Earlier this year New York City’s famous Wall Street Bull got a distinct modification just in time for International Women’s Day, when Boston area asset management firm, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), commissioned artist Kristen Visbal to design a statue of a defiant young ponytail-adorned girl (seen above with Girl Scout troop 3484 back in March) to stare down at the bull. The statue was intended to be a statement on the wage gap, as the firm noted that “one in four of the 3,000 largest traded US companies don’t have a single woman on their board.”
In what can probably be filed under “this is why we can’t have nice things,” however, over the holiday weekend another artist, sculptor Alex Gardega, erected his own statue in the form of a small dog next to the girl, lifting it’s leg to urinate on her. Eloquently titled “Pissing Pug,” Gardega claims that he created his statue in retaliation to what he refers to as “corporate nonsense,” telling the New York Post that the “Fearless Girl” statue “has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull.”
Gardega even elaborated that he made the dog “crappy” looking in an attempt to downgrade the statue, “exactly how the girl is a downgrade on the bull.” But people are decidedly not buying his explanation, and although the Pug statue was removed within a few hours of appearing on Monday — by Tuesday morning Twitter was full of outrage.
The intimidated male response to the Fearless Girl statue was to piss on it. How…original. pic.twitter.com/xTZStLlHoD
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) May 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/girlexmachina/status/869527125388279808
https://twitter.com/pajiba/status/869589993588748293
Who was the person who added the pissing dog to the Fearless Girl statue. I want to ask him why female strength scares him.
— Jordan🍉 (@LegitimateGeek) May 30, 2017
The peeing pug is pathetic, as a political statement & as "art." It actually proves the power of the Fearless Girl's persistence.#pisspoor
— MareMad☮️ (@jetpackmom) May 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/RedTRaccoon/status/869535537408954368
https://twitter.com/Nitmenbog1/status/869542565493837824
https://twitter.com/ErinRHazel/status/869559272064954370
sure, in a country unraveling under a crude wannabe despot, I can see how Fearless Girl is your biggest problem, guy https://t.co/NfX15FXcKA
— Nicole Chung | @nicolechung on Bluesky (@nicolesjchung) May 30, 2017
Just when I thought #malefragility was so 2016 🙄
— Profanity Jane 🌊 (@nevertrumptoo) May 30, 2017
Fearless Girl still courageously standing up to capitalism, urine be damned! Capitalism pisses on all of us.
— Stephen Sipila (@StephenSipila) May 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/sahluwal/status/869587349436375040
Some guy put a peeing dog next to the Fearless Girl statue – we assume he'll still win his congressional race anyway
— TrivWorks (@TrivWorks) May 30, 2017