Margaret Thatcher, Dress and the Politics of Fashion

Conway, D. 2016. Margaret Thatcher, Dress and the Politics of Fashion. in: Behnke, A. (ed.) The International Politics of Fashion: Being Fab in a Dangerous World London Routledge. pp. 161-185

Chapter titleMargaret Thatcher, Dress and the Politics of Fashion
AuthorsConway, D.
EditorsBehnke, A.
Abstract

Through Margaret Thatcher’s private and public performances, the micro-politics of dress translated into the macro-politics of power. Thatcher’s changing career can be traced through her dress (see Young 1991: 416-417); analysis of her dress leading up to and during her Premiership reveals both her aspirations and increasing power. Understanding of Thatcher’s agency in her embodied, dressed performances can be informed and developed through Butler’s (1999) conceptualization of performativity. Through adaptation, repetition and divergent dress, Thatcher constructed different identities, some of which became iconic symbols of her self and her politics. Examination of Thatcher’s dress refines the understanding of the relationship between constraints and agency experienced by actors in the public realm. Upon becoming party leader, Margaret Thatcher’s gender, class and ideological viewpoints were incongruent with her unprecedented political status and she faced many challenges in attempting to overcome this. Dress became a potentially destabilising focus for her critics and symbolic of her “outsider” status. Yet in the face of these challenges she recognized and learned from the expectations of others, adapting and changing her dress. However, this was not an instantaneous, complete or permanent transformation. What Thatcher achieved, as she crafted her dressed performances, was agency over a further aspect of her life and her politics. There was also an evolving alignment of her dress with her political ideology and domestic and international roles over time.

KeywordsMargaret Thatcher; gender; women in politics; dress; fashion; habitus; performativity
Book titleThe International Politics of Fashion: Being Fab in a Dangerous World
Page range161-185
Year2016
PublisherRoutledge
Publication dates
Published19 Jul 2016
Place of publicationLondon
ISBN9781138788985
File

Related outputs

Conceptualising queer activist critiques of Pride in the Two-Thirds World: Queer activism and alternative Pride organising in South Africa, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Shanghai
Conway, D. 2024. Conceptualising queer activist critiques of Pride in the Two-Thirds World: Queer activism and alternative Pride organising in South Africa, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Sexualities. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607241248898

'We are here, we are queer and we are African': Discussing Pride, Feminist and LGBTQIA+ Activism in Johannesburg
Conway, D. Forthcoming. 'We are here, we are queer and we are African': Discussing Pride, Feminist and LGBTQIA+ Activism in Johannesburg. Spotify

The politics of truth at LGBTQ+ Pride: contesting corporate Pride and revealing marginalized lives at Hong Kong Migrants Pride
Conway, D. 2023. The politics of truth at LGBTQ+ Pride: contesting corporate Pride and revealing marginalized lives at Hong Kong Migrants Pride. International Feminist Journal of Politics. 25 (4), pp. 734-756. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2022.2136732

Activism: Activist Identities beyond Social Movements
Daniel Conway 2022. Activism: Activist Identities beyond Social Movements. in: Ballard, Richard and Barnett, Clive (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Social Change Routledge. pp. 279-291

Whose Lifestyle Matters at Johannesburg Pride? The Lifestylisation of LGBTQ+ Identities and the Gentrification of Activism
Conway, D. 2022. Whose Lifestyle Matters at Johannesburg Pride? The Lifestylisation of LGBTQ+ Identities and the Gentrification of Activism. Sociology. 56 (1), pp. 148-165. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385211024072

Transgressing Transnational Normativity? British Migration and Interracial Marriage in South Africa
Conway, D. and Leonard, P. 2018. Transgressing Transnational Normativity? British Migration and Interracial Marriage in South Africa. in: Leonard, P. and Walsh, K. (ed.) British Migration: Privilege, Diversity and Vulnerability London Routledge. pp. 94-114

Banning Taste: Boycotts, Identity, and Resistance
Conway, D., Brighi, E., Kaul, N. and Khalili, L. 2018. Banning Taste: Boycotts, Identity, and Resistance. in: Schwabe, A., Pascu, D.F. and Connuck, J. (ed.) The Empire Remains Shop New York, US Columbia University Press. pp. 47-50

