Iron Lady: Difference between revisions
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* [[Margaret Thatcher]] was described as "the only man in the Conservative Party" by former British Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] (who in turn was quoting [[Manny Shinwell|Lord Shinwell]])<ref name=GMaguire1998_01a>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.ie/books?id=PFyCDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA181&dq=the+only+man+in+the+Conservative+Party&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj68vul0NHPAhVcOMAKHR5UDgQQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=the%20only%20man%20in%20the%20Conservative%20Party&f=false |
* [[Margaret Thatcher]] was described as "the only man in the Conservative Party" by former British Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] (who in turn was quoting [[Manny Shinwell|Lord Shinwell]])<ref name=GMaguire1998_01a>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.ie/books?id=PFyCDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA181&dq=the+only+man+in+the+Conservative+Party&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj68vul0NHPAhVcOMAKHR5UDgQQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=the%20only%20man%20in%20the%20Conservative%20Party&f=false |
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|title=Conservative Women: A History of Women and the Conservative Party, 1874–1997|page=181|author=G. Maguire|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780230376120|date=1998|accessdate=11 October 2016|quote=Even Harold Wilson could not help commenting: 'I have no doubt at all that Margaret was elected because of her courage. I agree with Lord Shinwell's view that she stood because she was the only man in the Conservative party.'}}</ref> |
|title=Conservative Women: A History of Women and the Conservative Party, 1874–1997|page=181|author=G. Maguire|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780230376120|date=1998|accessdate=11 October 2016|quote=Even Harold Wilson could not help commenting: 'I have no doubt at all that Margaret was elected because of her courage. I agree with Lord Shinwell's view that she stood because she was the only man in the Conservative party.'}}</ref> |
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* [[Queen Wilhelmina]] of the Netherlands was called "the only man in the Dutch cabinet" by British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]].<ref name=GlobalFundForWomen01b/> |
* [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands|Queen Wilhelmina]] of the Netherlands was called "the only man in the Dutch cabinet" by British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]].<ref name=GlobalFundForWomen01b/> |
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===Other variants=== |
===Other variants=== |
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Revision as of 03:30, 11 October 2016
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Iron Lady was originally the nickname of the deceased British conservative politician and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher,[1] and is a term that is now often used to describe female leaders or heads of government, meaning "strong-willed woman".[2] It was coined by Captain Yuri Gavrilov in a 24 January 1976 article in the Soviet newspaper Red Star about Thatcher's "Britain Awake" speech where she expressed her staunch opposition to the Soviet Union and to socialism.[1][3] It was embraced by Thatcher herself a week later.[4]
The expression is sometimes also used outside politics, such as to describe Hungarian Olympic swimmer Katinka Hosszú.[5][6]
Origin
Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990[1] was the leader for whom the term was coined.[3] On 19 January 1976, Thatcher, having recently been elected Leader of the Conservative Party, gave a speech entitled "Britain Awake" at Kensington Town Hall in Chelsea, London.[1] It included the claim that The Russians are bent on world dominance, and they are rapidly acquiring the means to become the most powerful imperial nation the world has seen.[1] On 24 January, the Soviet military newspaper Red Star published a response to Thatcher's speech by military journalist Captain Yuri Gavrilov.[7] Gavrilov supplied the headline "The 'Iron Lady' Sounds the Alarm"[7] to the piece, intending an allusion to Otto von Bismarck, known as the "Iron Chancellor" of imperial Germany.[8] According to Gavrilov's article, Thatcher was at the time already known as "The Iron Lady" in Britain, supposedly on account of her "extreme conservatism".[7] Gavrilov's article was noticed by the British Sunday Times newspaper the next weekend and subsequently given wide publicity.[8]
On 31 January, a week after Gavrilov's article, in a speech to Conservatives in her Finchley constituency, Thatcher herself embraced the nickname ("... I stand before you tonight ... the Iron Lady of the Western world. ... Yes I am an iron lady...") and compared it to Wellington's nickname, The Iron Duke ("... after all it wasn't a bad thing to be an iron duke, yes if that's how they wish to interpret my defence of values and freedoms fundamental to our way of life.").[4] BBC News reported on it that night.[4]
The nickname stuck firmly to Thatcher. A 2011 biographical feature film about her is called The Iron Lady.
