I’ll start from the premise that anybody who’s got as far as reading this had no particular love for Margaret Thatcher. If this doesn’t apply to you, this article will not help. You’re on the wrong blog. Go away now. Bye bye.
Yesterday, today and probably for the next week or so, people are sharing the glad tidings around TwitFace in succinct missives ranging from jubilant celebration to wary reminders that this doesn’t change the way things are and we must keep up the fight against Thatcher’s legacy. There’s nothing wrong with either of these sentiments. While we must not forget that the wheels she put in motion are still driving the cogs that grind us into submission on a daily basis, we’re also entitled to blow off a little steam, and even to celebrate the presence of one less architect of our oppression wasting our oxygen with their vile presence on this planet. However, unusually for a such a potent symbol of rampant destructive capital, and especially for one in a position to wield so much power against the working class, she was a woman. What does this mean for the conscientious Thatcher-basher? Let’s try out a few suppositions that are making their presence felt throughout that amorphous confusion of privilege, oppression, liberal denial, radical indignation and occasional hope that our newspapers refer to as “The Left”.
Does it mean you can’t say anything these days cos feminists and political correctness has gone mad innit?
No.
Does it mean that we have to acknowledge her as a feminist icon because being in power was harder for women and she raised women’s political status and all that?
No. That is, it probably was harder for her than it would have been for a man, because patriarchy etc., but it’s not as if she was pursuing a feminist goal or fighting oppression. Her ambitions were quintessentially individualist. She wasn’t raising the status of women, in fact she used every feminine stereotype she could to promote herself while reinforcing working class women’s oppression. You don’t get to claim any feminist kudos for breaking glass ceilings when you rain down shattered glass on the women below in the process. Feminism (which Thatcher loathed) wasn’t, and isn’t, about getting to the top and playing with the big boys, it’s about bringing the big boys down, along with all the structures maintained by patriarchy and capitalism. Let’s get one thing entirely clear: Thatcher was no feminist, and she did shit all for women.
Does it mean that we can’t vilify her because we wouldn’t be vilifying a man in the same way?
No, we can definitely vilify her. But we should be careful about how we vilify her, because patriarchy does make it so much easier to vilify women as women, in ways that are harmful to all women rather than just the villains. That said, give her credit: she was vilified for far more than just her gender, and there are many very good reasons why Thatcher holds such a special place in the nation’s gallbladders. She was the one who turned on the tap for all the neoliberal free market shit we’ve been wading through for the past three decades. Why vilify her for being a woman when there’s her role in privatising services, destroying industries, breaking unions, starting wars, atomising communities and, lest we forget, stealing milk from babies.
It’s true that any other Prime Minister at that time would have done similar things, and that every one since has continued the job, and it’s also true that a man might have got away with much of it with less flack from the press. Doesn’t make Thatcher any less of a villain. If we want to be fair and break down the gendered vilification, let’s get ready to blow the roof off when Blair carks it.
Does it mean I can’t call Thatcher a bitch, cunt, hag, harridan, cow or cast aspersions on her sexual integrity or attractiveness?
I don’t know where you think I acquired magic powers from, but I can’t actually stop you from saying anything.
But would it be wrong for somebody who thinks of themselves as a feminist or feminist ally to use those words against Thatcher?
Look, I’m not about making naughty lists, here. Words and their meanings are fluid, and often context-dependent. But as a general rule, insults that are only used for women are misogynist, k? A good litmus test is to ask yourself if you’d ever find occasion to use the same insult on a man, without the insult centring on implying he’s like a woman. If you’re not sure, try it on Cameron and see how it fits. There are very few insults that aren’t suitable for him.
Also, be aware that people who hear you using those insults on Thatcher without first seeing you use them on Cameron will be perfectly justified in assuming misogyny, as that’s the usual meaning of those words. Don’t come back with “But I used the same insult on Cameron, so it’s OK!” One cross-gender insult does not wash away centuries of misogynistic cultural baggage. Best response to being called out on this is to apologise and use a more gender-neutral insult (on Thatcher, not the person who called you out. Unless they were defending Thatcher).
Does that mean I just can’t insult women?
