AN Wilson (see Mail article) argues that Thatcher was not in the true sense a bully because she "reserved her fire for those who - if they had any spunk - were in a position to fight back". I'm not so sure. Her unwanted and unreasonable conduct itself determines whether it is regarded as bullying. I'm not advocating the bullying application of bullying policy (see previous post). She may well have believed that she alone rescued Britain from its post-1945 years of semi-socialist decline, but not everyone benefits from capitalism (see previous post). To analyse any situation from the perspective of the objective and reasonable person is never straightforward as personal experience and judgments will inevitably taint perception. However, she failed to create an environment in which people have the right to be treated with consideration, dignity and respect.
1 comment:
She was a woman in a man's world so maybe her strength and determination came over at times as bullying. I don't know and have no definite view on it.
However I know what it's like being a woman activist and campaigner in mental health matters and have been a female patient in a patriarchal psychiatric system. To recover it took great strength and resilience, also unbelief in the biomedical model of mental illness, psychiatric labels and negative life prognoses.
I've had men telling me to "shut up and go to bed" in Emails, men in positions of power, and other men egging them on. Just because I'm stating an opinion or challenging a regime. It does make you tougher and harder, in the resistance movement.
Why shouldn't women resist the bullying and retain the respect when leading from the front? And as for the state we're in now, nationally and globally, I don't think this can be blamed on any one person. It's up to each of us to do what we can to make a difference.
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