Marilyn Monroe died nearly sixty years ago, but she was so beautiful and talented that she’s still a household name today. If you look at, say, Monroe’s contemporary Jayne Mansfield, she’s not nearly as well-known today as Marilyn. There was something special about her that only a handful of celebrities from her era had and that gave her a sort of cultural immortality.
The city of Palm Springs has honored the actress by erecting a 26-foot high statue of the actress in what is perhaps her most iconic look, the subway grate scene from The Seven Year Itch.
I’ll bet that’s a lot more tame than you remember it in your mind.
The statue, called “Forever Marilyn” and created by John Seward Johnson II, was previously displayed in the city for a few years but is now returning for good. But NPR reports that some Palm Springs residents have got their panties in a twist over the statue’s panties.
“The thought of those kids leaving our museum and having the first thing they see is the undergarments and underwear of this enormous Marilyn sculpture would be highly offensive,” [director of the Palm Springs Art Museum Louis] Grachos told the council.
Prudes weren’t the only people offended, I’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear that feminists also found a reason to be angry.
“She’s literally going to be mooning the museum,” says Elizabeth Armstrong, a spokesperson for a Change.org petition objecting to Marilyn’s objectification. It has more than 40,000 signatures. Armstrong is also a former director of the Palm Springs Art Museum.
“It’s blatantly sexist,” says Armstrong. “It forces people almost to upskirt.”
It’s a statue, though. It’s okay to look up its skirt because it’s not a person, which you can tell by the way it’s 26 feet tall and made of aluminum.
Still, the statue’s new owner, hotelier Aftab Dada, thinks the statue will be an attraction that will bring tourism to the town. He’s probably not wrong, people like big things, especially when they’re sexy ladies’ asses like #KKW ‘s bubble butt.
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