The Church of England's first woman bishop has questioned the appointment of the comic book character "Wonder Woman" as an honorary ambassador for the United Nations.
Bishop of Stockport Libby Lane said: "We live in a world where there are women who are everyday heroes in all walks of life.
"We don't need fictional action heroes or comic book characters to inspire our daughters or to reflect the reality of the daily wonders carried out by women across the world."
Earlier this month, the UN announced that Wonder Woman would become an honorary ambassador in support of the UN's sustainable development goal number five – "to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls".
Staff at the UN created a petition protesting at the cartoon woman's "overtly sexualised image", complaining that it is not "culturally encompassing or sensitive". It has been signed by more than 11,000 people.
The petition states: "Wonder Woman was created 75 years ago. Although the original creators may have intended Wonder Woman to represent a strong and independent 'warrior' woman with a feminist message, the reality is that the character's current iteration is that of a large breasted, white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring body suit with an American flag motif and knee high boots –the epitome of a 'pin-up' girl."
Bishop Libby said at last night's William Temple lecture that sustainable transformation is more likely to come about through "real world research, real world resources, and real world leadership" rather than the appointment of "Wonder Woman" as a United Nations honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls.
Gal Gadot stars as Diana, Princess of the Amazons, in the Warner Bros Wonder Woman movie about the DC Comics series being released next year. Young British child star Emily Carey, known as Grace Beauchamp BBC's Casualty series, plays the young Diana.
Lane's lecture was on the subject of "the difference women make in society" and what keeps millions of women, and other groups, marginalised and disenfranchised. She removed the reference to Wonder Woman from the final version of the lecture.
Reflecting on her position as a woman bishop, she told Christian Today: "It is human nature to be seduced by a sense of our own importance. There is truth in the adage that power tends to corrupt, even those of us who are women who are trying to be alert to these pressures."
Women such as herself needed to be "reminded" of this reality by people on the margins in ways that "we no longer are".
She said: "The truth is, yes, we are bishops in the Church of England, we are in the centre, we are not on the margins any more. So yes, I do think that women bishops have to be careful not to be seduced by the sense that what really matters is what happens around us."
"Though I am a woman, I am not on the margins of my community and society. I am a well-educated white middle-class woman recently entrusted with senior leadership in the Church, and I don't want to collude with the misuse of power, and be seduced by its idols," she said.
"My own experience of exclusion and influence, my observation of those on the margins discerning and using their own capacities to be the change they want to see, and my reflection on the scripture and the wisdom of others brings me to suggest that sustainable transformation, indeed the Kingdom of God, is found in and from the margins.
"And that is difficult because I am coming to the conclusion that the kingdom of God is found in and from the margins – and bishops, even women bishops, are at the centre of things and in perpetual danger of misusing, abusing our power and control."
In her lecture, she said: "We live in a world today too, where there are women, in all walks of life, who bring about sustainable transformation. In them, through them, too, the kingdom of God is near.
"I'd like to mention a couple of initiatives I've become aware of that seem to me to reflect this. Kashif is a Pakistan-based microfinance organization which, when it was founded, lent exclusively to women in groups of 25. Its members guarantee one another's debts. They meet every 2 weeks to make payments and discuss a social issue. What is wonderful about this project is that it now lends to 'bottom-of-the-pyramid' families including men. Its mission statement is 'Financial Services for all in a poverty-free and gender-equitable society'."
She also mentioned the Afghan Institute of Learning.
"Aid campaigns in Afghanistan mostly focused on towns, not countryside. The perception of outside aid workers is often threatening. However, significant change has come from grass roots action. Dr Sakeena Yacoobi, founder and director of the Institute, says the project is 'an Afghan organization run mainly by women, that seeks to help all Afghans rebuild their lives and society through transformation at the individual and community level.' The work of the institute began with secret schools under Taliban, and now provides education, healthcare and legal services for 350,000 women and children in Afghanistan. It has 480 staff, 80 per cent of whom are women."
