Feminists: Remove WWII Sailor Statue Because It’s ‘Sexual Assault’

py2006 · 11-10-2014 05:58PM #1

We've all seen the infamous photo taken of a sailor kissing a woman celebrating VJ Day in 1945 in New York. Now a certain group of feminists want a statue depicting this iconic photo removed as it is a 'disgusting depiction of sexual assault in progress'.

Feminists are demanding that a statue based on a famous end–of–World War II photo of a sailor kissing a woman be removed from Normandy — because it’s actually a sexual-assault statue.

The statue, placed near Pegasus Bridge in Northern France to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, depicts a sailor kissing a woman to celebrate V-J Day in New York City on August 14, 1945.

But the French feminist group Osez Le Féminisme has claimed that what the statue actually portrays is the sexual assault of a woman who did not give verbal consent before being kissed, and the group is petitioning to have it removed immediately.

Alfred Eisenstaedt, who took the original photograph, has said that George Mendonsa, the sailor depicted in the image, had been haphazardly kissing any woman who came close to him, without taking the time to explicitly ask for verbal consent.

Osez Le Féminisme maintains that the statue is clearly nothing more than the disgusting depiction of a sexual assault in progress.

“The sailor could have laughed with these women, hugged them, asked them if he could kiss them with joy,” the group told The Times of London.

“No, he chose to grab them with a firm hand to kiss them,” they continued. “It was an assault.”

The identity of the woman in the photograph has been disputed.

According to museum director Stéphane Grimaldi, the woman is a nurse named Edith Shain, who stated she had not been assaulted in any way.

The feminist group, however, said that the woman is actually an Austrian named Greta Zimmer Friedman.

Friedman has been quoted as saying: “I wasn’t kissing him. He was kissing me.” But she sharply rejected the assault claim after a 2012 blog post picked up on that quote to say the photo was an example of “The Selective Blindness of Rape Culture.”

“I can’t think of anybody who considered that as an assault,” Friedman told Navy Times, adding that she and Mendonsa — who were strangers at the time — stayed in touch over the years. “It was a happy event.”

Source (There is more on it here, however, while the page itself is fine the website contains content NSFW.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Na5f3wxAI

What are you thoughts on this? Was the original event a sexual assault or an innocent celebration? This is the original photo and here is the statue

Donkey Oaty · 11-10-2014 06:12PM

It should be immediately replaced by a statue of Germaine Greer pointing an accusing finger at any potential rapist (i.e. man) who happens to be passing by.

caolfx · 11-10-2014 06:13PM

That really confirmed what the people had said in the office. Suddenly, I was grabbed by a sailor. It wasn't that much of a kiss. It was more of a jubilant act that he didn't have to go back. I found out later he was so happy that he didn't have to go back to the Pacific where they had already been through the war. The reason he grabbed somebody dressed like a nurse, that he felt so very grateful to the nurses who took care of the wounded.

So, just f*ck off and stop looking for things to be offended about.

wretcheddomain · 11-10-2014 06:14PM

It's up to the lady in the photograph to decide the matter of consent, after all, non-verbal communication also expresses consent. We can't look back retrospectively to ascribe crimes based off photographs. Each photograph, after all, has a context and circumstances, and these too must be taken into account before any finger-pointing can ensue.

Fr_Dougal · 11-10-2014 06:17PM

Extreme feminists =/= all feminists.

Just a bunch of nut jobs looking for attention.

The Backwards Man · 11-10-2014 06:17PM

National Review?

Isn't that the magazine that makes the Daily Mail look like the Brussels Journal?

tritium · 11-10-2014 06:17PM

Just a bunch of crazy people looking for attention. Ignore them and they'll (hopefully) go away

wretcheddomain · 11-10-2014 06:19PM

tritium wrote: »

Just a bunch of crazy people looking for attention. Ignore them and they'll (hopefully) go away

This thread is a testament to the fact they got the attention - looks like they've had a success of sorts in that regard.

Gatling · 11-10-2014 06:24PM

Lunacy seriously lunacy

Pwindedd · 11-10-2014 06:26PM

I'm not sure this is what Mrs Pankhurst had in mind! She must be spinning in her grave.

Buona Fortuna · 11-10-2014 06:27PM

My local town put up a statue to John King http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_King_%28Medal_of_Honor%29.

When it was being put up it was covered with cling film until the local big knob did the necessary.

My sister in law, heavily pregnant at the time, nearly crashed her car she said "It looks like a postman with an erection".

AnonoBoy · 11-10-2014 06:39PM

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

My sister in law, heavily pregnant at the time, nearly crashed her car she said "It looks like a postman with an erection".

I used to live in Wales and campaigned for a postman with an erection statue for years in the town where I lived.

They never went for it but that just shows the lack of cultural foresight in the town of Postiehardon.

Precious flower · 11-10-2014 07:31PM

If the woman in the photograph has declared it was not sexual assault then what's the problem? It seems like such a silly thing to get irate over. These women aren't feminists, they are extremists.

dodderangler · 11-10-2014 07:32PM

So they've a statue of a bloke kissing a girl to celebrate VJ Day.
What statue they going to erect for BJ day.

