Fearless Girl and Pissing Pug - Is it Really as it Seems?

I want to have a serious talk about the Fearless Girl Statue, and the (although very temporary) addition, Pissing Pug. 

To provide some context for those of you who are completely unfamiliar, Fearless Girl was installed in New York across the street from the famous Wall Street Charging Bull earlier this year, it quickly became a beloved symbol of female empowerment and the obstacles women face.

But that isn't the entire story. In short, Fearless Girl perverts the

meaning of the Charging Bull statue, which was created by immigrant Arturo Di Modica to symbolize "the strength and power of the American people", it cost him about $350 000 of his own money and has been on loan to the city of New York for nearly 30 years. She derives a lot of her power from her placement - just ask

yourself, would she be such a powerful statue if not placed in opposition to the Bull? - and her placement there turns the Bull into a symbol of aggressive masculinity (This is a very short summary of the good points made by Greg Fallis here, PLEASE give the entire thing a read).

And before you dismiss this like I have seen many people do, yes this is a problem. You would never condone somebody without authorization of the creator hanging paintings on the Denkmal Memorial in Berlin for the Jewish people killed in WWII, (and thereby modifying its meaning); you would never condone someone drawing over the Mona Lisa so it looks like there's an animal gnawing on her head, modifying the painting from "a mysterious woman" to an amusing image, 

So we really shouldn't be calling Alex Gardega, who created "The Pissing Pug" and placed it at Fearless Girl's feet "so sensitive". Gardega made Pissing Pug and placed it so it appeared it was urinating at Fearless Girls's feet to protest how Fearless Girl was a "downgrade" of Charging Bull, by using the same technique to "downgrade" Fearless Girl. 

Even though she has become a symbol of female power and the challenges women face, that doesn't make it okay to disrespect a

person's time, care, and work. Feminism inherently about equal respect and equal value - so why do you think it's okay to choose respect for the girl (who is actually an advertisement; more on this later) over a person? Why do you value the meaning of the girl over the bull? A symbol for "the strength and power of the American people" certainly includes women, too, if anything it represents women and other marginalized identities more. because these are the identities with many more hurdles to face, these are the identities that often cause and/or force people to have strength.

There's also a lot of outcry of "Misogyny!", "Anti-Women!" But, no, it's not misogynistic, because Fearless Girl was never a perfect symbol of female empowerment, she is in many ways a part of the systems used to oppress people, a symbol of False Feminism - a master's tool to dismantle the master's house if you will. She is an ad, for State Street Global Advisers, hoping to improve it's image. People critique Dove for co-opting self esteem and empowerment for profit in their advertising, Fearless Girl is just another iteration. It also doesn't get better when you look into what State Street does. Like other investment companies, they fund problematic industries - fossil fuels, weapons of war, none of which are good for women, and people in general. 

State Street wants more women in their ranks because according to

Maquiladora workers - mostly women

their marketing materials, more gender diversity = stronger financial performance and less corruption. It can be interpreted that Fearless Girl was commissioned to get more women to come aboard and advance capitalism - a problematic system in itself  in the way it uses women, from objectification in the advertising industry, to destroying the environment and hastening Climate Change to the disproportionate expense of women's health, particularly in the Global South (See the maquiladoras (factories) of Mexico and How Climate Change is Sexist; How Climate Change is a Feminist Issue). 

(Sidenote: This is not to devalue what Fearless Girl means to individuals, as a work of art, she is inherently subject to wide varieties of interpretation, but just as I acknowledge her value to individuals here, individuals need to acknowledge the problematic reasons she was commissioned, instead of just assuming she is valuable because she is valuable to them. )

Left-leaning media are being very dismissive of Gardega's protest, and this is very problematic. This kind of dismissive, contemptuous attitude, with responses full of jargon that you know non-left leaners, or the less educated might very well not understand, is what is creating the current rift between ideologies in the USA (and to some extent in Canada). In all honesty, I feel the right has become very quick to dismiss concerns as "too sensitive" without actually giving the issue fair consideration, but perhaps the left is retaliating by dismissing things too quickly as sexist, racist, ableist, classist, or some other -ist word that describes discriminatory action. The problem is, how are you EVER going to get people to listen, and even potentially persuade them to agree with you if all you do is accuse instead of explaining, talk at instead of talk with?

