On the 8th of March, a bronze statue of a young girl was put up in New York City. The girl was defiantly standing up to the Wall Street bull to protest gender inequality and the wage gap between men and women within the corporate world (BBC News). The girl became a major tourist attraction and she was a source of inspiration for women throughout the country. In the heart of Wall Street stood a symbol meant to inspire and prove that women are capable of facing any obstacle in their path. The Wall Street bull, which represented the power and greed of corporate America, was resisted by a 4-foot tall girl. She was the embodiment of hope and prosperity for the women throughout the country who hoped to achieve something greater than what they already had. The bronze statue was powerful and beautiful. Despite this, an uprising on social media regarding the girl did not center around her positives and her hopeful message. Rather than that, a short time after the statue was put up, a photo of an unnamed businessman “humping” the girl surfaced (Edwards). The act, likely meant as a joke by the unnamed man, has caused advocates of gender equality to speak up about the misconduct of the statue. The emerged situation is a perfect example of the gender inequality that still exists in today’s world.
   

The act of misconduct by the unnamed businessman was proof that, although the girl stood for the equality between men and women, that aspiration was far from reality. Despite the bronze girl standing up to a symbol of Wall Street, the businessman was an embodiment of Wall Street, and he proved that no matter the intentions of women, men still have the ability to violate them. The act was pedophelic, and gave the businessman power over the defiant girl. In the world of corporate America, a symbol of progression and power of women was immediately defiled and the meanings for which she stood for were undermined. In a world that is closer than ever to true equality between men and women, the contravention of symbols for which the bronze girl stood showed that men still hold a superiority over women, and are more dominant in society.
   

As humanity has progressed, we have been striving towards an ultimate goal of equality between all genders. Women have been slowly gaining more rights as time progressed and now we have reached a point where women are almost on a level playing field with men. However, the bronze girl showed us that equality is still not a truth in our society. The clear dominance the businessman had over the young girl was representative of the world we live in. Men and women can be legally equal. Judgements and actions based on gender are not permitted within the law ("Sex-Based Discrimination"). Men and women can also be equal on paper. They have the same opportunities and the ability to work towards the same goals or aspirations. However, men and women are not equal socially. Men can easily take a movement towards being on par with women and discredit everything the movement stands for, not weeks after its beginning. Beyond any lingering legal differences between men and women, or differences in the amount of work required for the same positions as men, the most prominent difference is the social treatment of women by men. This is where the true essence of change lies. Equality is attainable, but we, as a society, are not there yet.
   

In a society still dominated by males, there is hope and a great possibility for change. The differences between men and women are legally minute. Despite this, the profane act committed by a Wall Street businessman showed us, that in order to truly reach equality in society, we must reach a point where men do not hold such a great power over women, that one act by one man can corrupt and destroy the symbolic meaning of a movement.