DC Edit | Woman Power Rises In Japan, UK
“If you want to go fast, go alone – if you want to go far, go together,” the voluble head of the communion said on taking over as the Archbishop of Canterbury, a role that had in British history come to clash often with the power of kings
Two events last week in two different island-nations saw the power of women being recognised in the most unusual and unexpected fields. The choice of ladies for the first time ever at top jobs in the spiritual world of the Anglicans and in the leadership of the ultra-conservative society of Japan as Prime Minister was a stunning validation of the rise of women in unexpected fields.
As spiritual leader of both the 500-year-old Church of England and the 80-million strong worldwide Anglican Communion, Sarah Mulally has huge expectations to meet at a time when the “Mother Church” is going through troubled times with the previous occupant having been unseated following a caustic report into his passive handling of the worst abuse scandal in church history.
“If you want to go fast, go alone – if you want to go far, go together,” the voluble head of the communion said on taking over as the Archbishop of Canterbury, a role that had in British history come to clash often with the power of kings. If feelings persist that the often-outspoken Bishop of London who had things to say on political and social issues could lead to widen fissures, it could be put down to male scepticism.
Much has happened since the start of this decade in which more liberal views may have found voice, but in which support for the church blessing same-sex couples had proved very divisive. But the name women have earned worldwide for their capacity to cultivate dispassionate views even in a conflicted world should come in handy for the priest in the hot seat.
At the other end of the world, Japan’s male-dominated political landscape was in for big change as the self-confessed workaholic Sanae Takaichi beat her male rival in a closely contested poll for leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party. The country may have become accustomed to fast and frequent changes at the top of ruling parties, but only a select few may have bargained for a conservative woman PM who promises a rightward political direction.
The fervent views of the two who are in the limelight now mark them out as women who may not be satisfied with just the breakthrough symbolism of their rising to the top. Both may chart lively courses for the people they would be leading even as they continue to press for acceptance of post-modern ideas of gender inclusion but without the need for overt feminism for which there may be lesser space in a changing world.