Political usage
'Tough woman' nicknames such as 'Iron Lady' are increasingly being embraced by the 'Iron Ladies' themselves,[9] as Margaret Thatcher also did.[4] Leaders who have earned the unofficial title (some of them post facto) include (in alphabetic order of last name):
- Joyce Banda, President of Malawi (2012-2014).[10]
- Barbara Castle, a prominent British Labour Party politician, whose active political career spanned over 40 years.[11]
- Anson Chan, Hong Kong's former Chief Secretary for Administration (1997-2001), has been referred to as the "Iron Lady" of Hong Kong.[12]
- Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand (1999-2008), and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme since 2009[13]
- Hillary Clinton, 2016 United States Democratic presidential nominee, the former US Secretary of State (2009–2013), U.S. Senator from New York (2001-2009), First Lady of the United States (1993-2001), is sometimes labelled an Iron Lady.[14]
- Park Geun-Hye, first female President of South Korea, is known for her tough stance on North Korea.[15]
- Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia (2010-2013).[16][17]
- Dalia Grybauskaitė, the President of Lithuania since 2009[18]
- Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, former President of Argentina (2007-2015), was called the 'Iron Lady of Argentina', mainly because of her determined attitude towards the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute.[19]
- Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Competition, referred to as the "Iron Lady of Antitrust" or "Steely Neelie"[20]
- Manuela Ferreira Leite, the Portuguese Minister of Education during Cavaco Silva's cabinet between 1993 and 1995, Minister of State and Finances during Durão Barroso cabinet between 6 April 2002 and 2004, and leader of the Portuguese PSD party between 2008 and 2010, was known as the "Portuguese Iron Lady", due to her alleged excessive politics of contention[21]
- Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the fourteenth President of the Philippines (2001-2010), named one of the most powerful women of the world by Forbes magazine.[22]
- Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974, has been retrospectively described as "the Iron Lady of Israeli politics"[23]
- Natalia Petkevich, First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus since 2009[24]
- Biljana Plavsic, the President and Vice-President of Republic of Srpska, and member of presidency of Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina active from 1990–2000 is known as "The Serbian Iron Lady"[25]
- Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil (2011-2016)[26]
- Miriam Defensor Santiago, a former Senator of the Philippines, is often referred to as the Iron Lady of Asia. [27]
- Irom Sharmila, an Indian civil rights activist, is known as "Manipur's Iron Lady"[28]
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia since 2006[29]
- Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979-1990) is the progenitor of this name.[3]
- Yulia Tymoshenko, former Prime Minister of Ukraine (2005, 2007-2010)[30][31]
- Wu Yi, Chinese Vice Premier, has been called the "Iron Lady of China".[9]
Variants
Some female politicians have been given other descriptions or nicknames that bear a similar connotation[32] to that of an Iron Lady, some of them dating from long before 'Iron Lady' was coined:[32]
Metallic variants
- Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was given the nickname "Titanium Lady", playing on some of her similarities with Thatcher.[33][32]
- The "Steel Butterfly" is the nickname of former First Lady Imelda Marcos.[34]
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been called "The Iron Frau";[32] 'Frau' means 'woman' in German.
- Iron Rita is a nickname of former Dutch immigration minister Rita Verdonk[35][36]
"The only man in ..."
- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was described as "the only man in the Cabinet";[32] she was also called "the old witch" by US President Richard Nixon.[32]
- Golda Meir was described as "the only man in the Cabinet" by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion.[32][23]
- Margaret Thatcher was described as "the only man in the Conservative Party" by former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (who in turn was quoting Lord Shinwell)[37]
- Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was called "the only man in the Dutch cabinet" by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.[32]
Other variants
- Critics called Chicago mayor Jane Byrne "Attila the Hen",[32] a pun on "Attila the Hun".
Use outside politics
The expression is sometimes also used to describe women outside politics, such as:
- Katinka Hosszú, Hungarian Olympic swimmer[5][6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "Britain Awake". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
- ^ "the Iron Lady". Harper Collins Publishers. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
politics, British: a nickname often used to describe female heads of government around the world, meaning 'strong-willed woman'. Most famously used of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979 to 1990) Margaret Thatcher
- ^ a b c "Margaret Thatcher – The Iron Lady". BBC. 7 June 2016.
- ^ a b c d "1976 Jan 31 - Margaret Thatcher - Speech to Finchley Conservatives (admits to being an "Iron Lady")". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
Beginning of section checked against BBC Radio News Report 2200 31 January 1976
I stand before you tonight in my Red Star chiffon evening gown. (Laughter, applause), my face softly made up and my fair hair gently waved (Laughter), the Iron Lady of the Western world. A cold war warrior, an amazon philistine, even a Peking plotter. Well, am I any of these things? (No!) Well yes, if that's how they … . (Laughter) … . Yes I am an iron lady, after all it wasn't a bad thing to be an iron duke, yes if that's how they wish to interpret my defence of values and freedoms fundamental to our way of life.
End of section checked against BBC Radio News Report 2200 31 January 1976. - ^ a b Barry Svrluga (7 August 2016). "Katinka Hosszu, swimming's Iron Lady, is raising all kinds of eyebrows". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- ^ a b Rachel Lutz (22 July 2016). "Olympic alchemy: Turning Hungary's 'Iron Lady' Katinka Hosszu into gold". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- ^ a b c Gavrilov, Yuri, "The 'Iron Lady' Sounds the Alarm", Krasnaya zvezda, 1976-01-24, p. 3, translated at The Current Digest of the Soviet Press – Volume 28, Issues 1–13 – Page 17
- ^ a b Amazing & Extraordinary Facts – Prime Ministers, David & Charles, https://books.google.com/books?id=lrKJaTWhlm8C&pg=PT108&dq=%22iron+lady%22+Gavrilov&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UCBnUf6nPImdkQXpvoC4Bw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA
- ^ a b "Iron Ladies uncovered". International Museum of Women (now part of the Global Fund for Women). Retrieved 10 October 2016.
