New York (AFP)

Only a tiny fraction of the statues of New York, London or Sydney honor women: to remedy this glaring inequality, a couple of Australian artists this week unveiled ten female statues in Manhattan, the first step of an international project .

The ten bronze statues that now line up on New York's 6th Avenue, near the Rockefeller Center, are all American personalities, with the exception of English primatologist Jane Goodall.

These women, chosen by Internet users, include actresses Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett, television host and businesswoman Oprah Winfrey, Olympic gymnastics champion Gabby Douglas, astronaut Tracy Dyson and singer Pink - - all represented in a conquering posture, with a flower of their choice on their feet.

Artists Gillie and Marc Schattner argue on their website that statues honoring women represent only 3 or 4% of the statues of New York, London or Sydney, if one excludes "the symbolic figures that decorate the fountains or the facades (...), essentially empty shells of an idealized female physique ".

With a notoriety acquired through a series of giant statues exhibited in recent years in Sydney or New York - including a statue of three white rhinos stacked in the heart of Greenwich Village--, the duo has set itself the mission of '' balance statistics ''.

The New York statues are just the beginning of a project that will expand to other countries, starting with the United Kingdom and Australia, to include "greater diversity of race, class, skills, sexual orientation and gender expression, "write the artists on their website.

Some passers-by randomly polled seemed seduced.

"I think it's beautiful, I'm very impressed," said Leslie Daniels, a 46-year-old electrician. "We women contribute greatly to society, and we are ignored".

"I am always for the emancipation of women, and all that contributes is a good thing," said Corinne Gudovic, who came from Chicago on business, seduced by the statue of Jane Goodall.

The choice of New York is not trivial: the Democratic mayor of the US financial capital has publicly committed to erect more female statues, and must install by the end of 2020 in Brooklyn a statue of Shirley Chisholm, first woman Black elected to Congress in 1968.

© 2019 AFP