A Marilyn Monroe Statue Sparks Backlash as It Returns to Palm Springs: 'It's Blatantly Sexist'

Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Palm Springs' iconic Marilyn Monroe statue is soon set to make its comeback, but not everyone is happy about it.

After seven years, the 26-foot statue titled Forever Marilyn, depicting the Hollywood icon in a flaring white halter dress, will return to Palm Springs permanently. However, many have criticized its future placement in the city, while others call the commemorative piece sexist.

The stainless steel and aluminum sculpture, which is based on Monroe’s signature pose from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, was one of Palm Springs’ most popular attractions between 2012-2014.

"She makes [the] majority of the people very happy," managing director at the Palm Springs Hilton Aftab Dada told NPR. "The photos taken, and being transmitted all over the world, will do nothing but benefit the city of Palm Springs."

RELATED: Stars Who Have Played the Iconic Marilyn Monroe Through the Years

However, some aren't excited about the statue's placement, which would display Monroe's backside right in front of the Palm Springs Art Museum's entrance.

"The thought of those kids leaving our museum and having the first thing they see is the undergarments and underwear of this enormous Marilyn sculpture would be highly offensive," Louis Grachos, the director of the museum, told the city council, according to NPR.

Despite his concerns, the council voted on temporarily placing the statue at the front of the museum for the next three years.

Others share similar concerns with Grachos, saying the statue promotes an act of sexual harassment known as upskirting, when someone takes photos under a person's skirt without their knowledge.

RELATED: Ana de Armas Says She Cried the First Time She Saw Herself in Marilyn Monroe Wigs for Upcoming Film

Everett

"She's literally going to be mooning the museum," Elizabeth Armstrong told NPR. She's the former director of the Palm Springs Art Museum and spokesperson for a Change.org petition opposing Monroe's objectifying statue, which currently has over 40,000 signatures.

Want to get the biggest stories from PEOPLE every weekday? Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.

"It's blatantly sexist," said Armstrong. "It forces people almost to upskirt."

Dada, who heads the tourist group PS Resorts that bought the statue for $1 million, expressed his own shock at the statue's controversial return considering Palm Springs' bustling art scene.

"She's an attraction, in our opinion," Dada told NPR. "She's not an art."

To quell some of the backlash, Dada said a thorough "independent research study" on the statue's economic impact and benefit for the city and museum would be conducted.