We don’t build statues anymore. It’s hard to know whether this is empirically true (or if so, where it’s true, and when). Maybe there was a golden age of statue building, and it’s behind us now. From the Reconstruction-era rationalizations for the Civil War to the impulsive robber-baron philanthropy of the Gilded Age, the turn of the century probably accounts for a lot of the historical sculpture that exists today. On the other hand, the works built since then probably outnumber the artworks built in the past. (However, a lot of public art made today takes the form of commercial abstract sculpture.)
When we do build figurative public artworks today, though, they almost always depict men. This is a myopia that we have carried forward through to the present.
Public history will be fine (and more accurate) with more monuments to women, even if that means scaling back on sculptures celebrating men. Finding the right balance—well, we are a long way off from any balance at all. The battle for parity between the sexes is long and ongoing, and by doing a better job of depicting women, we stand a better chance of bringing this war to a conclusion.
Kriston Capps