Female Rulers of Europe Part V:
Introduction
Female rulers in the history of Europe are few and far between. Those who are notable are often famous for their cruelty, severity, or sexual promiscuity. I set out to explore these perceptions of ancient queens and contrast them with views of modern female leaders. In this series, I have summarised the lives and accomplishments of Catherine de Medici, Mary Queen of Scots, Catherine the Great, and Margaret Thatcher. These rulers were all noted for violence or intrigue that occured during their reigns. Why is this the case?
Perceptions of Historical Female Rulers
Absolute monarchies were oppressive in a variety of ways. However, they did, in certain cases, grant women who came to the throne a large amount of what French and Raven would call ‘legitimate power.’ This allowed for females to completely control an entire nation. A monarchical system arguably led to more gender equality among rulers than democracy has thus far. Despite this aspect of the system, female rulers were certainly not exempt from criticism and the socio-cultural biases of the time.
Perhaps women in power under a highly patriarchal system used dramatic or violent action in order to cultivate coercive or expert power. While they had legitimate power, they were likely to be opposed as women were seen as weak and incompetent. The women who retained power and thus fame, may have been required to use larger shows of force in order to consolidate their power and create a reputation for themselves as strong leaders. This could also be interpreted in a postmodern light. Michel Foucault argued that power is a kind of ‘power-over.’ He also supposed that power was dynamic and existed only in action.
“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
-Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Another explanation for the different perceptions of male and female rulers could lie in perception of action based on gender; for example, many feminists claim that girls are more likely to be called ‘bossy’ where a boy would be called ‘assertive.’ By the same logic, a king might be called strong and valiant for defending his throne with violence while a queen becomes branded as draconian and scheming.
Richard I or ‘Richard the Lionheart’ was an English king and famous crusader. In fiction and popular history, he is remembered as a valiant and noble king despite spending little time in England and committing horrible atrocities in the crusades; he even put captive Muslim women and children to death. By contrast, Catherine de Medici is remembered primarily for the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre against protestants even though her involvement in the incident is heavily disputed.
Winston Churchill is seen as a hero to many due to his involvement in the second world war. In 2002 he was voted the greatest Briton of all time. However, his views on race and his actions in Afghanistan, India, Africa, and Ireland were objectively horrific. By contrast, Margaret Thatcher has a much more controversial reputation despite having an arguably less contentious reign. Though they were both staunch and unyielding conservatives, Margaret Thatcher’s foreign policy wasn’t nearly as harsh as Churchill’s and they took similar actions domestically. Is it simply the glory of a victorious war that elevates Churchill above Thatcher or is there some sexism at work?
Another potential explanation for the negative perceptions of female rulers comes from the study of feminist history. Feminist history refers to the application of feminist theory to the existing historical narrative, not the history of feminism. Feminist history posits that history is an evolving narrative, and for hundreds of years the people who have been primarily driving that narrative have had biases against women. As such, no female historical figure has escaped this relentless onslaught of criticism. This could explain why male monarchs escape some of the criticisms levied against their female counterparts.
Perceptions of Modern Female Rulers
Modern female heads of state also experience sexism. If you google Theresa May cartoons, she is almost always depicted wearing leopard print shoes. And googling ‘Theresa May shoes’ leads to an endless number of articles about said shoes. If you repeat the search, but replace Theresa May with David Cameron, nearly all the results are still in reference to Theresa May.
It also seems that many of the elected female presidents and prime ministers in Europe are conservative. Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Theresa May, and Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović are all leaders of conservative parties. These leaders may not get the defence they deserve against sexist attacks as feminism is so closely aligned with left wing politics.
While modern female politicians may not have to engage in the murderous skulduggery exhibited by some of the female rulers in history in order to gain power, perhaps the stoic conservatism of leaders like Thatcher and Merkel garners them the respect they need in a male dominated profession.
“The point is not for women simply to take power out of men’s hands, since that wouldn’t change anything about the world. It’s a question precisely of destroying that notion of power.”
-Simone de Beauvoir
References:
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Matthews, J. (1986). Feminist History. Labour History, (50), p.147.
Plato.stanford.edu. (2019). Feminist Perspectives on Power (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). [online] Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-power/#PowResLibFemApp [Accessed 19 Mar. 2019].
Sharkey, L. (2019). The Reason Theresa May Always Wears Leopard Print Shoes Is Actually SO Interesting. [online] Bustle. Available at: https://www.bustle.com/p/theresa-mays-leopard-print-shoes-made-yet-another-appearance-this-weekend-this-might-be-why-9646400 [Accessed 19 Mar. 2019].
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