Not at all. What’s wrong with calling Thatcher a venomous, putrid crust of syphilitic smegma on the chode of the universe? Or if you don’t like the vulgarity, go for the surreal: Thatcher was a wax-encrusted elbow-joint of the highest order. Be creative. Please feel free to use the comments on this post to practice your non-gendered insults, provided you aim them only at Thatcher.
Where do you stand on singing “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead?”
Tough one. The history of witch persecution is fraught with the very foundations of modern capitalist and patriarchal oppression, as anybody who’s read Silvia Federici knows. But there are so few songs you can sing joyfully about the death of somebody thoroughly deserving.
You want a proper argument in defence? Give me a minute.
OK, got one. The cultural connotations of “witch” in the modern day are so fragmented, having passed from fairy tale and myth through church/state persecution, a modern reinvention as “Wicca”, developing into a full-fledged sub-culture with often positive portrayals in TV drama and children’s literature, it could be argued that the word “witch” is now primarily a fairly neutral term for a female magic-user and serves only to denote the profession of the woman in question, not her moral status. After all, the song takes care to distinguish: “Which old witch? The wicked witch,” suggesting that wickedness is by no means assumed by the term’s use. If Glinda, the good witch, can allow the munchkins their song of triumph over the ruby-slippered menace that has oppressed them for so long, who am I to begrudge it?
Nat
9 April 2013
*Really* wishing I could come up with a good insult now. I tend to veer away from the humorous, so ‘contemptible shithead’ is my favourite but that’s just not strong enough here.
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
Contemptible shithead is a perfectly reasonable starting point. 🙂
Moneyperson
9 April 2013
How about “unspeakably foul, venemous creature”
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
Foul and venomous, all good. We could quibble over the specificity that “creature” acquires when applied to the feminine, but it’s certainly not intrinsically gendered.
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
Just to up the stakes for the insult contest – it seem that Chumbawamba have sent me *two* copies of ‘In memorium: Margaret Thatcher’ in error, so I’m going to offer one to whoever comes up with the best genderless insult.
For those who don’t know, this is an album they recorded and pressed a few years back that could only be ordered in advance, to be despatched upon the glorious day and arrive the morning after the initial partying. I’m listening to it now, and it’s sounding good!
Hannah Kay
9 April 2013
Thatcher did nothing but reinforce patriarchal capitalism by putting more and more men in positions of power with her policies. I can’t believe that there are women who look up to her.
The Pretty Serpent
9 April 2013
Reblogged this on The Pretty Serpent.
bakingbeardy
9 April 2013
I’m not with you about there being very few songs that are appropriate. Thatcher inspired LOADS of protest music/folk songs! I’d prefer to stay away from something potentially gendered in their favour…
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
That’s true – it’s been a good couple of days for anarcho-punk on Facebook. Also, the aforementioned Chumbawamba CD is excellent!
naggedbycats
9 April 2013
Yes, but those works are a touch obscure to your average citizen, no? Also isn’t there a certain justice in using a song from something so central to gay culture in reference to she who oversaw to the implementation of clause 28?
bakingbeardy
9 April 2013
Not obscure in Ireland. 😉
And witch is just a bit gendered for my taste. As said, there’s a lot of great non-gendered insults out there – I don’t even want to walk the line, if you know what I mean?
Tina Price-Johnson
9 April 2013
“Thank You Very Much” from the musical Scrooge works quite well as a song to post, in place of “Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead”.
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
I’d never heard it before, but it does!
oskar
9 April 2013
And this is what happend
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/455054/20130409/thatcher-death-party.htm
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
Yes, yes it did, though that isn’t the best article to get an idea of what was really happening. And it’s not over yet. I hear they’ve cancelled army leave in preparation for the funeral.
Circuit Ben
9 April 2013
I’m singularly failing at gender neutrality. I’m glad that ignorant cock-end is dead.
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
“David Cameron is an ignorant cock-end.”
“Margaret Thatcher was an ignorant cock-end.”
I don’t see it working particularly differently in those contexts. Works for me. 🙂
Anne (@greengranma)
9 April 2013
Sign ‘Book’ of Celebration of Maggie Thatchers dea… http://www.caeraugreens.com/2013/04/sign-book-of-celebration-of-maggie.html?spref=tw
Runakuna
9 April 2013
Hmm. The other day I suggested that what I think of IDS rhymes with “complete stunt” (with reference to his view on the petition that he should live on £53 a week), but the word I was thinking of is arguably both the ultimate in gendered insults and totally unsuitable for describing anything that isn’t worthy of due reverence, (or kissing, which is what I was given consent to do with the last one I came into suitably close quarters with).
