Some people don’t like the heat.
A giant, iconic statue of Marilyn Monroe in a flying dress is being pushed out of its prime location in Palm Springs after locals called it “sexist” and complained that children could see her underwear.
The sexy 26-foot-tall statue, depicting the gorgeous blonde from a scene in the 1955 film “The Seven Year Itch,” stood next to a downtown park, with its buttocks facing the entrance to the Palm Springs Art Museum for three years.
The 17-ton sculpture by Seward Johnson, titled “Forever Marilyn,” will be moved to a less conspicuous location within the 1.5-acre parkland. The Los Angeles Times reported. Tuesday.
“The City Council is very pleased to have been able to find a satisfactory solution to this issue that has divided many in our community,” Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein told the paper.
The exact location within the park has yet to be determined, he said.
The $1 million tourist attraction, depicting Monroe’s white dress being blown away by a Manhattan subway grate, was first removed from the city in 2014 before being reinstated in 2021, sparking an uproar. Litigation.
Local residents had complained that the statue was anti-feminist, gave children an overly sexy view and caused parking problems.
The museum’s former director, Luis Grachos, previously said the artwork objectified the late actress and sex symbol, who died of a barbiturate overdose in 1962.
“The first thing you see when you walk out of the museum is a 26-foot-tall statue of Marilyn Monroe with her entire buttocks and underwear exposed,” he said.
He told the city council in 2021 that school children taking field trips to the historic institution would be forced to see the star’s white panties.
“What message does displaying a statue which objectifies women, is sexualised and disrespectful send to young people, visitors and the local community?” he said, according to reports at the time.
The museum’s former director, Elizabeth Armstrong, also denounced the statue, saying it was a “monument to misogyny” and encouraged “upskirt photography”, the practice of taking photos up women’s dresses.
“At a time when sexual violence is on the rise and women continue to be demonised around the world, this work is a relic of sexist and patriarchal attitudes and a throwback to the past,” she said in 2021.
When the sculpture was installed later that year, protesters showed up, waving signs that read, “This isn’t nostalgia, this is misogyny.”
a change.org petition He called on local residents to “Stop Palm Springs’ misogynistic #MeTooMarilyn statue.”
“If it must be put on display, it should be moved to the Cabazon neighborhood with its concrete dinosaurs and left to exist as the ugly roadside landmark it is meant to be,” Los Angeles artist Nathan Coutts fumed in 2021.
A group known as the “Marilyn Relocation Committee” sued the city later that year, claiming the sculpture “blocked important views” and “occupied a taxpayer-funded street.”
But Scott White, president and CEO, Visit Greater Palm SpringsTourists love visiting the statue and taking selfies with it.
“It was immediately embraced by visitors,” he said. The New York Times. “She’s been a huge success.”
The sculpture was purchased for $1 million in 2021 by PS Resorts, a hotel board that promotes tourism.
