https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-11/tayla-harris-kick-statue-unveiled-at-melbourne-federation-square/11500038
(https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/11501186-3x2-700x467.jpg)
Love it
Brilliant.
Mark LoGiudice summed it up very well:
To me it also symbolises the strong stand she took against the farkwits who tried to demean her athleticism and ability with gross sexual comments. She even forced the lily-livered AFL to back her stance after they initially ran a mile.
Even today, empty heads were calling the ABC to complain that she doesn’t deserve a statue - grow a brain and get a life ????
I'm not completely over the top of this but from a distance I suspect the 'bold' is more the reason for the statue rather than Tayla's ability, which although quite outstanding across a few sports, is by no means greater than many other female athletes.
The statue represents a great technique but it's more a 'symbol' standing against some of the archaic ideas of a neanderthal minority.
The concern of course is 'once a caveman always a caveman' so (sadly) hopefully the CCTV around the monument is up to the task.
It is a black glove (or 2) covering a black fist (or 2) hoisted high in the air.
Sure those athletes are deserving of recognition of the moment and their career, but it is dwarfed by the greater meaning of the incident.
Yes, Tayla's reaction to the little pricks was surely deserving of a statue in the long term.
Although I would suggest it's a bit soon, maybe after her career would have been more suitable, doing it now just makes her a bigger target for some coward!
Disagree - with this type of stuff, you need to call it out quick smart and turn it back on the perps of such things - they're the ones that'll look foolish now more than ever.
Ive seen a lot of backlash regarding this image.
The usual what has she done, played 22 games of a sport blah blah blah.
Someone like Nova Perris is more worthy rah rah rah.
I wrote this response to a facebook post about it:
For those who think this isnt worthy of a statue, think again. This image is a symbol that transcends sport. It represents the method of standing up to online bullying and doing so with grace. It is a beacon of hope to budding young female athletes. This is not about displaying football. Or women in football. It's about celebrating a female who stood up for herself in an appropriate way, challenging ideals, inspiring people to be better and setting better standards for our society. Yes, any other female athlete would have been worthy of a statue but few would resonate with the internet generation like this one when you consider the controversy that followed this photo of this kick.
I'm a little bit hmmm about the location more than the actual statue (which I think is fantastic).
I'd have thought that located either around Princes Park, or with other statues of sporting greats in the MCG precinct would have been more appropriate. Although maybe the decision to locate it here was a deliberate one to sort of take it a step away from the pure sporting angle & move it into a social comment area. Still don't know if that works for me.
Maybe this is not intended to be the final location.
While I agree I think her strong reaction and the overt public support was enough short term.
The statue might just give her haters some extra fuel, or even push the more radical haters towards more extreme measures. I think in this regard we can't just think about redressing the issue with the offenders, we have to think about how it can potentially affect Tayla. Just because she is iconic relating to this issue, doesn't mean she is impervious or superhuman! It's not at all a given that the haters will all shrink in the public spotlight, some of them may well be genuine misogynists or homophobes!
From another angle, one might even say the artist has been a little bit opportunistic, given I believe it wasn't even initially commissioned. Thankfully it's not a yellow peril but I'd hate it to end up the same way without public support for a home, it could well do so though and that would leave Tayla in line for further derision!
I don't know where it should be housed long term. Our city put that stupid Girl and Bull rubbish up under sponsorship in a prime location, something which is a utter fantasy constructed for commercial purposes! At least Tayla and her history is real, not imaginary!
PS: Much of the debate deriding the statue is based on Tayla's lack of sporting achievements, and that is fair enough she isn't a sporting great by a long margin. FWIW, not even Erin Philips deserves a statue at this stage. But Tayla's statue isn't about sport!
eggsackery Thry. It doesn't need to even stand anywhere near a sporting ground imo. more power to her and the females we share this planet with.
Its not.
It will be at Fed square for a month, initially, then its final destination is unknown at this stage.
Fed square is a good initial starting point as it will probably be seen by more people than any other location would've been.
As for statues around the MCG, those statues are there because of the efforts those people put in, specifically, at the MCG in terms of sporting prowess. Despite Taylas ability, i'm not sure she's even played on the MCG. Regardless, i'm not sure her name is even on the statue as its got very little to do with her ability, rather the story/movement that image represents.
Tayla represented by the statue speaks of a woman who speaks out.
Tayla's actions propelled by public support is a contemporary example of leadership. Leadership that enables social change.
Football in this instance is merely the occasion from which this emerged.
Well done Tayla.
Don’t have a problem at all with the statue and the symbolism of but I think that it could have been held back until the heat is right out of the discussion. It would have been like creating the Nicky Winmar statue 6 months after his controversial stand. This would have been a lot more appropriate as a 10 year anniversary symbol after AFLW was well and truly entrenched. Just a bit too early.
Too early? You want to wait until the whole thing has died down and people have forgotten about it?
Strike while the iron is hot.
This is about change, and highlighting that, again, continues to push for change and build on the momentum that this whole incident started.
Its an iconic image that is full of momentum and should be used to further that momentum.
Waiting simply dilutes the cause.