Does one really need to resort to profanity? Were someone to describe me as the kyriarch responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in an illegal war and who directly and indirectly brought poverty and misery on millions both under my own direct regime and otherwise, such that many wished for an imminent but slow and agonising end to my worthless existence, that would be infinitely more hurtful than anything else I could come up with.
I’m only sorry she didn’t die alone and in agony in a doorway, in a pool of her own shit. Spiteful and vindictive? Yes. Simple justice? Arguably. Forgiveness for what Thatcher did does not come easily.
Still, those whom the Gods love die young in full possession of their senses. Should there be an afterlife, we can guess where Thatcher is going.
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
One doesn’t *need* to resort to profanity, it’s just fun sometimes. 🙂
Cunt is another controversial one – personally, my aim is to bring it into line with the male member (stop sniggering) and use it only casually as an offhand, minor insult, rather than the-very-worst-thing-you-can-possibly-say-evar. Which also makes it unsuitable for Thatcher.
BTW, there’s been a load of “Thatcher in hell” jokes going around. My favourite’s that she’s already closed three of the pits and the demons are picketing to keep her out.
Blue Chris
9 April 2013
Splendid article, thanks for posting. Am I allowed to nitpick and ask whether ‘syphilitic’, through reference to venereal disease, carries a suggestion of slandering by conjecturing sex-worker status, and thus should also preferentially be replaced by something more innocent like tuberculotic or gammy? For the prize draw, might I suggest:
“Thatcher’s ideology was so obnoxious in concept and implementation that she was highly respected by Ronald Reagan.”
Laia Odo
9 April 2013
Oooh, burn!
Surely it’s not only prostitutes that get syphilis? But yes, feel free to replace it with a more suitable disease as appropriate.
Robert
12 April 2013
Back to syphilis… the reason it’s used as an insult is not just because it’s an unpleasant illness but also because it implies moral indecency (unsafe sex with strangers) and also because of the associated madness that develops in later stages. If we want to avoid stigmatising sexual choices and mental health issues it should probably be avoided… as for the other diseases, I’m not sure that illness is the way to go because many pleasant people contract horrible illnesses.
Hmmmm.
How about, “Maggie Thatcher was a retch and wretch-inducing sack of corporeal and ideological diarrhea that sprayed and smeared herself into the foundations of our society by offering shiny dangle-berries to the self-interested”.
Works adequately for the front bench at present too.
Laia Odo
13 April 2013
That’s got to be the favourite insult so far!
Hmmm, as for the implications of syphilitic, I’d completely agree if I were implying that *she* were syphilitic, but I’m implying that she was a symptom of the disease – or, perhaps, was herself the disease – rather than that she was a sufferer of it. Rather like calling somebody a boil because it’s a painful irritation, not because having a boil is shameful in any way. We were all afflicted by Thatcher.
Blue Chris
9 April 2013
Agreed, and far be it from me to slander prostitutes as more syphilitic than the ambient population – as I have no statistics to hand confirming such a conjecture. But I wouldn’t want to play into a stereotype if alternative conditions are available, such as:
“Thatcher did for British industry what Hodgkin’s lymphoma does for the lymph nodes, but without the 84% survival rate”*
*Yes, I did look it up on Wikipedia
lookinbeyondthereal
9 April 2013
Reblogged this on lookinbeyondthereal and commented:
Hahaha great start!
Augustus Pinochet
9 April 2013
Hi, is “maggie thatcher the tampon taxer” acceptable?
I really wanted to call her a vicious heartless cunt but Iam reserving that specifically for George Osborne at the minute.
Laia Odo
10 April 2013
Did she introduce a tax on tampons? That I didn’t know…
Tom Webster
11 April 2013
She brought in VAT on tampons which was to redefine them as unnecessary ‘luxury goods’ (which, of course, prompted a great deal of misogynist abuse – the absurdity was sufficient in itself to provoke genderless abuse but her gender was crucial in the form of the responses – the same is true for the ‘milk-snatcher’ abuse: the decision was actually not hers but as an ‘anti-mother’ that was ignored).
amithbn
9 April 2013
Reblogged this on amithbn and commented:
This is gold!