Look. I'm guilty of it too, I like to poke fun at masculinity and I'll use it to explain certain behaviours (though often it's in jest) but it is unfair to simply say xx action was because z person is misogynistic without critical analysis. Was misogyny a factor in Gardega's decision? Perhaps. But you can't automatically dismiss that as the only reason, without really looking at his side. 

Image of the Stonewall Protests

Sure his actions weren't nice, but people weren't listening. The Stonewall protests weren't necessarily nice but they are praised for making people listen and understand that the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community needed to change. When voices aren't being heard, people protest, and it's kind of hypocritical to condemn this protest, which did have good intentions (it would be a different story if it didn't) while praising others.  

I've never seen the bull, I don't know how clear it is to passerby's that it's a symbol of the power of the US people (Is there a plaque or something that explains this?) but what I do know is that I oppose attempts at advancement or empowerment if it's at the expense of someone else or another social cause. 

This argument did, and I'm sure it will appear again, in that it can be said that there is misogyny behind not wanting Fearless Girl (and thus women) to take up space, but at the end of the day this isn't an either-or issue.There are other ways to create symbols of empowerment, in fact, a simple change in the placement of the statues could maintain Fearless Girl's power without bastardizing the meaning of the bull.What if we moved Fearless Girl and put her beside Charging Bull? Standing next to a charging bull is still courageous, and it also sends a message of solidarity between women and immigrants (not that these are mutually exclusive), it would represent women, girls, and the American people bravely facing the world, the ups, the downs, whatever ugliness is thrown at them, together, which is a wonderful message, indeed. 

Are You Happy Now Trump?

You, Mr. Trump are killing people. And yes the onus is on you because of everything you stand for, all the atrocious, dehumanizing. scapegoating that you both exhibit and condone. You are making the world HATE again. Violence and hate breed violence and hate and what happened on Sunday, January 29th in Quebec City is just the example to prove this to you. 

There was a shooting in a Mosque during evening prayers. Six people are dead, and at least 18 others were injured, physically that is. You, Trump cannot even begin to understand the pain of no longer feeling safe within yourself, that your body, your identity, the very things that make you who you are, are a betrayal to your wellbeing. You have shown zero capacity to feel empathy but try, just for a minute to understand what it might feel like to no longer feel like your home of forty-two years accepts you, protects you. 

I felt all of these things (albeit with fewer years under my belt than the man in the video above) when you were elected. As a non-white female, I felt many of my rights being deeply threatened even living here in Canada. 

What transpired Sunday is yet another reminder of just how right I was to be afraid. 

Because "This is Canada!" I thought as my mind raced trying to process the news when I found out yesterday. "We believe in diversity, only select few can get access to guns. How could this happen, and how could this happen here?"

But I can tell you why, because of the ignorant, arrogant, hatred spewing from your mouth and the mouths of people like you.

Try for a moment to get into that kind of mindset. The person or people (the police are still investigating) responsible must have held so much disdain, and hatred within themselves, they must have been so filled with the belief that Muslims are sub-human to go through all the hoops to acquire a gun and then walk in on innocent unarmed people and Shoot. Them. Up. 

Nobody deserves to die because of what they believe, this is a foundational characteristic of the United States as a Country. To not allow this to apply to anything but ALL groups is hypocritical and disgusting. 

Let me make this very clear, because far too few understand this. Daesh (ISIS) was pleased when you were elected because your thoughtless, ignorant, alienation of an entire group of people is what radicalizes them. THIS is where the home-grown terrorists are bred, at at least five of the Paris Attack Perpetrators were French Citizens, they turned to terror because they were mistreated, as your attempt at an immigration ban is doing. They turned to terror because it was the only thing that would accept them for who they were. 

It was the only thing that would protect them, stand up for them, the only thing they had.

That is the sad, stark reality that you have helped craft. 

As described in this article, your racism and xenophobia legitimizes Daesh's campaign against you because you embody the wrongness that has infiltrated and brainwashed significant sections of the US public. It "'proves the US is at war with Islam". You are physically forcing people into the clutches of terrorist groups with this travel ban.

Can I really blame you, though, you ask, many of these people must have already felt this way somewhere deep down. Yes, I can, because even though it isn't, you have made this okay. 

