Margaret Thatcher: The anti-feminist

[Turborama]

As Amy posted earlier today, Margaret Thatcher has died. She was Britain’s first and only woman Prime Minister, crashing the ancient iron gates of patriarchal politics. Though her actions can be seen as a feminist victory, she herself was not a feminist. She once said,

“The battle for women’s rights has largely been won. The days when they were demanded and discussed in strident tones should be gone forever. I hate those strident tones we hear from some Women’s Libbers.”

In case you need more proof of her anti-feminism, here’s another gem from the “Iron Lady”:

‘The feminists hate me, don’t they? And I don’t blame them. For I hate feminism. It is poison.”

She was the polar opposite of feminist intersectionality (PDF). Thatcher’s conservatism earned itself a name, Thatcherism, a belief in free markets, free trade, competition, a small state, and self-reliance. She once said, “There is no such thing as society….there are individual men and women and…there are families and no government can do anything…it is our duty to look after ourselves.” As Education Secretary, she cut free school milk for children over the age of seven, which earned her the nick name “Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher.” And her domestic policies as Prime Minister “managed to destroy the power of the trade unions for almost a generation,” and Thatcher and the Thatcherites slashed social programs, including housing and education. After stepping down as Prime Minister, Thatcher continued to serve the interest of the elites, working, for example, for the Philip Morris Tobacco company as a “geopolitical consultant.” She was also racist, and preferred white immigrants over Vietnamese so-called “boat people.” And she supported South Africa’s apartheid regime, calling Nelson Mandela’s ANC “terrorists.” But don’t worry. She hearted the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

More: http://feministing.com/2013/04/08/margaret-thatcher-the-anti-feminist

[elleng]

1. Not according to discussion among historians on Charlie Rose NOW.

(Sorry, henry K is on too. )

[Turborama]

2. Which historians and what are they saying? n/t

[elleng]

3. Amanda Foreman, for one.

Haven't heard of her before. Tina Brown also.

Broad discussion about Thatcher, and just as I saw post suggesting she was not feminist, discussion had ended on the subject, but pretty broad consensus, all around, that she was feminist, determined by her behavior and policies.