Male logic, female intuition: Margaret Thatcher "La bambola di ferro"

Margaret Thatcher was a central figure in British politics for 15 years. She was the first woman to become leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, and she was the first woman to become Prime Minister in 1979. She had remained in her office for nearly 12 years, the longest period served by a Prime Minister, if we do not take into consideration Lord Liverpool who served Britain from 1812 to 1827, and in more recent years, Tony Blair. Moreover, she succeeded in totally changing the course of British politics and economy, starting off by breaking the post-war consensus and carrying out all sort of changes in many fields and in many ways. Her main purpose was to change everything and above all to kill off socialism. She undoubtedly left her mark. In fact it has been pointed out that six years of Harold Wilson, there was no wilsonism, four years of Heath government did not produce any heathism. Margaret Thatcher had been in the job three months, and Thatcherism was already there (Severgnini: 1990). If we consider the phenomenon, we could say that it was somewhat unusual, especially for a country that didn’t allow women to go very far in many areas. At an international level she played an important role on both the American side and the Russian side. Gorbachev himself trusted her a lot and so did Reagan. For the many changes she carried out both in British an foreign affairs she was perceived in the press in different ways. The aim of my research is to analyse how she was considered by the Italian press. Did the press treat Margaret Thatcher in the same way it usually treats male politicians? Was the press sexist?