pushes Fearless Girl’s message its not only about equality but women are good for business. The women who work in a male dominated field find comfort in Fearless Girl because they struggle constantly with being underestimated simply for being a woman. Fearless Girl has become a symbol for these women, the image of a young girl who is determined to face any challenge that faces her way. Many say that she’s not just a statue she is the face of a movement and that her message is very clear.
“I am thrilled Fearless Girl will remain in New York, inspiring global collaboration between genders for better decisions and improved environment at every stratum of society.”
