The Unexpected Amount Of Tourists Who Take An 'Inappropriate' Selfie With A Statue On Vacation

While vacations are all about taking a break from day-to-day life and letting loose, sometimes having a good time can result in bad behavior. According to a study conducted by luggage storage company Radical Storage, 56.5% of travelers are guilty of what they call "tourist syndrome," a term coined to describe the phenomenon of people misbehaving while on vacation. Some of the offenses include stealing from hotels, entertaining vices such as excessive drinking and smoking, and — one of the top three offenses — striking inappropriate poses with statues.

If you've ever groped a statue for the camera while on holiday, you're in the company of one-third of surveyed tourists who admitted to the photo faux pas. It may seem like a harmless offense, but you may want to think twice about taking a selfie in some destinations. In extreme cases, people take it too far, fueling outrage and risking punishment with their salacious stunts. Whether it leads to striking cheeky poses with a statue or scaling monuments to simulate sexual acts, there's something about a frozen figure that seems to inspire public indecency among travelers.

It's safe to venture that you've probably struck a silly pose with a statue at some point in your life. Even if you haven't, you can find entire travel blog posts dedicated to the innocent act and online lists ranking the not-so-innocent examples of statue selfie-snapping. Inappropriate poses involve smooching, groping, climbing, mimicking, and feigning violence against the life-size monuments. While Rick Steves might classify you as being an "ugly" tourist for indulging in such an act, taking crude photographs with a statue is usually intended to be harmless — even if it's annoying to other travelers (or locals).

However, even if no harm is meant, certain poses can spark debate. For example, when a Reddit user questioned if it was "rude to copy Buddha's pose and take a picture in front of him," a majority of users responded that they considered it "disrespectful" and a "clear cut (symbol of) cultural appropriation," while other commenters didn't think it was a big deal. Regardless of the answers, not everyone is mindful enough to ask for outside opinions before snapping a questionable photo with a sacred statue, including rap artist Nicki Minaj, who sparked debate by posing for bikini-clad pictures with a Buddha statue in 2013.

In some cases, statue shenanigans fuel an even wider range of outrage and make headlines. In the summer of 2024, a female tourist was caught on camera at a museum in Florence, Italy, striking salacious poses with a bronze statue of the Roman god Bacchus. The photos began to circle around news media outlets after being uploaded to a Facebook group in which angry users took to the comment section to voice their disgust at the woman's disregard for a cultural monument. Her face is unidentifiable; however, her simulated acts are clear. She bends over in front of the unclothed statue in one photo and engages him in a passionate embrace in another. Though the pictures appeared to be snapped in jest, clearly not everyone shared the woman's sense of humor, and she was threatened by authorities to be banned for life if identified.

Back in the U.S., a 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe got people's knickers in a twist. Erected in front of the Palm Springs Art Museum — one of the best places to visit on vacation in the breathtaking Palm Springs — the gigantic monument depicts the legendary Hollywood actress in one of her most iconic poses in which her flowing white dress billows above her knees, caught in the breeze of a subway grate. Though the playfully tawdry scene is gleaned from one of Monroe's most classic film roles, many vehemently protested the statue, calling it "blatantly sexist." Regardless of the commotion, tourists continue to line up to strike a pose between the movie star's legs, casting laughing glances upwards and playfully pointing at her crotch.