An iron lady or man of steel?

Jun 7 2009 by Ian Robson, Sunday Sun

IT was the week when Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was finally forced to resign from the Cabinet, Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle was admitted to the Priory, and there was more uncertainty over the future of Newcastle United.

But all that is small fry compared to the big issue of the day.

This column asks: Is the Angel of the North a boy or a girl?

I only pose this question because adverts for Durham Dynamos v Lancashire Lightning in the Twenty20 Cup competition later this month show a picture of the Angel wearing a cricket box.

And that got me thinking - I told you it’s a weird place on Planet Ian - if Antony Gormley’s creation would play cricket for the lads or lasses if it came to life.

The bottom half doesn’t give any clues with nothing much to say one way or the other.

The top half? There’s the hint of what might or might not be a pair of boobs. Or they might even be man boobs. So that doesn’t help much either.

I seem to remember Gormley saying something about this shortly after the Angel was commissioned.

He said, if I remember correctly, that the Angel was neither he or she but androgynous.

That means it is neither one thing nor the other, with attributes of both.

So it can be claimed by the macho cricket players of Durham Dynamos or the women players of Sunderland FC is they so wished.

If the Angel can sport a cricket box it can also be adorned with a sports bra.

Anyone know what size?

You are hereby returned to the real world of Jacqui Smith, Susan Boyle, and Newcastle United.