The city of Lakeland, Florida, apologized after residents complained that its newest statue, inspired by A Christmas Story, is sexist.
The statue, by sculptor Joni Younkins-Herzog, depicts a single female leg, wearing heels, thigh-high tights, and a short skirt, and in a further reference to the classic Christmas movie, it’s called, “I’ll Shoot Your Eye Out.”
But a handful of residents took umbrage with the statue on the city’s Facebook page.
“I’ve never liked the objectifying of a womens [sic] body part,” one Facebook user posted under the name Natalie Joy. “I get it’s part of a classic movie but it’s still not by taste. Didn’t like it in the movie, do not like it in the middle of my city. Let me take a wild guess and say that the panel who picked this out was mostly men.”
Another user, posting under the name Paula Perkins Geiger, claimed that Lakeland was “promoting sex for our children” with the statue.
But overall, the response to the statue was overwhelmingly positive, both online and off.
News Channel 8 even went around asking people whether they saw the statue as tasteless—and had no luck finding someone offended. At most, people said they didn’t like the statue aesthetically.
Nevertheless, Lakeland’s director of communications said, “If people are offended by a leg, we really apologize.”
Younkins-Herzog, the sculptor, said the statue was intended as a feminist work. She said the proportions were based on Barbie’s, and the lampshade is a reference to some of her other artwork depicting the female form.
“It has more to do with being a woman in a predominantly masculine field,” she told Heat Street. “Feminist means female perspective as far as I am concerned. I take ownership of these stereotypical trappings of beauty, combined with the humorous context of the movie. It would not have happened if I had not enjoyed watching A Christmas Story as a kid.”
By deadline, the city’s director of communications did not respond to Heat Street’s request for comment. It’s unclear whether the city will continue to display the statue.
“Seems odd to me that people would be so offended,” Younkins-Herzog said. “The wife in the movie was offended based on context in the 70s. Our society and ads and tv are far more suggestive than a disembodied leg.”
