Iron Lady
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
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
- Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974
- Barbara Castle, a British left-wing politician (1910-2002).[2]
- Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 & 1980 to 1984
- Eugenia Charles, the Prime Minister of Dominica from 1980 to 1995 known as the "Iron Lady of the Caribbean"
- Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany since 2005
- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the President of Liberia since 2005[3]
- Dalia Grybauskaitė, the President of Lithuania since 2009 .[4]
Some female politicians have been given similar nicknames:
- The Iron Butterfly is a nickname of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos.[5]
- Iron Rita is a nickname of former Dutch minister Rita Verdonk[6][7]
- "Jern-Erna" (meaning; "Iron-Erna") is a nickname of the leader of the Norwegian Conservative Party, Erna Solberg.[citation needed]
- Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was given the nickname "Titanium Lady", playing on some of her similarities with Thatcher.[8]
- in response to Manuela Ferreira Leite's nickname "Dama de Ferro Portuguesa" (Portuguese Iron Lady)[9], her opponents and critics ironically started referring to her as "Dama de Latão" (Yellow brass Lady) and popularising the term[10].
"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.[11]
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.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Speech at Kensington Town Hall ("Britain Awake") (The Iron Lady), Margaret Thatcher Foundation archives
- ^ U.K. loses its first Iron Lady By Hasan Suroor (The Hindu) May 5, 2002
- ^ "Liberia's 'Iron Lady' claims win". BBC. 2005-11-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4421866.stm. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.
- ^ Lithuania elects first female president ABC News Dalia Grybauskaite: Lithuania’s ‘Iron Lady’ Khaleej Times
- ^ Rowan, Roy (1976-03-29). "Orchid or Iron Butterfly, Imelda Marcos Is a Prime Mover in Manila". People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20066297,00.html. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.
- ^ van Egmond, Joost (2006-07-02). "Iron Rita Loses Her Mettle". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1209921,00.html. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.
- ^ van de Pol, Jurjen (2008-04-03). "'Iron Rita' Starts New Dutch Political Party After Wilders Film". Bloomberg.com. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=albrC.Yjrq04&refer=europe. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.
- ^ Federation of American Scientists. NATO-List: USIA - Albright Foreign Media Reaction: "Titanium Lady Shows Her Mettle In Moscow" The conservative Daily Telegraph pointed out (February 21, 1997)
- ^ http://o-inconsequente.blogspot.com/2008/04/ahahahahahahahhah.html (Portuguese)
- ^ http://mindwakeup.blogs.sapo.pt/297804.html (Portuguese)
- ^ Star of India: Iron Lady of the Seas (PBS video)
