> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # California Democrats Install “Fearless Girl” Knockoff on Headquarters’ Roof - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/california-democrats-install-fearless-girl-knockoff-on-headquarters-roof/ - Published: 2017-05-23T22:07:46.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:41:10.000Z - Description: Soon, defiant little girls cast in bronze will become the de facto symbol of gender discrimination the world over. - Author: Jillian Steinhauer - Tags: Opinion, Fearless Girl, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:23 (2016, 2017, part 2) > The West Coast Fearless Girl? Dems installs 'Persist' statue [https://t.co/jSVg4Pcd2I](https://t.co/jSVg4Pcd2I?ref=hyperallergic.com) [pic.twitter.com/OhJQHInhG7](https://t.co/OhJQHInhG7?ref=hyperallergic.com) > > — SFGate (@SFGate) [May 19, 2017](https://twitter.com/SFGate/status/865706053048049665?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) It was bad enough when a giant Wall Street firm planted a sculpture of a young girl as a [PR stunt for International Women’s Day](https://hyperallergic.com/the-sculpture-of-a-fearless-girl-on-wall-street-is-fake-corporate-feminism/), and everyone fawned over it. Now the California Democratic Party (CADEM) has emulated the trick by [placing its own version of “Fearless Girl”](http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-West-Coast-Fearless-Girl-The-California-11159876.php?ref=hyperallergic.com#photo-12936561) on the roof of its headquarters. Soon, defiant little girls cast in bronze will become the de facto symbol of gender discrimination the world over. When I first ranted about the “Fearless Girl” sculpture on Wall Street, I called it “the most conceivably non-threatening version of womankind.” Remarkably, CADEM has managed to offer an even *more* infantilized version of womanhood by casting a girl with a softer stance and pigtails. Made by artist [Julia Fernandez-Pol](https://www.juliafernandezpol.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), the sculpture is based on Democratic strategist Dana Williamson’s five-year-old daughter — who I’m sure is awesome and inspiring. But what is she doing on the roof of the CADEM headquarters? “Little girls need something to look up to,” Robin Swanson, a Democratic communications consultant, told the [*LA Times*](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-convention-persist-campaign-20170519-htmlstory.html?ref=hyperallergic.com). “They can literally look up at the statue of ‘persist’ and say ‘I can persist.’” Um … OK. But one of the beautiful things about art is that it doesn’t have to be *so painfully* literal. And one of the failures of both “Fearless Girl” and the CADEM sculpture, which is titled “Persist,” is that, rather than using literalism in a thoughtful way — by, say, honoring [path-breaking women in history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae%5FNolan?ref=hyperallergic.com) — they instead trade on a very superficial, feel-good symbolism. ![The "Fearless Girl" statue faces Arturo Di Modica's "Charging Bull" in Manhattan's Financial District. (photo by Jillian Steinhauer for Hyperallergic)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/04/charging-bull-fearless-girl-lede.jpg) The “Fearless Girl” statue faces Arturo Di Modica’s “Charging Bull” in Manhattan’s Financial District. (photo by Jillian Steinhauer/Hyperallergic) In the case of the former, even though State Street Global Advisors [disavowed any political statement](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/fearless-girl-reactions/523026/?ref=hyperallergic.com), the[ placement of the statue in front of Wall Street’s “Charging Bull”](https://hyperallergic.com/sculptor-of-wall-streets-charging-bull-demands-relocation-of-fearless-girl/) at least gives the girl some meaning (she’s staring down corporate-driven capitalism). In the case of the latter, it’s a genuine puzzle what obstacle she’s confronting (the reinforced roof? the polluted air? the California Democratic Party?). Never mind the issue, though — from structural inequality to rampant global misogyny, these heroic, nameless girls can face anything! I realize I sound jaded. I am. I believe that young girls have enormous potential (and the ones in the [CADEM “persist” campaign photo](https://twitter.com/yashar/status/865670053919961088/photo/1?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Fnews%2Farticle%2FThe-West-Coast-Fearless-Girl-The-California-11159876.php&ref=hyperallergic.com) look a lot more inspiring than the sculpture). But with corporate feminism so [in fashion](http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/ivanka-trump-wrote-a-painfully-oblivious-book-for-basically-no-one?ref=hyperallergic.com) and the conditions of women’s lives — especially those of [women of color](https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2012/07/17/11923/the-state-of-women-of-color-in-the-united-states/?ref=hyperallergic.com) — so deficient in this country, it’s on State Street Global Advisors and the [Democratic Party](http://combatblog.net/california-democrats-install-fearless-girl-statue-roof/?ref=hyperallergic.com) to prove they’re actually working to advance gender equality. Until then, I’ll remain skeptical of their symbols. > The California Democratic Party has commissioned their own version of the "Fearless Girl" statue and installed it on their roof. [pic.twitter.com/mbJFnbkhnQ](https://t.co/mbJFnbkhnQ?ref=hyperallergic.com) > > — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) [May 19, 2017](https://twitter.com/yashar/status/865670053919961088?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com)