Hawdd Cwyno (@HawddCwyno)
9 April 2013
Never mind what music she gave birth to – how about a whole band – UB40?
Laia Odo
10 April 2013
And that unemployment rate’s almost been back to one in ten. Much more for younger age brackets. And now I must go to YouTube and listen to UB40.
alharron
10 April 2013
Another good tactic is to point out that one of the most impassioned and powerful criticisms of Thatcher was from a woman:
Laia Odo
10 April 2013
They always were. One news story I remember from some time in the mid to late 80s was an interview with a woman who was celebrating her hundred-and-somethingth birthday – I think she was possibly the oldest living person in the UK at that time, and she’d been a suffragette. The interviewer was patronising her, making a big deal about how far we’d come, then he asked what she thought of our woman Prime Minister. She looked like she wanted to spit, and said she’d better not answer because they wouldn’t be able to broadcast it. I’ve got a feeling whatever was on her lips would win the Chumba CD hands down.
Fiona
10 April 2013
Thank you for providing a little levity at this moment.
My theme music at the moment is Dylan’s “Masters of War” — the last verse a celebration and a warning for continued vigilance. Corrupt people die, but corrupt ideas have a way of being resurrected.
Laia Odo
13 April 2013
Can’t argue with a bit of Dylan. 🙂
Hazel Hedge
10 April 2013
Love this blog, have been linking to it and tweeting it all over the place, including in my own blog on the subject of Thatcher-dead, but only just remembered to come back and comment! Big thanks to Emma Pooka and AWOL for putting my feelings into words. Also spotted this one today (a more sedate but still feisty feminist take): http://hampshirefeministcollective.co.uk/2013/04/09/an-open-letter-to-american-feminists-on-the-death-of-margaret-thatcher/
Laia Odo
13 April 2013
Thanks Hazel, and I loved your post, too!
Tom
11 April 2013
I think for genderless insults for conservatives we need to go back to the classics, so I give:
“A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality.”
To quote the bard.
Laia Odo
13 April 2013
There’s some great ones in Henry IV, but for appropriateness to the occasion:
“You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe!”
fleabite
11 April 2013
Reblogged this on and commented:
spot on analysis from a fellow AFed member and feminist in Liverpool.
Laia Odo
12 April 2013
Thanks everyone for your comments, songs, insults and reblogs! That CD will be up for grabs until Tuesday 16th (I thought, give it a week, and maybe a few more good insults will roll in during the funeral).
ETA: OK, I got the day of the funeral wrong. I’ll keep the comments open until Thursday 18th, the day after the funeral.
jon
12 April 2013
I think the best way of celebrating thatcher’s is to say nothing. No dancing or jigging, just silence. The jubilation at her death is ghoulish. We need people to fight her legacies but this hatred is unhealthy, it eats into people and makes them irrational.
Laia Odo
13 April 2013
Odd that you think the best way to combat hatred is to say nothing, yet you come onto a blog full of people who you know disagree just to tell us so. That seems irrational to me. Are you sure your hatred isn’t eating into you, just a little?
I find it healthier to pour mine into effective activism, and blow off any extra steam through humourous blog posts and the odd bit of jubilant singing and dancing. To each their own, eh?
Tom
13 April 2013
One of our greatest Prime Ministers. God rest her soul and may she rest in peace.
Laia Odo
13 April 2013
Ha! Nice one. Always room for sarcasm on this blog.
Tom
13 April 2013
Actually, I was being deadly serious.
Laia Odo
13 April 2013
LOL! Stop it, Tom, you’re killing me!
tdizzle12
14 April 2013
So a strong, intelligent woman brings the British economy back from shambles and she is bad? Also, why not give a few bullet points on what should have been done instead? So much hate on ignorant threads like this. “Cherio!!! I’m from Britian, I am better than everyone.”
Runakuna
14 April 2013
No, a ruthless, cunning excuse for humanity, who makes me embarrassed to acknowledge that I’m a member of the same species, willfully destroyed the power of ordinary people in the interests of the rich few, sentencing millions to worsening poverty in the name of profit. Her economic legacy was one that led to the present artificial economic crisis and her political one was a lurch to the right, legitimising greed over compassion.