To paraphrase Malala Yousafzai, a wise inspiring female Muslim, (neither of which you are very respectful of) the solution to terrorism is education, not discrimination. Hatred and destruction, inflicting pain on a group for the actions of a few, is not the way. When you do that, you are no better than a terrorist, because you incite violence and chaos, like what happened in Quebec on Sunday. You spark terrorism and that will only fuel a larger, more destructive fire.

We need to teach people to accept differences and look for similarities, to understand we're all in this together on this little blue dot. Teach people, young men especially, that violence is not the way. That is how you fight fire, not with fire, but peace.

The Solitude of Humanity and Memory

One of my photos of Auschwitz II (Birkenau)

A bit of a departure from this is an article/reflection I wrote about a trip I partook in during March 2016 that had "elements of the Holocaust interspersed here and there" to quote a line from the article. This is "The Solitude of Humanity and Memory" 

What is humanity, and where did it go during the Holocaust? It was questions like this that one couldn’t help but ask walking in places that will forever be scarred by their pasts. This past March I was among a group of thirty-one students and four teachers that went on a trip of a lifetime to Germany, to the Czech Republic, to Poland. And to Dachau, to Plaszow, and to Auschwitz.

Everything you experience  molds you; afterward there are always ghosts in your heart, memories that you take with you., but this trip held within its core an undercurrent of a more powerful weight, something fundamental to take back and hold onto.

We had the time of our lives. The awesome chance to explore Europe and the deeper meaning from being in places where, to quote the teacher-librarian at my high school "some of the most profound moments in history happened", worked together better than most may think. The trip was like a flower, the elements of the Holocaust interspersed here and there brought more petals and a profundity; it was a rose rather than a daisy, still beautiful, perhaps even more so.

A shot of Munich's City Hall

We started off in Munich, admiring the ice cream sweater worn by our tour leader, Daniel, while falling in love, through the jet lag, with this absolutely beautiful city. We sat in the very beer hall Hitler delivered his first speech, learned about the perversion that was brought upon the soul of the city, and the resistance from the very start in the way people went through 'Dodgers Alley' to avoid having to salute the Nazis. We learned about the way Munich has rebounded, how today at its heart is trust and kindness.  

We went to Dachau and came face to face with the chilling reminder of just what people are capable of, the industrialization of horror.

Then it was off to Prague. We were wowed by
the beauty of the city of one hundred spires perched high up in Prague Castle, and enchanted by the well-preserved medieval flair of this city untouched by World War II. Wandering the maze-like streets that are full of surprises, we felt the art at the center of this city's soul nourish ours (along with some great Czech treats).

A shot I took of Prague

Next, it was time for Poland. First came Krakow, another city undamaged by the war. We shopped in the beautiful markets, ate some of the best food of the trip (pierogies right from the source, anyone?) and were swept away by the legend of Krakow’s Dragon which has turned dragons into a sort of mascot for the city. We visited Kazmierez the old Jewish quarter and saw some of the places Schindler's List was filmed, learning that it's not uncommon for people to be unaware of their Jewish heritage because of the war.

A student looking up at a Memorial at Plaszow

We went to Plaszow, a "forgotten" camp, that has only a few monuments and signs to memorialize what happened there and came face to face with the deep-seated sense that peace can be brought back to a place that was once without it.

We went to Auschwitz and felt the ghosts of what happened there make the place come alive. Faced with the reality of what had occurred and how severe the situation became, life takes on a surreal quality and one couldn't help but wonder HOW? How does one move on from this? How did the world do it?

The Entrance to Auschwitz

With hearts still full of these new questions, we went to Warsaw. From the raised ground due to rebuilding on top of rubble, to the numerous monuments, honouring outstanding groups as well as people, there will always be echoes of the war in this city.

A picture I took of Warsaw's Old Town

We got a taste of life in Poland buying everything from clothes to chocolate in a huge Polish mall.  We learned about Janusz Korczak, who ran an orphanage and refused to abandon the children when they were deported, even though he was offered freedom.

Finally, we went to Berlin. We saw the ghosts of Nazi times in some of the city’s planning and looked the past in the eye standing before an original building the Nazis used. In a city once divided, we thought of all there is to bring everyone together walking among the different monuments there. We got some of the best chocolate one could ask for at the famous “Fassbender & Rausch” and were enchanted by “Ampelman” the iconic stop/walk duo of the city while we made friends with Buddy Bear, the bear statues all over the city.