Shades of White Complicity: The End Conscription Campaign and the Politics of White Liberal Ignorance in South Africa
Conway, D. 2017. Shades of White Complicity: The End Conscription Campaign and the Politics of White Liberal Ignorance in South Africa. in: Afxentiou, A., Dunford, R. and Neu. M. (ed.) Exploring Complicity: Concept, Cases and Critique London Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 119-142

Struggles for Citizenship in South Africa
Conway, D. 2014. Struggles for Citizenship in South Africa. in: Isin, E.F. and Nyers, P. (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Global Citizenship Studies London Routledge. pp. 240-251

Migration, Space and Transnational Identities: The British in South Africa
Conway, D. and Leonard, P. 2014. Migration, Space and Transnational Identities: The British in South Africa. London Palgrave Macmillan.

Masculinities, Militarisation and the End Conscription Campaign: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa
Conway, D. 2012. Masculinities, Militarisation and the End Conscription Campaign: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa. Manchester Manchester University Press.

Intersecting Whiteness: Interdisciplinary Debates
Steyn, M. and Conway, D. 2010. Intersecting Whiteness: Interdisciplinary Debates. Ethnicities. 10 (3), pp. 283-291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796810372309

Queering Apartheid: The National Party’s 1987 ‘Gay Rights’ Election Campaign in Hillbrow
Conway, D. 2009. Queering Apartheid: The National Party’s 1987 ‘Gay Rights’ Election Campaign in Hillbrow. Journal of Southern African Studies. 35 (4), pp. 849-863. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070903313210

“Somewhere on the Border - Of Credibility”: The Cultural Construction and Contestation of ‘the Border’ in White Society
Conway, D. 2008. “Somewhere on the Border - Of Credibility”: The Cultural Construction and Contestation of ‘the Border’ in White Society. in: Baines, G. and Vale, P. (ed.) Beyond the Border War: New Perspectives on Southern Africa’s Late Cold War Conflicts University of South Africa (UNISA) Press.

Contesting the Masculine State: White Male War Resisters in Apartheid South Africa
Conway, D. 2008. Contesting the Masculine State: White Male War Resisters in Apartheid South Africa. in: Parpart, J.L. and Zalewski, M. (ed.) Rethinking the Man Question: Sex, Gender and Violence in International Relations Zed Books. pp. 127-142

The Masculine State in Crisis: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa
Conway, D. 2008. The Masculine State in Crisis: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa. Men and Masculinities. 10 (4), pp. 422-439. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X07306742

Masculinities and Narrating the Past: Experiences of Researching White men who Refused to Serve in the Apartheid Army
Conway, D. 2008. Masculinities and Narrating the Past: Experiences of Researching White men who Refused to Serve in the Apartheid Army. Qualitative Research. 8 (3), pp. 347-354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106093631

White Masculinities
Conway, D. 2006. White Masculinities. in: Jones, A. (ed.) Men of the Global South: A Reader London Zed.

Masculinitiy,Citizenship and Objection to Military Service in the South African Defence Force
Conway, D. 2005. Masculinitiy,Citizenship and Objection to Military Service in the South African Defence Force. in: Gouws, A. (ed.) (Un)Thinking Citizenship: Feminist Debates in Contemporary South Africa Aldershot Ashgate.

‘Every Coward’s Choice’? Political Objection to Military Service in Apartheid South Africa as Sexual Citizenship
Conway, D. 2004. ‘Every Coward’s Choice’? Political Objection to Military Service in Apartheid South Africa as Sexual Citizenship. Citizenship Studies. 8 (1), pp. 25-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/1362102042000178418

Africa in the International System
Conway, D. 2002. Africa in the International System. in: Nel, P. and McGowan, P. (ed.) Power, Wealth and Global Order: An International Relations Textbook in Africa University of Cape Town Press.

Permalink - https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/9wyx7/margaret-thatcher-dress-and-the-politics-of-fashion


Share this

Usage statistics

403 total views
1973 total downloads
These values cover views and downloads from WestminsterResearch and are for the period from September 2nd 2018, when this repository was created.