To feel sorry for Theresa May

[thinkiamgoingcrazy]

I think she has been an awful PM: evasive / divisive / arrogant / authoritarian / sneering / dog whistling.

I am glad that she no longer has a majority, hopefully allowing more voice to the many and diverse opinions in the oppositions as well as in the moderate wing of the Tory party.

I am also glad that we are apparently going back to government by cabinet meeting rather than by advisers (probable overstatement I know).

And yet I feel sorry for her . Now a puppet at the mercy of her ruthless party.

She reminds me of Glenn Close at the end of Dangerous Liaisons.

nettletheelf you only need to read the comments, going back to time immemorial on MN about Diane Abbott to see real pure hatred from MN'ers to other women.

People still voted Diane Abbott in despite all her faux pas and maths problems. She is teflon!

I don't feel sorry for her. She's a sister, and she bloody terrifies misogynistic men and their entourage because of how capable and driven she is.

Probably the largest unchallenged core of overt misogyny in serious political power in the UK at the moment is the leadership of the unions and their local authority power base. They are truly disgusting and some of the things they have done boggle the mind.

These people throw everything including the kitchen sink at successful driven conservative women because they commit the double crime of a) being a bloody woman and b) repeatedly demonstrating that the other side of politics, for all the old boys and backbenchers is better at women in leadership roles.

What I pity is the poor, stupid women who help them do it, who help them build a mythical narrative of evil and unpopularity around every conservative woman and blame them for everything that happens, ever. We have a feminist prime minister and she is seriously being made fun of for her appearance and having cartoons of herself being sodomized by donald trump appear in Guardian.

Meanwhile the Labour party finds people like Harman, Thornberry, Abbott etc from under a rock somewhere, almost seeming to pick out idiots on purpose, and that is apparently just fine?

Cameron, Gove and Trump get a lot of stick on here as well from people.

Because of the way they behave and act.

I didn't like that either, Hoddtastic.

Incidentally, OohMavis, I didn't suggest that she should be treated more gently because she's female. I objected to her being subjected to more vitriol because she is female.

I sort of agree about the women thing. It feels harder to be liked as a female MP. Always has been : you have to be hard nosed to get on in politics and that can sharpen elbows. But there are now more women in parliament than ever and there are lots of great women MPs (not mine : that's Dorries , shudder) so there is hope for the future.

Many of May's policies don't really support women or families : more women voted Labour than Conservative in this election. And I believe that is a first.

You lost me on May being a feminist.

And them lost me further when you proceeded to sling mud at other women instead.

Well I completely disagree that she is. She's being treated as a shit PM. Because that's what she is.

Meanwhile the Labour party finds people like Harman, Thornberry, Abbott etc from under a rock somewhere, almost seeming to pick out idiots on purpose, and that is apparently just fine?

Read that back to yourself and try to notice the glaring irony.

Meanwhile the Labour party finds people like Harman, Thornberry, Abbott etc from under a rock somewhere, almost seeming to pick out idiots on purpose, and that is apparently just fine?

Just Tory women who are 'sisters' then? The rest of us 'poor, stupid women' are to be found under rocks? Good to know the sisterhood is alive and kicking.

Yeah, an interesting post metslinger, entirely ruined by your last paragraph.

I agree, comments about her appearance, age and childlessness are unacceptable.

To continue, she is getting a bashing because she has fucked over not just her own party but the whole country a week before Brexit talks begin. Needlessly. And she then had the gall to try and act as if nothing had happened.

I wouldnt call Emily Thornberry a idiot She is aggressive on tv, admittedly, but she knows her stuff and isnt as condesending as Diane Abbott can be. Just my opinion, but i admire her ( although i bet i am in the minority) and she clearly really supports and likes JC. Unlike some of the other women in the party. She also makes me laugh sometimes as well.
She is human!!

Also, that is nonsense about 'local authority power bases'. The Tories have systematically dismantled local authorities. They are hardly 'powerful' !

There is a genuine debate and discussion to be had in this country around women in top jobs and it is not helpful to ally that with any one political party. In Scotland, after all, the leader of every party is a woman. The PC is led in Wales by a woman. The DUP by a woman. Progress at least.

I started a very short-lived thread the other day about how many women have risen to lead their parties in the last few years, it's quite a list. And how nobody seems to have noticed, and how wonderful that is.

And then you get people accusing others of turning on a 'fellow sister', simply because they have the temerity to robustly criticize the Prime Minister who happens to be female.

Which is utterly backwards and not helpful at all imo.

80s , I like Emily Thornberry, too - and Harriet Harman.

The woman who won Kensington is popular with many people (obviously as she persuaded many to desert the party of affluence despite their conspicuous wealth).

I missed the bit about 'local authority power bases'. Priceless.

I feel sorry for her in the sense that she was pretty much shoehorned into the role of PM and she wasn't ready for it.

How was she 'not ready for it' when apparently it was an ambition she had been nursing from her school days? Isn't 40 plus years long enough to prepare?

piggy, yes, there are a lot more around then when i was a child/ teen.
Only 'role model' was Mrs Thatcher and she set back women's causes for years by being all ballsy and trying to be too manly in my opinion. (plus she became power crazy and had zero empathy for anyone!) she had a lot of admirers though - my old boss loved her to bits, we agreed to disagree about that.

Its sad that the Labour party have never had a woman leader too.
They must get a hard time of it though. i couldnt be in politics.

YABU

No, I get annoyed with the patronizing backpatting of (for instance) Diane Abbott or Emily Thornberry for basically fucking up one short conversation they will have had a written brief for because they didn't know the stuff they expected to be asked, while Theresa May can become actual PM and the supposedly progressive parts of our country are knocking her for her appearance, describing her as looking like a wicked witch (which by the way is a stock sexist way of describing older women in the slightest position of authority and it sickens me to see women repeating it like it's funny) and portraying her being sodomized by donald trump in the graun.

It is actually an achievement to become PM, and something our DD should aspire to (in a party according to their choice of politics) so when I see this behaviour, it makes me sad/angry. I hope you people don't do this in front of DDs,

For me this stems from a shocking conversation with DD who had decided after a visit to family that do that sort of thing that she would never want to be PM because of how much people would hate her and the mean things people would say about her if she grew up ugly. I was bloody furious^ and will find it difficult to forget.

Sorry, got overly cross but feel better now that's off my chest. Normal service will be resumed shortly.

It is actually an achievement to become PM, and something our DD should aspire to

Yeah, probably best they don't aspire to the May model of PMship.

I get annoyed with the patronizing backpatting of (for instance) Diane Abbott or Emily Thornberry for basically fucking up

Diane Abbott gets savaged on MN. You're just seeing what you want to see.

Also, that is nonsense about 'local authority power bases'. The Tories have systematically dismantled local authorities.

They haven't finished systematically dismantling them yet, but the power base I describe is one reason for them bothering to do so, obvs.