I’ve heard it said that she broke the glass ceiling, which is true, with the help of other forms of privilege, showering shards with her own face reflected in them upon all below her, male and female alike.
What should have been done instead?
* Investment in public services, benefiting all, employing more.
* A guaranteed income, with all that comes with that. http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/4100
* Nationalised industries should have been kept that way, instead of being flogged off for short-term gain and political popularity, and profits for shareholders, rather than the people.
*Investment of oil revenue, instead of handing it over to arms manufacturers.
I could go on, but I’m mostly preaching to the choir here.
Hatred, yes. Ignorance, no. It’s a hatred not limited to Thatcher. The same applies to the ruling kleptocracy, in all its facets, political, business and media. I wish them dead too, preferably in agony. Thatcher’s peaceful death cheated many of us.
Tom
14 April 2013
Fair point
Tom
14 April 2013
That is, tdizzle makes a fair point
Laia Odo
14 April 2013
Oh Tom, you continue to crack me up! What a joker!
Not entirely sure what tdizzle12’s point was if they had one. They seemed to be responding to a different article, perhaps one that intended to celebrate Thatcher’s life and policies and made some kind of deal about nationality, rather than one proclaiming itself a feminist guide to celebrating Thatcher’s demise.
Jess
14 April 2013
Think maybe we as feminists should find something more productive to be angry about, rape? equal pay? sports coverage?, not sure wishing a person a horrible tragic death and swearing about her gets much done whether or not you agreed with her policies.
Laia Odo
14 April 2013
Ah, the old “If you’re saying something I don’t like you must never say or do anything else” argument. Why yes, you’re right Jess, I’ve never written, spoken, thought or taken action on anything besides Margaret Thatcher’s death, in fact I wasn’t born until last week. Rumbled!
Linge
15 April 2013
So you’re actually comparing the celebration of Thatcher’s death to the celebration the munchkins put on when the Wicked Witch of the West is dead? You do realise that you’ve essentially just compared Margaret Thatcher to one of the most misunderstood characters of all time? Oh, the irony.
Laia Odo
16 April 2013
No, I’m comparing the celebration of Thatcher’s death to the Munchkins’ celebration when the Wicked Witch of the *East* is dead. The life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West was a horse of a different colour.
But literary nit-picking aside, the misunderstanding of Margaret Thatcher isn’t the issue here. I’m not celebrating her death because she was an unpleasant or wicked person (though I’m sure she was), my resentment is based on the very real damage she did, and that isn’t a matter of “understanding”, it’s a matter of perspective.
Roland Rance
17 April 2013
A friend pointed out this passage from Moby Dick: “All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil”
Tom
17 April 2013
“There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness”.
Laia Odo
17 April 2013
Woe at Thatcher’s death would certainly be madness.
Frances
17 April 2013
I simply know that Thatcher was wrong.
Laia Odo
12 May 2013
In case anybody was wondering, the winner of the insult competition was Robert in comment 23 for “Maggie Thatcher was a retch and wretch-inducing sack of corporeal and ideological diarrhea that sprayed and smeared herself into the foundations of our society by offering shiny dangle-berries to the self-interested”. Congratulations Robert!
Robert has declined the Chumbawamba CD, which I will e-bay and donate the proceeds to Liverpool’s radical social centre Next to Nowhere, a true reminder that there is such a thing as society, and we’re it.
Robert Davidson (@bobbledavidson)
7 February 2015
Hi all,
I’m popping up again because my ‘winning’ comment about “offering shiny dangle-berries to the self-interested” appears to have become somewhat relevant once more – not in relation to Thatcher, but for Cameron’s election campaign. I just received this email from Conservative HQ:
“See how much our income tax cuts will save you – try our quick calculator today.
The Conservatives believe in cutting taxes.
If you’re working hard to provide for your family, you should keep more of the money you earn.
That’s why we’ve cut income tax every year we’ve been in office – and why we’re committed to keep on cutting income tax after the next election.
Over 24 million people have had their income tax cut. To find out how much you’ll save, use our simple tax cut calculator today:”
If this was from MoneySupermarket.com, I’d accept it as spam: “See how much you will save”.
But they’re cutting so deep and so hard. Still. They offer savings, but with no acknowledgement of the depravation this will cause. Tax cuts. In a time of poverty.