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A giant nude statue in California is stirring controversy

In this photo taken Wednesday Oct. 19, 2016, a woman poses beneath a 55-foot nude statue in San Leandro, Calif. The statue of a naked woman is stirring controversy and a lot of conversation. City officials and the sculptor of the steel nude, which was unveiled this week across from San Leandro's main commuter train stop, say they want to draw attention to "feminine energy." Critics say the 13,000-pound towering nude is not appropriate public art. (AP Photo/Jocelyn Gecker)
In this photo taken Wednesday Oct. 19, 2016, a woman poses beneath a 55-foot nude statue in San Leandro, Calif. The statue of a naked woman is stirring controversy and a lot of conversation. City officials and the sculptor of the steel nude, which was unveiled this week across from San Leandro's main commuter train stop, say they want to draw attention to "feminine energy." Critics say the 13,000-pound towering nude is not appropriate public art. (AP Photo/Jocelyn Gecker) In this photo taken Wednesday Oct. 19, 2016, a woman poses beneath a 55-foot nude statue in San Leandro, Calif. The statue of a naked woman is stirring controversy and a lot of conversation. City officials and the sculptor of the steel nude, which was unveiled this week across from San Leandro's main commuter train stop, say they want to draw attention to "feminine energy." Critics say the 13,000-pound towering nude is not appropriate public art. (AP Photo/Jocelyn Gecker)

By Associated Press 3 min read

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (AP) – There have long been complaints about the lack of women in the tech industry. Now there’s a towering female figure, in a tech park across the bay from San Francisco, although not quite what some people had in mind.

A 55-foot tall statue of a nude woman unveiled this week in the working-class community of San Leandro is stirring controversy and a lot of conversation.

At the base of the 13,000-pound statue is a message in 10 languages that says: “What would the world be like if women were safe?”

The statue – roughly three times as tall as Michelangelo’s David – is made of steel mesh in the form of a graceful dancer, with an arched back and arms stretched overhead. The debate is not over its artistic merit but whether it’s appropriate in public.

“If she’s a ballerina, she should have some clothes on,” said Tonette Watts, 57, a resident and mother of a teen girl, who stopped and stared at the statue on her way to work. “If you’ve got kids you do not want them seeing that.”