Who else is expecting a tidal wave of self-righteous misogyny?

[SolidGoldBrass]

Given how much left wing men, in particular, love having what they consider justification for a bit of woman-hating, they're all going to be going into overdrive for the next few days...

[tiredlady]

She was no feminist.
I hated everything she stood for as I hate everything that Cameron and co stand for now.
Her being a woman has nothing to do with my utter hatred of her. Some men may possibly have misogyny influncing their dislike of her ( though I do think the decimation of british industry has more to do with it), but for a lot of women like me it has nothing to do with it.
I also can't get my head round this "she was someone's granny" lametation. She was friends with Pinochet ffs. What the fuck has her being a granny got to do with anything

[Sausageeggbacon]

Anyone dying is sad but I won't be shedding tears. I was around when the miners were beaten by the police, I saw the aftermath of the poll tax riots. Misogyny has nothing to do with most peoples dislike of who she was and what she represented. If you see more that that then you might want to go talk to the families that lost everything because of her.

[kungfupannda]

She wasn't a feminist, but her death is bringing out some very relevant comment.

I find it interesting that male leaders, when criticised, are generally referred to as part of their government:

Cameron's government
The coalition
Cameron, Clegg et al
The last labout government
The Blairites
etc

And yet Margaret Thatcher is usually referred to alone, as though she had the rest of the government in helpless thrall.

She's always been a scapegoat for a terrible time in our country's history - she played her part, but last time I checked we weren't a dictatorship. And I don't for one solitary minute believe that her sex has nothing to do with this. History is littered with female scapegoats.

[Sausageeggbacon]

You must of missed her cabinet reshuffles. Anyone on the front bench who so much as sniffed a different opinion was quickly moved to the back bench. She could have done certain things more slowly or less aggressively. Instead she railroaded decisions through. If you lived through it unless you have right wing leanings you would have accepted that she created her image and there was always going to be a backlash from those that suffered.

Nothing to do with her gender, everything to do with how she treated the working class.

[TunipTheVegedude]

I'm with you on this, Kungfupannda.

Even on here people are blaming Thatcher for every single thing done and said by the men in her government. On another thread, I have seen her blamed for the fact that there are still so few women in parliament, as if the sexist culture of the House of Commons didn't even exist.
Thatcher was no feminist but the level of hatred she is getting is highly misogynistic.

So far on Facebook I've seen men and women calling her a witch, but only men calling her a cunt and a harpy.

[Thisisaeuphemism]

Yes, I'm uncomfortable with the level of vitriol, from men on Facebook.

[Lessthanaballpark]

It's interesting watching the blatant sexism that she had to put up with to get as far as she did and the prejudices people had because she was a woman.

She even spoke out against that sexism. But she was very quick to dismiss feminism even though she wouldn't have been there without it.

Did she dismiss feminism because she genuinely hated it, or because she knew how unpopular it would make her?

[namechangeguy]

Facebook is the abode of people who find tying their own shoelaces a challenge.

I am still waiting for a wonderful feminist writer to speak glowingly and positively about the most divisive UK Prime Minister of the 20th century (as requested by another poster in here this morning). I am not surprised to see it hasn't happened. People who are trying to find misogyny amongst all the vitriol should try visiting some of the communities she decimated.

[Thisisaeuphemism]

Natasha Walter has - Mumsnet guest blog.

[tethersend]

This is a tough one. So much of the hate is justified, IMO.

Can you give some specific examples of misogynistic comments as opposed to general celebratory ones?

[TunipTheVegedude]

You don't have to TRY to find the misogyny among the vitriol. It's blatant.

[namechangeguy]

Thank you, Thisisaeuphemism. I have just read that. Not what I would consider a glowing reference, but the author is correct - her achievement has to be acknowledged, as well as her position as a towering influence in 20th century British politics. The great pity is what she did when she got there.

[TunipTheVegedude]

Tethersend - Kate Smurthwaite has pinned some of it down quite well.

[specialsubject]

as always, men are assertive, women are bossy. Men know their own minds, women are fixated. etc etc

she had the absolute conviction that she was right, in common with many politicians and most (bad) managers.

her gender seemed irrelevant to her, which is a good thing. But we probably won't get another female prime minister in our lifetimes.

[FairPhyllis]

SGB YANBU. Especially about left wing misogynist men.

She wouldn't have wanted to be called a feminist, but that doesn't mean that her life and the extraordinary way some people react to her aren't of interest to feminists.

[scottishmummy]

Because she woman who attracts criticism doesn't mean it's criticism of women
The criticism is of the individual,and lets face it she contentious figure

[Thisisaeuphemism]

I remember back then people saying stuff like;
"first female prime minister?" -" nah, she's not female,"
I've seen lots of witch posts and a few about not being human.

No, it wasn't glowing, namechange, but it was the best I could find!

[SelfRighteousPrissyPants]

I hated her because she was a woman- she could have done so much to help women but did the opposite.

[tethersend]

Tunip, thanks for the link. I do get that the examples in that article are misogynistic, I just haven't heard any of them either on here or IRL.

[UniqueAndAmazing]

no, I blame cameron.. not just his government.
have to say in the latter days a lot of her cabinet were aggainst what she did.

[ElectricSheep]

Just watching Maggie and Me on Ch4+1.

Never heard so much chauvinist crap in one hour.

Ye gods, no wonder there hasn't been another woman pm.

[FasterStronger]

Completely side stepping her politics, I found her very inspirational as a young girl. She made me think women could do anything.

Who is inspiration for today's girls?

[namechangeguy]

I am on another forum, mostly male, where the debate over her legacy has been raging since the news. It's a place where casual sexism does crop up. We have had 40 pages of arguing so far, and the mixture of support for her vs. opposition is vastly different to here - far closer to 50-50. I can honestly say that the issue of her gender has not been raised in 40 pages, which has surprised me a little, and pleased me greatly.

I have no doubt you will find misogyny out there amongst the great unwashed, and faceybebo will be just the sort of place for it to appear, given the type of people who use it. But many, many people has strong opinions of her as PM, her policies and her legacy. One thing I have not heard any mention of though - what she was like as an MP, from her constituents.

[caramelwaffle]

FaserStronger

Have a look at this list

The most powerful women in the world today

This is not to mention the female leaders of matriarchal societies and
in-country communities in different parts of the world.

[SolidGoldBrass]

Also, given that it's twenty two years since she left office, behaving as though she is solely responsible for present day social problems seems a bit dim, really. She had a team of ministers behind and alongside her at the time. There have been two Labour governments in the intervening years.