We found out about the turmoil World War II

A section of the Berlin Wall

brought to the German identity and the comfort in and pride of the transparency, of having owned up to it. Standing before the Berlin Wall, we saw the manifestation of the ways people are divided, the ways we still are, to some extent, and the slow process of healing and mending those rifts among us.

***

"They suffered together, they died together, they survived together, but still, they refuse to be together" Daniel, our tour leader expressed his frustration over the way there were no memorials at Dachau for everyone, that they were separated by group.

This really made me wonder WHY? Have we not learned? Was going through something that terrible not enough to make us want to show a united front, solidarity? Why was the biggest construction there a cross, why was the Jewish monument to the side, how was there a hierarchy in how we are allowed to mourn those who were lost?

The Jewish Memorial At Dachau

Maybe it has something to do with, as my group’s teacher-supervisor said, “the solitude of humanity and memory”.

I've come to realize that as people... we want to feel special, and we want to be able to have things that are ours alone, FOR us. But the solitude of humanity is that in our search for special, for ours, we forget the things that are fundamentally the same, and that IS humanity. And WHEN there is solitude in humanity, that is a dangerous, dangerous thing.

Looking back, in some ways separate monuments makes a lot of sense. Memory is a solitary thing, because no two people experience the same. And the Holocaust was a lonely experience, those going through it probably never felt more alone in their lives, despite being surrounded by people.

The Denkmal Memorial

Like the sense the Denkmal (the Jewish) Memorial in Berlin seems to try to recreate, it must have felt like you were the only one that exists, that you were suddenly swallowed by shadows, walls put up by all the ways others tried to control you, define you. The reminder that you aren't alone helped you through, it might even be what got you through, but in the end you made it out, alone.

So perhaps the separate memorials are an unconscious nod to that loneliness but, don't we want to show that that’s no longer the case and we are no longer alone?

It is so, so important to recognize and celebrate differences, but perhaps ''never again'' keeps happening again because we don't use our solitary memory to create a more whole humanity.

We climbed towers, fought dragons and made friends for life. And now that we're back we're bringing with us more than just chocolate and teddy bears. Walking in the footsteps of who I used to be, I look at things with a new perspective, with a more in-depth understanding of life and a deep set knowledge that time passes, and the world moves on, but We. Will never. Forget. In the end, that is all we can offer, our memory, in whatever solitary form it comes, and in the wake of horror that seems to transcend reality, in many ways it is nothing, but it is also everything.

7 Years - For Andrea Christidis

A friend of mine was a relative of hers and this story is just so sad I felt the need to create a tribute to her so I rewrote Lukas Graham's 7 Years to reflect her story, from the point of view of somebody close to her. This is for six months to the day she succumbed to her injuries and died. 

If you are unfamiliar with Andrea Christidis' Story, this is a lovely article and touching tribute Andrea Christidis, a life cut short.

To the girl, young woman, really, I could have known but didn't, who was taken from us far too soon so I will never have the chance.

7 Years - For Andrea Christidis

Once she was 7 years old,

Oh such a sweet soul a

Light for all her friends,

and all her family.

Once she was 7 years old

It was a big big world,

But her smile was bigger.

So infectious it

Filled everybody with her.

Perfect addition to her family,

Oh so good and loving.

They knew that she was destined

To do greater things.  

Then she was 11 years old,

With a heart of gold she

Was already so promising.

Once she was 11 years old.

So very full of life,

Seemed like nothing could stop her.

Oh she dreamed of London,

and the world of Harry Potter.

Wanted to be a doctor.

Really loved adventure.

And no one dreamed this tragedy 

could have occurred.

She’ll never be twenty years old,

A drunk driver stole her

Away from all her friends,

And all her family.

She’ll never be twenty years old

She had so much to live for,

Destined for glory.

Loved math and science,

But not her hair all curly.

Oh she felt insecure,

Like any other girl.

A million times I’d call her perfect,

Oh she meant the world.

She’ll never be 20 years old,

But her story will be told,

Hoping there won’t be more of these tragedies.

But she’ll still never be 20 years old.

