6 days ago
Denmark to tear down Copenhagen's ‘pornographic' mermaid statue
A statue of a mermaid with big breasts is to be removed from its location in Copenhagen after complaints that it is 'pornographic' and vulgar.
The 13ft-tall Big Mermaid has been described as 'a man's hot dream of what a woman should look like', and its breasts have been the subject of controversy for years.
It was unveiled in 2006 at a location a few hundred yards from the famous statue of The Little Mermaid, on Langelinie Pier.
After complaints that the bigger mermaid was too sexualised, it was transferred in 2018 to Dragør Fort, part of Copenhagen's former sea fortifications, which lies several miles south of the city.
Now, the Danish agency for palaces and culture is reportedly preparing to remove it altogether, saying that it does not fit with the cultural heritage of the fort, which dates back to 1910.
Peter Bech, a Danish restaurateur who designed and commissioned Big Mermaid, said he could not understand what all the fuss was about, insisting that its breasts were a 'proportional size'.
'The mermaid has completely normal proportions in relation to her size. Of course the breasts are big on a big woman,' Mr Bech told Danish broadcaster, TV 2 Kosmopol.
He argued that the statue attracts tourists, that criticism of it was 'pure nonsense' and added that he hoped a compromise could be reached so it could stay.
Mathias Kryger, art critic for the newspaper Politiken, described Big Mermaid as 'pornographic'.
Another journalist, Sorine Gotfredsen, wrote in the newspaper Berlingske: 'Erecting a statue of a man's hot dream of what a woman should look like is unlikely to promote many women's acceptance of their own bodies.'
Other critics said the proportions of the mermaid amount to body-shaming for the majority of ordinary women.
