Margaret Thatcher - Feminist Icon?

Jesus, no- I meant preclude

"[Margaret Thatcher's] policies do not proclude her from being a feminist icon; any more than having a vagina makes her one."

Quote of the week?

"Whether you agree with her politics or not, it can't be disputed that becoming Prime Minister was an amazing achievement."

Aye, there's the rub- the fact that this is still the case makes me very, very sad indeed.

I think she was utterly evil; however, I think it is dangerous to align feminism with left wing views.

Her policies do not proclude her from being a feminist icon; any more than having a vagina makes her one.

I am a Yank and was only 8 when she got elected. But I have always wondered if anyone would have dare asked HER the snivelling question they always ask women executives or politicians:

"Maggie, is it possible for a woman to "have it all???"

Somehow, I think not. Unless I'm missing something.

The majority of discussion around her concerns her policies, which were contentious- of course. But what I think is great is that it is not GENERALLY about the fact that she was a woman. In the history books it's going to be Margaret Thatcher, responsible for xyz, first, and Margaret Thatcher, first woman PM, second. A close second, but second.

I think Mrs Thatcher has to be admired purely because she reached the office of Prime Minister. She was also a Prime Minister who made radical changes - something that not every Prime Minister has done. I'm quite shocked at some of the comments on here; I agree that she is probably so vilified in some quarters because she was a woman. It's ironic that women who identify themselves as feminists can hold such views. Are all women in public life/office supposed to be whiter than white, caring and compassionate whilst men can be a wide range of things? That doesn't sound very feminist to me.

I wouldn't describe her as a feminist. She was obviously a very driven individual who was extremely successful, against the odds really. As someone else pointed out, she was also a scientist - another unusual thing for a woman. I imagine she didn't see being a woman as a disadvantage, therefore didn't see that feminism was relevant.

Whether you agree with her politics or not, it can't be disputed that becoming Prime Minister was an amazing achievement. In the 1980s my dad was talking to his class and mentioned a previous prime minister. One little boy said, "are men allowed to be Prime Minister too then?" I don't think any child would think that today!

She revelled in her capacity to not give a f*ck. What a badge of honour.

"Its nothing to do with the empire, look at the 1970s Britain was an absolute mess with a backwards and uncompetitive economy and she turned it around."

Really? I remember some very very dark economic days in the '80's and '90's.

She isn't/wasn't a sociopath though. Just very driven, cold and committed to the free market economy. Just like a lot of business men. Only the bottom line matters. Except she wasn't really because the privatisation of say, water companies hardly opened up the market to competition.

I disagree, her gender has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Quite, Nanc

Irrespective of whether you agree(d) with her policies or not, it is testament to the dire state of play WRT women's position in politics that Margaret Thatcher is hailed as a feminist icon by virtue of having a vagina.

She is held up as a feminist icon because she is the only female Prime Minister we have ever had. That in itself is a disgrace.

hitler had power of his convictions...should we herald him too??

her actions killed people, people died and lives were ruined, industries destroyed and areas on the country totally decimated and still to this day haven't recovered. Her values didn't cover any 'isms' racism feminism humanism she was a cold hearted socio path and people who would celebrate her need to be better informed or look at their own morals.

Tell that to the people whose lives she couldn't have given a monkey's arse about........

Its nothing to do with the empire, look at the 1970s Britain was an absolute mess with a backwards and uncompetitive economy and she turned it around.

At what expense though nurter?

I have noticed that people who support Thatcher seem to have silly, misplaced, snobbish ideals about the so called British Empire (zzzzzzzzzz). Like we need to prove how superior we are. It's pathetic.

I agree it's not on to bring her illness into it. Illness should never be joked about whoever it is. The woman was a monster though, I don't see how anyone could think any different.

People who have zero empathy surely have psychopathic tendencies. I don't think so called strength and determination is enough to deservedly win you a place in history as an icon, when ethically sound decision making is a concept that escapes you entirely.

Undoubtedly, Thatcher is the only female and the greatest Prime Minister since WW2. She took an economy that was a basket case that had needed IMF assistance and turned it into one of the strongest in Europe, she stopped the union barons holding country to ransom as well as successfully defending our sovereign territory when it was invaded by Argentina. Her influence exists to this day as Mandelson said "We are all Thatcherites now"

she evidently had some feminist beliefs. she would never believe she couldn't do science, or law, because she was a woman. Chemistry was a challenging field for a woman to enter when my sister did in the early 2000s....never mind when she did.

she never believed she was unfit to rule, because she was a woman. She never backed down from being a woman, used it in her rhetoric, played it as a strength - she embraced the 'iron lady' moniquer. no-one called her Reagans 'poodle'!

she showed no interest in womens issues - true - there may well have been political reasons for that (and indeed, doing things like increase child benefit was hardly in line with her general economic thrust) nor did she actively seek to promote women (but this just means she didn't favour positive discrimination)

there is a strong association in the minds of some between socialism and feminism but i don't buy that: a feminist is someone who thinks men and women should enjoy equal chances in life. how you do that ...well there are many ways, and scattered across the political spectrum.

she championed individualism, certainly... there is something feminist about that.
it is when people make generalisations and ignore the individual in front of them, that chauvinism triumphs.

actually Meryl Streeps quote on woman's hour was insightful...'people didn't hate her policies, they hated her. Many of the architects of those policies are still in political life. They are men however, so the hatred she receives...it raises my hackles as a feminist' (or words to that effect)

There are similarities between Maggie T and Queen Elizabeth 1st. They both were women in a very male dominated world and they both used their sex to manipulate the men around them. I think Maggie T had no women in her cabinet because a woman would have told her to get knotted whereas the men all loved her dominatrix style. They were all panting for her. I heard an interview very recently where a former (male) colleague breathlessly described how she had once patted him flirtatiously. Still drooling after all these years[shocked]

I hugely admired QE1, who would make no windows into mens' souls but despised Maggie T who believed in looking after No 1. I was brought up in a very christian household and everything she said and did violated all I had been taught to believe in. Conservatives still make me feel ill for that reason.

Yes, I suppose she is, although she did nothing for women while she was in power (positively the opposite, actually).

But just by becoming the Prime Minister and wielding such power for so many years, I suppose she must be admired

I always admired the fact that she needed only a few hours sleep a night. I would love that sort of physical stamina.

She was no feminist and would have been horrified to have been called one.

There's more to being a feminist than being a successful woman.

Is she hated more because she is a woman - possibly - simply because so many of us who have fought for women's rights over the years feel her reign saw so many backward steps for those rights, their advocates and our communities.

Which all begs the question: Can a feminist be Thatcherite - espousing free market economics, against organised labour/trade unions, libertarian?

I would think probably not, but it's an interesting idea.

As I remember she criticised working for mothers for not prioritising their children and spoke with horror of the 'creche' generation, yet she had children, employed a nanny and went back to work. Pity for the rest of us.

Hecate, I think Cameron's getting there, in the hatred stakes. But he won't serve as long as Thatcher, so maybe he won't be quite so painfully remembered.

I certainly don't single her out because she is a woman - I lump her in with her croney Reagan as the architects of social destruction!