Female Rulers of Europe Part IV:
Foreword
This is my last biography of a female ruler. Next week I will discuss feminist theory and how it applies to the examples laid out in the last few blogs.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was the first female politician to be head of a major political party in the United Kingdom, the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first Prime Minister to have graduated university in the sciences, and, economically speaking, a wildly successful leader. Reading that list of accomplishments anyone would assume that she would occupy a towering position in the world of feminism. However, she remains a controversial figure in feminist reckoning due to her staunchly conservative policies and values.
In this article I hope to explore the various perceptions of Margaret Thatcher, as a woman and as a politician.
Striking Coal Workers
Born Margaret Hilda Roberts, the daughter of a grocer. She was an accomplished student and won a scholarship to study chemistry at Oxford. She earned solid marks in university, but her passion was always with politics and law rather than the sciences. She quickly moved from a position in a lab to become a barrister. From here she swiftly worked her way up the political ladder, and eventually became the first female leader of the opposition in British history. She was dubbed “The Iron Lady” by a Soviet journalist, a name that followed her ever after.
Upon her election to the supreme office of Britain she continued her unyielding march toward conservative economic policies. She vehemently opposed communism and the Soviet Union, allying herself with the similarly inclined Reagan administration in the United States. She is widely credited with rescuing a stagnant British economy, though many resent her due to her aggressive opposition to unions. Her actions in the Falklands and Northern Ireland also drew criticism from abroad. Despite these controversies, she remains highly esteemed by the British public, generally being ranked in the top 5 PMs of all time.
Her controversial status in feminism has been diagnosed in a variety of ways. Some claim that the feminist movement is so inherently left wing that to acknowledge Thatcher as an icon would be to compromise the premises upon which the movement is founded. Others point out that that as prime minister, she neither championed the rights of female workers and mothers nor did she endorse or support other female politicians. She only elected one woman to her cabinet in her long term as PM, the longest in the 20th century.
Others point to quotes attributed to her that seem to directly contradict or criticise the feminist movement. For example:
“The feminists hate me, don't they? And I don't blame them. For I hate feminism. It is poison.”
-Margaret Thatcher to Paul Johnson
She was also Quoted in 1982 saying:
“The battle for women’s rights has been largely won.”
Margaret Thatcher was an enigma. A powerful, independent woman who struggled to overcome discrimination, but also a raging conservative. Perceptions of her cruelty have perhaps been warped by sexism; similarly obdurate conservatives like Churchill are regarded less hatefully by many foreigners. She presents a quandary for feminists everywhere. This is exemplified in the titles of the articles that appear when you google Margaret Thatcher. Such as:
“The Iron Lady was a self-serving anti-feminist” – The Irish Times
Or
“12 Thatcher Quotes to start Women’s History Month off right” – The Washington Examiner
“One woman's success does not mean a step forward for women. Far from 'smashing the glass ceiling', Thatcher made it through and pulled the ladder up after her ”
-Hadly Freeman
References:
Fetters, A. (2019). Margaret Thatcher's Tart Words About Women in Power. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/04/margaret-thatchers-tart-words-about-women-in-power/274785/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Freeman, H. (2019). Margaret Thatcher was no feminist | Hadley Freeman. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-no-feminist [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Hough, A. (2019). Gordon Brown 'third worst PM since 1945', poll of historians finds. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7923790/Gordon-Brown-third-worst-PM-since-1945-poll-of-historians-finds.html [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Ipsos MORI. (2019). Rating British Prime Ministers. [online] Available at: https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/rating-british-prime-ministers [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Leeds, U. (2019). Academics rate Brown one of the worst post 1945 PMs. [online] Leeds.ac.uk. Available at: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/867/academics_rate_brown_one_of_the_worst_post_1945_pms [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Politics Blog. (2019). The prime ministerial ratings game: a parliamentary perspective - Politics Blog. [online] Available at: http://politicsblog.ac.uk/2015/05/05/the-prime-ministerial-ratings-game-a-parliamentary-perspective [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
The Guardian. (2019). Margaret Thatcher: a feminist icon?. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2012/jan/05/margaret-thatcher-feminist-icon [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
The Weekly Standard. (2019). Why Do Third Wave Feminists Hate Margaret Thatcher?. [online] Available at: https://www.weeklystandard.com/art-tavana/why-do-third-wave-feminists-hate-magaret-thatcher [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].