Why women in power become men
DURING the past week, the world celebrated and mourned the death of the first female British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.
Dubbed The Iron Lady, Thatcher was certainly a polarising figure of the 20th century with her ability to mobilise support and opposition in Britain and globally.
At one end, she has been praised for being the first and only British female prime minister, thereby changing perceptions about the role of women. Those who didn’t subscribe to communism commended her for reducing the power of trade unions that had gripped Britain during the 1970s.
She is hailed for liberating the free market, destruction of communism, defeat of the Cold War and stabilising Britain’s economy.
No matter what a person’s individual belief, it cannot be denied that it takes a woman with a backbone (who might not care to be liked) to carry such actions through.
Yet on the other hand she was vilified by leftists for her privatisation and denationalisation policies. As a result she is blamed for creating Brit- ain’s high unemployment rates in the early 1980s, driving economic growth through materialistic individualism and being famously known as the “milk snatcher” when she abolished free milk for school children aged seven to 11.
It’s quite clear that if anything involved making money and cutting costs, it had Thatcher’s signature of approval on it.
Locally, it’s difficult to like someone who once dismissed Tat’ uNelson Mandela as a terrorist. As a young South African, that just kills any ounce of regard I could possibly have for her.
When the last apartheid president, F W de Klerk, calls her his friend in his tribute to Baroness Thatcher, it leaves a bitter taste.
It goes to show that she was a sympathiser to the apartheid regime. She was, as The Times columnist Justice Malala describes her, “in word and deed, an ardent supporter of the apartheid regime’s leaders and their heinous policy. Her husband, Dennis, happily defied sanctions and did business here.
“She did not lift a finger to aid anti-apartheid organisations.”
What has been interesting for me though about Thatcher is that most of the tributes that sing her praises come from men. Very few prominent women or even feminist organisations have praised her. Among the few women who praised her was Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who has said that although she did not agree with many of her policies, Thatcher “changed history for women”.
She said: “As a woman, I am admiring of her achievements becoming the first woman to lead the United Kingdom, the first female prime minister there. Many around the world will be reflecting upon her life and times today, as is appropriate with the loss of such a significant figure.
“For women around the world, they will be reflecting on the loss of a woman who showed a new way forward for women and a way into leadership.”
However, the majority of women do not see her as a women’s liberation warrior. In the Guardian newspaper, columnist Hadley Freeman wrote, “Thatcher is one of the clearest examples of the fact that a successful woman doesn’t always mean a step forward for women. In 11 years, Thatcher promoted only one woman to her cabinet, preferring instead to elevate men.
Sounds like our own Helen Zille’s all male cabinet, if you ask me.
In an interview with Marian Schnall, feminist and well-known American author Alice Walker de- scribed Thatcher’s leadership as patriarchal and uninspiring. “Her power was so patriarchal . . . It was very clear that she was still surrounded by men and becoming more male every day.”
Not one of my politically inclined female friends had anything positive to say.
“She is so unfeminine,” said one.
Another didn’t like Thatcher’s comments describing the ANC as a terrorist organisation and refused to watch the movie, The Iron Lady, in protest. My own late mother used to describe her as a man, accompanied by a distasteful expression on her face.
Facebook friends had similar views.
As far as Thatcher goes, people were in awe of her. Did women respect her? Most probably yes.
Did women like her? Not really. Women in general don’t like iron ladies.