Soon I’ll be 30 years old,

But I don’t feel quite whole.

How do I face my life without her?

Because she’ll never be 30 years old.

You would have been almost 19,

Ready to go onto 20.

Off to see bigger things,

walking those London streets.

But on October ninth when

A stupid choice took your life.

Oh it’s just so damn unfair,

and it still cuts like a knife.

One day I’ll be 60 years old,

And I feel so cold,

Thinking of all those years without her.

She’ll never be 60 years old.

Once she was 7 years old,

She had such a pretty soul.

A light for all her friends,

and all her family.

Once she was seven years old.  

To her friends and family: Keep fighting because you, are worth it

Hugs.

- Maggie

Strong Female Role Models? I Think what We Really Mean is Tough (Part II)

So I'm way late with this but here you go: the 2nd of two posts I've done on this topic. Read part one here

Note: I also use gender binaries such as women/men and male/female in this post for simplicity's sake, but I understand and recognize there are many more gender expressions and identities out there. 

The other big pitfall I've identified is that it goes along with the narrative that undermines women and our experiences over the centuries.

Because when we want more "strong female role models" that implies that there weren't very many to start with. And I know it must seem that way, but I think there have been examples of women exhibiting exceptional strength all along and we just don't identify that as "strong".

Part of the problem lies in our very conception of the word "strong". As of now, the word evokes images of extreme muscles, a large size, outward displays of power, loudness and we tend to think sort of thing is all there is to the word "strong". 

Women through the ages have more often shown a different kind of strong, not the overbearing, loud, dominating strength of size and power, but the silent strength of endurance. Of being treated like crap and being able to continue, of pushing through pain and surviving. 

Isn't THAT incredibly strong? 

Throughout history women have endured mistreatment, abuse, and/or violations to human dignity--does it not take monumental strength to make it through that?

Women have waited patiently and faithfully for months years, even decades for men to come home, (I'm talking about the past of widow's walks) doesn't keeping up that level of commitment, self control and hope not take strength? 

Wouldn't you agree that the world has let down women far more than men? Doesn't it require strength to be able to take disappointment? Doesn't accepting it and rising above it in order to try again require strength? Doesn't having your hopes crushed time and time again and still choosing to fight require strength?

Women have been strong all along. We just don't acknowledge this form of strength AS strength. 

So really what we're doing is undermining different forms of strength. 

We need more representation of female characters that are there for more than sex appeal (not because sex appeal is bad, but because it is not all that is valuable about a female), we need female characters that don't submit if they disagree, women that solve problems, women that are listened to and respected. 

But we need to be careful to not conflate better, more diverse representation with old systems so all that happens is a continuation of the problem. 

Samantha Wright, the weightlifter in question

The other side of this is that traits traditionally associated with women are often seen as negative/used to demean what a woman does. For example, a female weightlifter wrote a piece about being called "the cutest weightlifter" and it does bring up important points about how the value of women is underscored and our work is often not taken to be as important as our looks. 

Absolutely in Samantha Wright's case "cute" devalues her and what she does. So can we stop using it that way? 

Because why does "cute" have mean you're not being taken seriously? Why can't someone be cute and be taken seriously? In my view, so long as we give the most importance to the person's capabilities, it's okay to be a bit more superficial.

A message I seem to see a lot is that "cute" and "respected" or "taken seriously cannot go hand in hand. Well maybe they should start dating. Maybe we as a culture need to stop making those two things mutually exclusive, stop forcing people to choose between what might very well be two parts of themselves. 

I personally love being cute and because of the situation, I know I can take it as a compliment, but when I want to be serious, I want to be respected. And it is NOT right to tell me or other people that there must be a choice.

Once again you are getting reinforcements of the need to be tough, this kind of thinking drives the idea that toughness needs to be displayed for respect. 

The other thing I'm getting at here is that we need to stop associating traditional feminine things with "weak" or "bad". Weakness in itself is not bad, it's part of being human. What's bad is not being able to overcome weakness. But that doesn't make a person any lesser, everyone develops the ability at different rates. 

This is honestly probably half the reason why women are not valued as much as we should be: because femininity is not valued. But where does that leave people on whom gender roles fit and fit well? 

We need to change the conversation and show everyone can bring strengths to the table. 

And when we get there, everyone will benefit. 

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