Behind every man: Rebecca Hardy wonders where all the women are in the nativity

‘The Christmas story is still mostly a male affair.’

by Rebecca Hardy 20th December 2024

I’ve always identified as a Universalist, but, at the first whiff of cardamom, the first snap of frost, the first jingle of ‘Deck the Halls’, and I suddenly transform into the most devout Christian on Earth. I love Christmas. Never mind the jarring consumerism and the hell of Sainsbury’s in mid December, I love the scents, the carols, the fairy lights, the tinsel. I love the re-runs of films I’ve watched a zillion times before. I love the mulled wine, Christmas pud, and all that stilton.