Margaret Thatcher statue attack blamed on 'misogyny' by feminist campaigner
28 June 2022, 19:05 | Updated: 28 June 2022, 19:14
'Element of misogyny' in Thatcher statue attacks
Attacks on a new statue of Margaret Thatcher in her hometown of Grantham have been partially blamed on "an element of misogyny" by a leading feminist campaigner.
The statue, placed on a three-meter high plinth for protection, was egged within hours of being installed in May and later attacked with red paint.
Caroline Criado Perez, a prominent feminist activist who led a successful campaign to get Jane Austen on the £10 bank note in 2017, argued male politicians don't attract the same "virulent hatred" as Mrs Thatcher, even if they share the same politics.
Asked by Andrew Marr, on his LBC show, about the Grantham statue attack she replied: "Of course there's an element of misogyny in that.
"You can disagree with the policies Margaret Thatcher enacted but the particular virulent hatred that was directed against her - calling her a witch, wanting to dance on her grave.
"Youcan't really separate that from misogyny and I think it's really dishonest to pretend there isn't misogyny tied up in that."
READ MORE: Thatcher statue vandalised with red paint and communist symbols weeks after egging
New statue of Baroness Thatcher egged hours after being put in place
Ms Perez added the level of vitriol aimed at Mrs Thatcher isn't directed at either "other Members of Parliament" who were "instrumental in instigating" her policies, or "male Prime Ministers who have instigated similar policies".
In 2016 Ms Perez launched a campaign to put the first statue of a women in Parliament Square, attracting 74,000 signatures to her petition.
A statue of leading suffragist campaigner Millicent Fawcett was unveiled in the square two years later, in 2018.
Ms Perez is also the author of 'Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men', which was published in 2019.
She recently launched the podcast 'Invisible Women' which seeks to show how the disparity in data collected about men and women "erases women’s accomplishments, experiences, needs and daily lives".
READ MORE: Margaret Thatcher statue egged by protester two hours after its unveiling
