There's a female Prime Minister. QUICK! She needs a nickname!

I don't normally write about politics but this morning I heard something that annoyed me so much I couldn't not write about it.

Women have been fighting for equality in jobs for an age, whether it's equal pay or just the opportunity to get the powerful jobs, but there's always something to prevent or diminish that equality.

We now have a female Prime Minister for the second time EVER. I am proud to have a woman in the most powerful job in the country. I don't know a lot about Theresa May but her being a woman is going to help a lot of young women realise it is possible to have a job of power.

However, when watching the news this morning I heard that during the G20 summit Theresa May has been dubbed "Aunty May". She has been in the job for a little less than 2 months and she already has a nickname.

There's only one other politician I can think of that had a nickname. 

Margaret Thatcher.


Margaret Thatcher was known as the "Iron Lady" because of her politics apparently. I was too young to know much about her and her politics but again I'm proud that she was the first woman to become Prime Minister.

The only two women that have ever been Prime Minister in this country both have nicknames. Nicknames the press seem to quote constantly.

David Cameron didn't have a nickname. Tony Blair didn't have a nickname. John Major didn't have a nickname.


The two Prime Ministers who have nicknames are both women.

It makes me wonder if the reason they're given these nicknames is to diminish the fact that they hold/held the most powerful job in the country. Some people can't cope with a woman being in power and so they have to find a way to make it more bearable. Whether it's "Iron Lady" inspiring images of a hard woman who won't take any nonsense, or "Aunty May" which makes me think of an older aunty who likes knitting and drinking tea, having nicknames draws away from the Prime Minister.

To me these women are powerful, they are strong, and they are women to be respected. Their names are Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, not "Iron Lady" and "Aunty May". I don't care what their politics are/were, this isn't about that, I care about the example they're giving to our young women. 

I was very young when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, I was just 9 years old when she left the job, but knowing there had been a female Prime Minister made me believe I could do anything. It made me strive to do my best in school.

Now we have a female Prime Minister again and I hope the young women in our country can look to her and see the possibilities. They don't have to want to become Prime Minister but seeing a woman in power shows it can be done, in banks, in offices, in anything you can think of. 

I don't have daughters but having a woman as Prime Minister also teaches my boys that women can be in jobs of power. They can be strong, they can lead, they are equal.

While the media are trying to diminish Theresa May's power by giving her nicknames and commenting on her outfit (typical!) I will continue to respect her. She is a woman in a powerful job, she will have to fight her corner, she will have to be strong, but I have no doubt she will do it.

We have a new Prime Minister and her name is Theresa May.


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