There are so many things to be alarmed about in either of the countries I pay tax to, and it can be hard to get one’s arms around any one topic when the outrages and anxieties come so thick and so fast. Here, however, is a juicy little rage-nugget for you all to chew on this Friday. The Archbishopric of Canterbury has been vacant for about a year, and today it was announced that Sarah Mullally, current Bishop of London, will take up the seat in January.
She is, obviously, the first woman to serve in the role, and her appointment is especially momentous when you consider that women have only been ordained as bishops in the Anglican Church for 10 years. Mullally, who appears to be about as liberal as it’s possible for someone high up in the Church of England to be, will become the spiritual leader of the Church (Charles is, of course, in charge). Aside from her sex and gender, she also brings some interesting past experience to the position: she is a former cancer nurse, and from 1999-2004, she was the NHS’s chief nursing officer in England. She steps into the archbishopric at a time when religious and ethnic tensions are high. Her first public remarks as archbishop-designate included messages of condolence for the victims of yesterday’s horrific synagogue attack in Manchester.
And how did Sky News break this story? By discussing who her husband is, obvs:
“Woman” may have been named to a position of authority, but Sky News will be damned if it actually names her, too. I can imagine the headlines when the Archbishop inevitably says something that pisses the right-wing press off: “Will no-one rid us of this meddlesome Eamonn Mullally’s wife?”
Open thread.
And Now for Something Completely Different: A Bit of Old-School SexismPost + Comments (41)