Turning an Insult into Admiration
Rather than fight the nicknames, a new generation of Iron Ladies are embracing them -- and a new generation of constituents is more open to tough women leaders being effective at solving problems. - ^ "Malawi's iron lady Joyce Banda". Kenya Central Online.
- ^ U.K. loses its first Iron Lady By Hasan Suroor (The Hindu) 5 May 2002
- ^ Wan, William (17 August 2014). "Hong Kong's 'Iron Lady' takes up democracy fight with Beijing". Guardian Weekly.
- ^ "Iron lady Helen Clark has steel for global challenge". Stuff.co.nz. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
- ^ Ryan Lizza (17 March 2008). "The Iron Lady". The New Yorker.
- ^ Williams, Ian. "South Korea's 'Iron Lady' Park Geun-hye comes to Washington". NBC News. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
- ^ Aussie Iron Lady will die fighting. The Daily Telegraphy 27 July 2012
- ^ Gillard reveals her inner iron lady, and gets her way. The Sydney Morning Herald 20 November 2011
- ^ Lithuania elects first female president ABC News Dalia Grybauskaite: Lithuania’s ‘Iron Lady’. Khaleej Times.
- ^ Usborne, David (11 February 2012). "Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner: The iron lady of the Malvinas". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Riley, Alan (3 December 2009). "The legacy of the Iron Lady of Antitrust". European Voice. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
- ^ "Manuela Ferreira Leite, Portugal's "Iron Lady"". www.topnews.in. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1370&dat=20020124&id=3oMVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mgsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4030,2570067 Gloria Arroyo: Iron Lady of Asia 24 January 2002
- ^ a b Butt, Gerald (21 April 1998). "Golda Meir". BBC News. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
Golda Meir was the Iron Lady of Israeli politics years before the epithet was coined for Margaret Thatcher. David Ben Gurion once described her as "the only man in the Cabinet."
- ^ "The Successor of Lukashenko could be the "Iron Lady" of Belarus – Natalia Petkevich". newsru.com. 9 July 2006. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ "Biljana Plavsic: Serbian iron lady". BBC News 27 February 2003
- ^ Rohter, Larry (22 June 2005). "Brazil: 'Iron Lady' Is New Chief Of Staff". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
- ^ John Ted Cordero (29 September 2016). "Miriam Defensor Santiago: Asia's Iron Lady".
- ^ Rituparna Chatterjee (20 April 2011). "Spot the Difference: Hazare vs. Irom Sharmila". Sinlung. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
- ^ "Liberia's 'Iron Lady' claims win". BBC. 11 November 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- ^ Ukraine's Iron Lady, Time magazine (30 January 2005)
- ^ Ukraine's Iron Lady provokes rift, The Guardian (3 July 2005)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Iron Ladies uncovered". International Museum of Women (now part of the Global Fund for Women). Retrieved 10 October 2016.
But Iron Lady-like nicknames go way back. Queen Wilhelmina ruled the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She was denied the title of "Supreme Commander" because she was a woman. Yet Winston Churchill dubbed her "the only man in the Dutch cabinet." Other "only men" in their cabinets were Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel, and India's Indira Gandhi. United States President Richard M. Nixon took it a step further, publicly calling Gandhi "the old witch." Chicago, a city no stranger to tough characters, elected its first female mayor in 1979. Critics soon dubbed Mayor Jane Byrne "Attila the Hen." German Chancellor Angela Merkel became "The Iron Frau." And what to call a woman even tougher than iron? For her no-nonsense foreign policy, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was upgraded to "The Titanium Lady."
- ^ Federation of American Scientists. NATO-List: USIA – Albright Foreign Media Reaction: "Titanium Lady Shows Her Mettle in Moscow" The conservative Daily Telegraph pointed out (21 February 1997)
- ^ Rowan, Roy (29 March 1976). "Orchid or Iron Butterfly, Imelda Marcos Is a Prime Mover in Manila". People Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- ^ van Egmond, Joost (2 July 2006). "Iron Rita Loses Her Mettle". Time. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- ^ van de Pol, Jurjen (3 April 2008). "'Iron Rita' Starts New Dutch Political Party After Wilders Film". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- ^ G. Maguire (1998). Conservative Women: A History of Women and the Conservative Party, 1874–1997. Springer. p. 181. ISBN 9780230376120. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
Even Harold Wilson could not help commenting: 'I have no doubt at all that Margaret was elected because of her courage. I agree with Lord Shinwell's view that she stood because she was the only man in the Conservative party.'
External links
- Iron Ladies Uncovered - Feature on Iron Ladies by the International Museum of Women (now part of the Global Fund for Women)