A statue of Shakespeare’s tragedy heroine Julia Capulet on Munich’s Marienplatz causes a stir – rather, her bosom. For many years, passers-by have been grasping the bronze statue’s right breast because they hope it will give them happiness in love. Harmless Superstition or Sexism? A question that the city wants to deal with more closely, as the pictureNewspaper reported on Tuesday.
The Munich cultural advisor Anton Biebl considers the practice to be “worth discussing” and announces an investigation. In 2022, the cultural department is planning an international symposium and three art projects – not only on the statue of Juliet, but on polluted monuments in general. It is also about topics such as nationalism, anti-democracy, militarism, colonialism, hegemonic images of masculinity or the underrepresentation of women and diversity, according to the call for entries for the art competition. The Juliet statue, a gift from the Italian city of Verona, is suggested as a location. It recalls the love between Romeo and Juliet that ended so tragically in William Shakespeare’s tragedy.
CSU parliamentary group leader Manuel Pretzl thinks the discussion is “gaga”
Since then, Julia’s chest has been patted so often that it shines golden. City councilor Marie Burneleit (Die Party) would like to see compensatory justice. She finds: Right next to it, a statue with body parts ascribed to the male gender is missing. “Rub me too” Burneleit calls her idea, “With a bronze penis or loincloth, perhaps, which women can happily rub against (in love)”. As early as 2018 there was a poster behind the figure with the words “#MeToo” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/ Thurner explained the action to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
But not everyone thinks the practice is problematic. SPD member of the Bundestag Florian Post said the picture-Zeitung: “Some of them are still doing too well. These are not people’s worries and needs.” And CSU parliamentary group leader Manuel Pretzl also considers the discussion about the bosom of the Munich statue to be superfluous: “That is completely absurd, completely superfluous and completely gaga,” he said picture-Newspaper.