Debate Over Removing Landmark Mermaid Statue: What Is Happening in the Land of The Little Mermaid?

Some Criticize as a "Fake Little Mermaid"
Statue's Chest Draws Ongoing Accusations of Obscenity

In Denmark, the country of Hans Andersen who wrote the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid," there is an ongoing controversy over the removal of a mermaid statue. The statue, named "Big Mermaid," stands 4 meters tall and has been consistently criticized for its prominent depiction of the mermaid's chest, which some have called provocative. However, as soon as the decision was made to remove the statue, criticism against the removal began to grow.

The famous bronze Little Mermaid statue sitting on a rock by the Copenhagen beach is a Danish landmark visited by over one million tourists every year. The bronze statue of the Little Mermaid, born from Andersen's 19th-century fairy tale, is 1.5 meters tall and was created 107 years ago. Pixabay

On August 5, Yonhap News, citing The Guardian, reported that the Danish Agency for Palaces and Culture has decided to remove the mermaid statue installed in front of Dragor Fortress near Copenhagen, and that the controversy over this decision is intensifying. The official reason given by the Danish Agency for Palaces and Culture is that the statue does not fit with the fortress, which is considered a cultural heritage site. However, some critics argue that the real reason for the removal is the statue's alleged obscenity.

Originally, this mermaid statue was installed on the Langelinie waterfront in Copenhagen, but after local residents criticized it as a "fake Little Mermaid," it was removed in 2018 and relocated to Dragor Fortress. In March, Danish authorities requested its removal again. The artist, Peter Beck, offered to donate the statue to Dragor, but the offer was rejected on the grounds that it "takes up too much space." Since then, various debates have continued regarding the statue.

Soren Gottfredsen, a clergyman and journalist, told local media, "Erecting a statue that embodies a man's sexualized fantasy of how a woman should look does not help many women accept their own bodies." He added, "It is very positive that many people find this statue vulgar and undesirable," and criticized, "The oppressive body displayed in a public space feels suffocating." Mathias Kryger, an art critic for the Danish daily Politiken, also directly criticized the statue as "ugly and obscene."

Commissioner: "The chest is only proportional to the overall size"

On the other hand, Beck, who commissioned the production of the mermaid statue, said that the chest is "only proportional to the overall size" and stated that he cannot understand the criticism. There are also arguments that the criticism of the statue as provocative reflects society's unhealthy attitudes toward the female body. In addition to Beck, Aminata Korr Tran, an editor at the local daily Berlingske, questioned, "Must the bare chest of a woman have a certain academic shape and size to be publicly displayed?" She pointed out that the statue is "less naked than other famous Little Mermaid statues, but the fact that it has a larger chest seems to be the problem."

The 4-meter-tall statue named "Big Mermaid" has been continuously criticized for being provocative, as the mermaid's chest is prominently depicted. Photo by AC

Meanwhile, the famous bronze statue of the Little Mermaid sitting on a rock on the Copenhagen coast is a landmark visited by over a million tourists every year. The bronze mermaid statue, inspired by Andersen's 19th-century fairy tale "The Little Mermaid," stands 1.5 meters tall and was created in 1913. As a famous landmark, the statue has also faced its share of incidents. In 1964, the mermaid's head was stolen, and in 1984, her arm was cut off. The statue has also been defaced with graffiti several times; in 2020, the mysterious phrase "racist fish" was inscribed on it.