Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May: An Evolution of Feminist Pragmatics in Prime Minister's Questions

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The purpose of this study is to explore feminine linguistic behaviours demonstrated by female Prime Ministers of the British government and determine if there has been any change in this use of language over time. Given that Butler (1988: 528) argues that female speakers may be reprimanded for constructing a masculine identity, and engaging with political debate is an inherently masculine performance, it is expected that female politicians must carefully moderate their language so as to adhere to conventional standards of femininity without compromising their political competency. As the presence of female politicians in government becomes more normalised, it is possible that the need to conform to stereotypical standards of femininity is lessened. This provides the potential for two complementary areas of study: how the use of feminine linguistic behaviours has evolved, and the variation in ways these behaviours are perceived. To explore how the use of feminine linguistic behaviours has evolved, I propose a case study of behaviours used in Prime Minister's Questions by Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, during their respective premierships. To explore how perceptions of feminine linguistic behaviours from female Prime Ministers has changed over time, I propose a qualitative analysis of newspaper articles from The Guardian, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, and Daily Mirror, published in response to the behaviours exhibited by Thatcher and May.This study will use critical discourse analysis and a pragmatic approach to constructions of gender identity in political discourse.It can be difficult for female politicians to construct a feminine identity, given that politics is a male-dominated field and the need to conform to conventional behaviour results in a masculine performance (Walsh, 2001: 1; Lovenduski, 2012: 322). Additionally, research shows that female authority figures of any profession may find themselves trapped in a double bind; since femininity is historically associated with subordination, women must compromise between being perceived as feminine and incompetent, or be negatively evaluated for being unfeminine, albeit authoritative (Carli, 1999: 94; Holmes, 2006: 6; Schnurr, 2008: 301). As such, it is necessary for female political leaders to carefully navigate their performances of gender. They must maintain a feminine performance, so as to endear themselves to potential voters (Panagopoulos, 2004: 148; Lakoff, 2005: 180). There is also the need to use more aggressive, stereotypically masculine linguistic behaviours in order to conform with the conventions of political debate and present as competent leaders (Harris, 2001: 466; Lovenduski, 2014: 148). Shaw (2000: 416; 2006: 97) has concluded that these contrasting needs result in female politicians being disadvantaged, due to a decreased ability to match the linguistic behaviours of their male contemporaries. However, more recent research from Cameron and Shaw (2016: 31) suggests that an increased number of women in government is resulting in female politicians' language becoming less regulated. This would suggest that a feminist pragmatic analysis of the linguistic choices of female Prime Ministers would show an evolution in language use, in response to the ways in which perceptions of female political leaders have changed over time.