[11] The campaign describes the sculpture's form as a deliberate opposition to "traditional male heroic statuary" of the Victorian era, instead showing a small figure who "has evolved organically from, is supported by, and does not forget, all her predecessors".

[13] The sculpture was criticised for its depiction of nudity and objectification of the female form,[14] with some considering it inappropriate to represent a feminist figure in such a light.

Hambling defended her work by saying that the figure was not created in the historical likeness of Wollstonecraft,[13] and that she felt as though "clothes would have restricted her.

"[15] Other hostile responses wrote that many personifications of pure womanhood already existed in classic statuary in various nameless angels or characters like Marianne, and that a new sculpture directly of a successful female figure such as Wollstonecraft would have been preferred rather than yet another abstract woman.

[16] A crowd-funded campaign was launched shortly following the reveal of Hambling's sculpture to create a statue based on Martin Jennings' alternate design.