Shakespeare's Sister · 11-10-2014 07:35PM

Or VD day.

Bipolar Joe · 11-10-2014 07:36PM

TheZohan wrote: »

Extreme feminists =/= all feminists.

No one said this was the case.

Yurt2 · 11-10-2014 07:37PM

Precious flower wrote: »

These women aren't feminists

Oh yes they are.

SeanW · 11-10-2014 07:38PM

TheZohan wrote: »

Extreme feminists =/= all feminists.

Just a bunch of nut jobs looking for attention.

If this was Sweden the statue would probably already be gone.

the_monkey · 11-10-2014 07:42PM

Ah ffs !!
I hate feminism , it's nothing to do with equality , it's pure hatred of men and hang ups ..

Jimmy Garlic · 11-10-2014 07:42PM

Precious flower wrote: »

If the woman in the photograph has declared it was not sexual assault then what's the problem? It seems like such a silly thing to get irate over. These women aren't feminists, they are extremists.

They are extreme anti-men feminists who work extremely hard to socially engineer society to fit in with their twisted world view. Far from a small minority, the extreme man hating element within the feminist movement is quite large.

Shakespeare's Sister · 11-10-2014 07:46PM

the_monkey wrote: »

Ah ffs !!
I hate feminism , it's nothing to do with equality , it's pure hatred of men and hang ups ..

Depends on what's being addressed. I think a lot of feminism is ridiculous too and hostile to men, but I wouldn't like a world where ANY concern about women in the western world, no matter how legitimate, were just dismissed as the crackpot side of feminism.
We're still daughters, wives, girlfriends, mothers, sisters, nieces, friends of guys, grandmothers, aunts... there's nothing wrong with concern about when we do experience negativity due to our gender, so I wouldn't agree with eradicating every strand of feminism, but much of it, like this crap, should **** off for sure.

Riddle101 · 11-10-2014 08:04PM

It was a harmless kiss for f*ck sake, that's all. These feminists give feminism a bad name I tell. Probably why some people don't take feminism seriously.

ScouseMouse · 11-10-2014 08:08PM

When you look at stupid campaigns like this, you wonder are they all frigid lesbians who are just jealous.

Dont like my opinion? It makes more sense than theirs :pac:

Stillweak · 11-10-2014 08:10PM

I'm pretty sure, That photo was actually staged. The kiss happened and the photographer saw it so asked them to do it again.
So if I'm correct, the girl was complicit.

Laois6556 · 11-10-2014 08:10PM

Oh oh, the masculinists are up in arms!

Gatling · 11-10-2014 08:13PM

Somebody should remain these loons it was soldiers and sailors like the very one in the iconic photo , fought for there very freedom over the last 200 years that allows them today to make such idiotic statements

Frank Lee Midere · 11-10-2014 08:13PM

I hope the French State won't flee before this modern feminist panzer division.

TheBeardedLady · 11-10-2014 08:15PM

Oh god. Here we go a bleedin' gain. Pass me the wine!

Precious flower · 11-10-2014 08:23PM

Yurt! wrote: »

Oh yes they are.

Oh no they're not. They might call themselves that, but all they are are extremists.

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

They are extreme anti-men feminists who work extremely hard to socially engineer society to fit in with their twisted world view. Far from a small minority, the extreme man hating element within the feminist movement is quite large.

What I am against is the notion some men and women have that the word feminist equals anti-men. In the mind of some feminists it might, but I don't believe they have the right to call themselves feminist. I'm a feminist in that I believe that all women AND men regardless of race, religion, class, ethnicity etc. should be treated equally, while also believing that some women in society are at a greater disadvantage in certain circumstances due to their gender and the fact that that needs to be addressed.

Buona Fortuna · 11-10-2014 08:25PM

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

Depends on what's being addressed. I think a lot of feminism is ridiculous too and hostile to men, but I wouldn't like a world where ANY concern about women in the western world, no matter how legitimate, were just dismissed as the crackpot side of feminism.
We're still daughters, wives, girlfriends, mothers, sisters, nieces, friends of guys, grandmothers, aunts... there's nothing wrong with concern about when we do experience negativity due to our gender, so I wouldn't agree with eradicating every strand of feminism, but much of it, like this crap, should **** off for sure.

Yes

The absolute tragedy of this, is that this stupid case detracts from absolute deperate cases that there are around the world:

Egypt - women assaulted and worse in Tahir Sq
India - Rapes going largely univestigated
India - Where widows have to leave their homes and go into some quasi religious purdour
Pakistan - Gang rapes ordered by village elders.

Glad I got that off my chest, I'll go and have another glass of wine

Shakespeare's Sister · 11-10-2014 08:30PM

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

Egypt - women assaulted and worse in Tahir Sq
India - Rapes going largely univestigated
India - Where widows have to leave their homes and go into some quasi religious purdour
Pakistan - Gang rapes ordered by village elders.

They were probably false allegations.

(Sadly, it's fashionable to have this little trust in women now).

Prepare too to be called a white knight.

Feminists: Remove WWII Sailor Statue Because It’s ‘Sexual Assault’

Comments