Culture war controversy again blew up this week over the iconic photo known as V-J Day. Capturing a moment in Times Square on V-J Day and the momentous end of WWII, the photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt features an ebullient sailor kissing a woman, their faces obscured. It became a popular poster and one of the most recognizable images of the 20th century, emblematic of the jubilation of American victory and the cessation of the violence.
When years later the two participants were identified and the nurse reportedly revealed she hadn’t given consent for the kiss, but was grabbed and kissed in an act that took her by surprise, the photo took on a new meaning for many viewers, becoming emblematic of male sexual license and a forerunner of the problems at the center of the MeToo movement.
[NOTE: The woman in the photo, Greta Friedman, was working as a dental assistant when sailor George Mendonsa grabbed and kissed her. Friedman later said, not unhappily, that she was in his “vice grip.”]
Seen in the MeToo light, this reveal made the famous photo lose its luster for some viewers, and there were rumors it was to be removed from military bases due to concern that the incident it depicted emphasized inequality and disrespect — two issues the military fights against.
Addressing the removal rumors, which were triggered by a VA memo acknowledging the photo’s controversial status, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough sought to calm the anti-woke reaction and assure the worried that the famous pic wasn’t being banned or cancelled.
Let me be clear: This image is not banned from VA facilities – and we will keep it in VA facilities. pic.twitter.com/dYSikLxHAJ
— Secretary Denis McDonough (@SecVetAffairs) March 5, 2024
On Fox News, host Jesse Watters asserted his belief that the kiss looked consensual and used his opinion of this consent to castigate the photo’s woke objectors. “She looks into it,” Watters says in the video below.
Watters: Does that look non consensual to you?
Banderas: She’s absolutely into it. Look at her hand
Watters: She was there when the sailors were returning from war. What did she expect? pic.twitter.com/WlsEaij5ob
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 7, 2024
In an extraordinary follow-up sentence, Watters doubles down on his consent opinion by implying that Zimmer had it coming to her, whether she consented or not. Watters says: “She was there when the soldiers were returning from war, I mean what did she expect? It’s the least she could do.”
MeToo and most of the Left would answer that she expected not to be grabbed by a stranger and kissed, despite his recent military service. Watters, representing a different view, says she must have wanted it or she wouldn’t have been there.