Last edited Mon Nov 11, 2024, 01:41 AM - Edit history (1)
for purposes of this discussion, I think valid points can be made. I stipulate I cant think of one issue of major importance with which I agree with her on. And the purpose of my post is NOT to debate her policies. I am, in good faith, trying to describe the type of woman I think would break through the glass ceiling here in the US.
I’m referring to Margaret Thatcher, long-time Prime Minister of the Uk from 1979-1990. Her nickname was”The Iron Lady.”
I became interested in her after the movie where she was played by Meryl Streep. I’ve read quotes from the liberal Ms. Streep where she expreses admiration and respect for Thatcher.
She came from a middle class upbringing, working in her dad’s grocery store. She came from well outside of London. She climbed the ladder within the Tory party to become the party leader and finally PM. She didnt have a “name” that opened doors. She wasnt part of the aristocracy. She married and raised kids, while tending to her political career. She didnt benefit from her husband’s name or his prior position. She had to earn each rung of the ladder as she climbed, and she wasnt particularly well-liked, because she was a woman, tough, serious, and intelligent (but not in a pedantic, elite, academic way). She wasnt a feminist, and she didnt consider her being a woman her most important trait. She just happened to be one.
She was someone who aspired to be a great leader of a once great nation in need of one, and being the first woman this or that wasnt a big deal to her. Reportedly, Queen Elizabeth, with whom she met nearly weekly, was a little intimidated by her early on, But, mutual respect grew over the years. The Queen eventually went to Thatcher’s funeral in 2013. The only other commoner PM funeral she attended? Winston Churchill.
By most measures, the two greatest British PMs in the last 150 years were Churchill and Thatcher. They arent celebrated as one male PM and one female. No, (again, politics aside) they were great because they were consequential, greatly respected, and constantly turned to by other world leaders
Here in America, a woman cant make it past dog catcher before her gender is her main identity. Then, we must know where she stands on abortion, because obviously women think about it after every breath. Then, we obsess over what other women think of her. And God forbid she hold a view on a womens’ issue counter to the ‘mainstream.’
I dont see voters at present supporting a candidate, who just happens to be a woman, without her being a women being central to who she is and thus central to the campaign. I dont think the vast majority of men voters are opposed to a woman president. They just dont want her gender to be all-consuming.
All that said, I dont know of an American female leader today who could fit the Thatcher mode. But, if she’s out there, absolutely she could be President someday.
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