Iron Lady

Iron Lady is a nickname that has frequently been used to describe female heads of government around the world. The term describes a "strong willed" woman. This iron metaphor was most famously applied to Margaret Thatcher, nicknamed so in 1976 by the Soviet media for her staunch opposition to communism.^[1]

Contents 1 Use in politics 2 Politicians with similar names or variants 3 Other uses 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

Use in politics

Leaders who have earned the unofficial title (some of them postfactum) include:

• Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 (leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990)
• Benazir Bhutto, the Prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996 (leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party from 1982 till 2007, head of the MRD from 1982 till 1989, and ARD from 2002 until 2005.
• Barbara Castle, a prominent British Labour Party politician, whose active political career spanned over 40 years.^[2]
• Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984
• Nilde Iotti, President of Italian Chamber of Deputies from 1976 to 1992
• Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974^[3]
• Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the President of Argentina from 2007 to the present
• Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the second woman President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010, dubbed as the "Iron Lady of Asia"
• Wu Yi, known as the "Iron Lady of the People's Republic of China," active in PRC politics through 2007, retired in March 2008
• Eugenia Charles, the Prime Minister of Dominica from 1980 to 1995, known as the "Iron Lady of the Caribbean"
• 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"[1]
• 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^[4]
• Miriam Defensor Santiago, Tagged as the Iron Lady of the Philippines in the Philippine Senate
• Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2007 to 2010 (and in 2005)^[5][6]
• Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme since 2009^[7]
• Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil^[8] since 2011
• Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany since 2005
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia since 2006^[9]
• Dalia Grybauskaitė, the President of Lithuania since 2009^[10]
• Natalia Petkevich, First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus since 2009^[11]
• Helen Zille, Premier of Western Cape, South Africa, Leader of Democratic Alliance since 2009
• Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948, known for her soldier-like demeanor and her cool fearlessness during World War II.

Politicians with similar names or variants

Some female politicians have been given similar nicknames:

• Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Competition, referred to as the "Iron Lady of Antitrust" or "Steely Neelie"^[12]
• The Iron (or Steel) Butterfly is a nickname of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos.^[13]
• Iron Rita is a nickname of former Dutch immigration minister Rita Verdonk^[14][15]
• "Jern-Erna" (meaning; "Iron-Erna") is a nickname of the leader of the Norwegian Conservative Party, Erna Solberg.
• Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was given the nickname "Titanium Lady", playing on some of her similarities with Thatcher.^[16]
• In response to Manuela Ferreira Leite's nickname "Dama de Ferro Portuguesa" (Portuguese Iron Lady),^[17] her opponents and critics ironically started referring to her as "Dama de Latão" (Yellow brass Lady) and popularising the term.^[18]

Other uses

"The Iron Lady" ("la dame de fer") is a popular Parisian nickname for the Eiffel Tower.

"Iron Lady of the Seas", a 1984 video, and Iron Lady at Sea, a 1988 book, are about Star of India, the oldest iron-hulled merchant ship afloat launched in 1863.^[19]

Iron Lady is also the title of a song by Phil Ochs. In this song, the Iron Lady is a metaphor for the electric chair. This song was also performed by Diamanda Galás on her live album Malediction & Prayer in dedication to Aileen Wuornos.

Iron Lady is a Warcraft III LAN gaming competition held by SteelSeries and directed at female Chinese players. The event was created in 2007 and has completed 2 seasons already. Some well known players include Zhang 'Cang' Xiangliang and Xu "Sara" Yinghua, both of whom played in the IronLady.2 Final.

Iron Lady is the title of a 1980 comedy audio album lampooning UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, written by satirist John Wells, featuring noted Thatcher impersonator Janet Brown, produced by Martin Lewis. The album consisted of skits and songs including a song also titled Iron Lady ^[20]

The Iron Lady is the title of a 2011 film based on Margaret Thatcher, it was released in the United States in December 2011 and is due to be released in the United Kingdom in January 2012.

See also

• Persephone, called the "Iron Queen"
• Iron maiden, for other uses of this similar term
• Iron maiden, for the torture device

External links

• Feature on Iron Ladies by the International Museum of Women

References