People need to stop thinking of this as a women's issue and start connecting it to trolling and online bullying.
It's not about women. It's about teaching youth resilience and to drown out internet bullying.
It's much more relevant than any discussion about females in sport.
Absolutely!
It may expose some apologists for the farkwits who trolled Tayla but the backlash is insignificant as we progress to the point where our sisters, daughters and granddaughters don’t have to put up with this garbage.
Sorry Thry but it is definitely a women’s issue.
Of course trolling and online bullying is part of it, but the crux of the matter is the sexual objectification of a female athlete ... and that is not acceptable.
Disagree.
It is certainly about online trolling, but also about women.
What were the comments about?
All the comments were sexist and/or misogynistic.
Had the photo been of Tayla taking a mark received the same hate, fair enough i'd agree with you. But no, the photo was of her with her legs spread apart in the act of kicking. That was what brought the trolls out. That is what the trolls were commenting about.
Its not either/or, its both.
Negative comments from insecure blokes stuck in the caveman era and intimidated by powerful women.
No surprise this whole movement has gone right over their heads.
Most if not all are the same dopes who flood every thread regarding women’s footy with the same old negative rubbish.
Yes. Great stuff.
Well done indeed Tayla.
Maybe I should have written, its not just about women.
Sexual obejctification.... Everyone objectifies people. We are praising Tayla and objectifying her by making an object about her struggle. By dumbing it down to sexualisation, we are ignoring much more prevalent issues of online bullying and trolling. Tayla is an attractive young lady. Why shouldnt people be enamoured by her?
Are we trying to create a generation of eunuchs?
My barber is gay he says exactly the same thing, he thinks the debate has been somewhat politicised by the I, A and P in LGBTIQAP!
He thinks we should all celebrate being ourselves and not celebrate being different, he sees the celebration of diversity as celebrating exclusion not inclusion! Lots of little people in their little groups! He thinks the actions are contradictory to how most people feel about these issues! Finally he makes a good point, our first membership is humanity all the rest is an extra!
Gee that's beautifully articulated. Well said, LN.
Well said, David.
There is still a hue and cry from a loud group of Neanderthals as if to punctuate how important this issue is, and how important it is for us to be loud in our condemnation of the sexual objectification of women (indeed, anyone). Seems there are still many who are pubescent in their understanding and expression of human sexuality, particularly feminine sexuality.
Why thankyou.
Easy to do when you experience these special moments in life.
Say it to her face ;) ;D
https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/boxing/harris-becomes-national-champ-with-savage-ko/ar-AAIZPEm?ocid=spartandhp
Indeed!
I hope Tayla’s budding boxing career doesn’t take her away from footy.
https://www.theroar.com.au/afl/video/tayla-harris-sends-statement-with-stunning-second-round-ko-962844/
Tayla has some style; the left that did the damage was a ripper. Her reaction when her opponent went down was interesting, a bit like checking on a footy opponent that you've just crunched. She then went to the neutral corner with her guard up. Perhaps she thought the ref might have a crack at her.
She's often said that she lacks aggression and that killer instinct, both in boxing and in footy.
She says she feels bad for her opponent and doesn't want to hurt them. Kinda got into the wrong sports for that.
You saw it in her footy, she polaxed someone and immediately went up to her to check if she was alright and apologised. You saw it again there.
She's a good girl who can seriously do some damage if/when she wants too. She is a Brian Lake, we need to find our Rocket Eade. If we can unlock that, then the sky is the limit for her.
Tayla didn’t hold back when she had her opponent at her mercy.
Unfortunately, it seems that women’s boxing dishes up as many mismatches as men’s boxing and that’s not good for a fighter’s development or moving on to the international stage as Tayla intends to do. I wouldn’t like to see her get the cr@p belted out of her because her camp overestimated her ability. She needs a couple of fights against evenly matched opponents to see where she is at and whether international boxing is realistic.
Quick hands, the opponent was more slapping. That first knock down did the damage, Tayla knew from the contact she had hurt her opponent.
She obviously got the word from her corner during the count, because on the restarted she came out without mercy!
If you think women's football is a joke.
All these sports in their infancy are highly variable in skill levels due to the very low participation rates, they'll improve if allowed to by the critics. You only have to go and watch a MMA, Taekwondo or Karate tournament to know that is self-evident. Actually women's boxing was stronger a decade ago, MMA and UFC have robbed a lot of talent from the boxing circuit, they can be instantly on a full-time wage and boxing has only just woken up to this fact as they have been a bit stuck up about it for a long time! Mayweather cleaning up McGregor only reinforced many of those prejudices for those looking for confirmation. They are not laughing anymore as money is leeching out of the sport at a great rate of knots! The less wealthy it becomes the less professional it becomes and it's susceptibility to dodgy deals and dodgy operators grows.
Tayla's opponent looked tentative and fearful of her, and Tayla sort of proved her correct, even though the skills were a bit ordinary to watch.
Tayla looked a bit unprofessional, in that she basically didn't defend against counter-punches, so it looked like a slog fest, but she probably didn't have to she was being hit with a feather-duster. But it's a bad habit to get into, you should always assume the opponent has a hidden weapon.