In what should have been a simple gesture of friendship, the Sculpture Foundation in California offered a piece entitled “Unconditional Surrender” as a one year loan to the Caen Memorial Museum in Normandy, France. The one year display was to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
But French feminist group Osez Le Feminisme is demanding that the 25 foot statue be torn down. Why? The statue is nicknamed “The Kiss,” and is based on the black and white photo taken on VJ (Victory in Japan) Day in Times Square. In the iconic photo, taken by George Eisenstaedt, a sailor kisses a woman whom he believes to be a nurse (she was actually a dental assistant). And feminists object because they claim the photo – and the statue – actually depict a sexual assault.
The dictionary defines sexual assault as “unwanted sex act by force or threat.” So if interviews with Greta Friedman, the “nurse”/dental assistant in the photo, suggested that the kiss was unwanted, then Osez Le Feminisme might have a relevant point.
But the reality is that, although Friedman admitted to being completely taken by surprise, she looks back at that moment with fondness. She remembers the feelings of joy and relief that came from hearing the news that war was finally over. She smiles as she recalls the fact that the sailor kissing her was actually on a date with another woman at the time – his future wife, in fact – who also laughs when recalling the event. And Friedman has even exchanged Christmas cards with Mendonsa (the “kissing sailor”) for years – indicating that she either does not consider the kiss an assault or she suffers from the fastest developing case of Stockholm Syndrome in history.
So what is the justification for calling the kiss an assault? The woman’s lack of consent? I guess in a world where college students are expected to stop and wait for verbal consent in every step of a physical relationship that almost makes sense. But her response to the kiss after the fact suggests that she likely would have laughed and allowed it anyway.
The problem for those trying to paint this as a feminist issue is that the definition of sexual assault also includes the overlooked but essential word “unwanted.” If the definition hinged on the word “unexpected,” they might have a case. But then, my husband would also be guilty of sexual assault every time he walks up behind me and hugs me without warning me or asking permission while I’m cooking dinner (adding repeated assaults to the horrors of being repressed).
Seems a bit silly, oui? Perhaps because it is.
