How did going from being an important figure in history turn into being sexualized by people all around the world? Millions of people visit the Juliet Capulet statue in Munich, Germany to touch Juliet’s breast for a chance at undying love. As a society, people are visiting this statue just to caress her bronzed breast and take a photo of the “experience.”
Every generation had to read “Romeo and Juliet” in their high school English class; society shifted and went from learning about a 16th century play to sexualizing a thirteen-year-old girl. For example, the rubbing of the statue has become so normalized to the point that the bronze of the statue has been polished, making it golden, which is clearly visible in photos. It is to the point that when you pose with the statue, you have a designated spot for your hand.
A figure of literature has turned into a tourist attraction for people to “find love.” The Juliet Capulet the statue known as ‘The one where everyone grabs her breast.’ The person who created the statue wanted to highlight the legacy and beauty of one of the most famous pieces of literature ever written, but society has changed her legacy to being her breasts.
Both men and women gather around the statue while they ask a family member to take a photo of them with said statue, and without a second thought, they place their hand on the breast of Juliet Capulet with a smile and then later decide to post it on social media with the ‘clever’ caption, “Guess where I am?”
People in our society find this funny, but no one realizes how we have become so accustomed to sexualizing females in our everyday lives. It is truly remarkable how much we’ve devolved, not just as a society, but as individuals. It’s not impressive to say you’ve touched a thirteen-year–old’s breast- even on a statue. It’s embarrassing and disgusting and people in this society need to realize this and stop doing it.
If more people spoke out about problems like this one, people would realize just how weird and wrong it is to be sexualizing a thirteen-year-old girl. More articles and more educated speeches speaking out about how normalized this has all become and how much women struggle with it every day could benefit all of us. No one realizes how often women are sexualized or notices how no one questions it. In movies, TV shows, music videos, video games, social media and even advertisements, women are seen for their bodies because it gets people’s attention. If more people made educated, creative projects dedicated to the focus of women as a whole and less focus on their bodies, society would learn to value women for more than just their bodies.
