According to www.dictionary. com, the word, “Alpha Girl” signifies the dominant or primary girl within a group. From my perspective, this prevalent word in recent days stands for the women representatives -- Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Clinton, and Condoleeza Rice who show the power or leadership of women. In this article, I will elaborate on the movie, “The Iron Lady”. As a matter of fact, the movie, “The Iron Lady” received great praise with the performance of Meryl Streep, who was the protagonist of the movie and she actually got the best actress award at the 84th Academy Awards by playing Margaret Thatcher. To be more specific, I will be focusing on the characteristic of Margaret Thatcher, moreover, her adamant and tough action or firm policy during her government. Then I will briefly touch regarding the movie and my personal opinion on the woman, Margaret Thatcher.

   First of all, Margaret Thatcher, also known as the Iron Lady, was born on October 13th 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire. In fact, she was the longest serving British Prime minister. She became a well-known figure internationally because she was the first woman who ever took the lead role. Thatcher's major was chemistry when she studied at Oxford University; however, she later studied law. She was elected as a Member of Parliament on October 8, 1959 for the first time. In 1975, she became the leader of the conservative party, leading her to have the landslide victory in the 1979 election. Briefly, 1979 is the year that Thatcher was elected as the Britain's first woman prime minister and since then she governed Britain for 11years. During her first two years of governing, there was an incessant rising of unemployment and inflation. However, she never refused to change her economic policy and later her policy gradually helped to improve the British economy. As following the economy, Margaret Thatcher was able to bring more of her supporters into cabinet and she boosted her reputation by the so-called, “Falklands War”, Britain's war to retake the Falklands Islands from Argentina. Additionally, with the advent of fragmented opposition party, the Conservative Party won elections again; thus, Margaret Thatcher was reelected as the Prime Minister. Thatcher's government, as known as Thatcherism, aim for anticommunism by reducing the role of government and boost the individual self-reliance. Margaret Thatcher propelled a program of privatization, reform of the Trade Unions, tax cuts and public spending cuts in health and education. However, her governing years did not go smoothly within being reelected as the Prime Minister. The year 1984 to 1985 was known as “The Coal Miner's Strike”. The Coal Miner's Strike was the peak confrontation between the unions and the Thatcher government. In 1984, Thatcherism proposed to close 20 mines and cut nearly 20,000 jobs, leading the National Union of Miners to order strike and refuse to work. There was a strong violence between police - “ scabs” and strikers; therefore, a myriad of people got injured. Despite continuous violence, she never refuses to make any difference and continue her policy. Following her strong action and firm policy, she got the praise by Soviet leader Gorbachev and gained her nickname, “The Iron Lady.” The Iron Lady indicates Thatcher's strong, firm attitude towards her policy and the dissent. Furthermore, this also means Thatcher is the first figure showing how a woman can be strong like a man. This is because during 1980s, this is the period of male chauvinism, meaning almost all the men got high status and took the lead role; thus, the character of woman leader such as Thatcher was uncommon and unique. Paradoxically, however, after I watched the movie, “The Iron Lady”, I felt pitiful and sorrowful to her life instead of feeling strong and toughness of Margaret Thatcher. In the beginning of the movie, she got dementia and she was thinking back to her old days before ending her own life missing her husband especially, who was a great supporter of her during her life. As the movie started and ended with her being in dementia, I felt like her life, as a person in the world, was very unhappy and miserable. Her governing days were like a war everyday and she had to persuade a myriad of opposition to precede her governing policy and her argument. Although she showed her toughness and cold and freezing attitude towards the so called, Anti-Thatcherism when she propelled her policy, by watching movie, I realized that she was also a woman who really want to take care of her family and who wants to be loved and be protected as a wife. I would say, the movie changed my viewpoint of Margaret Thatcher. I had thought of her as a strong spirited woman, however, she was also scared and afraid of all the dissent against her and she spent restless nights to fight with them or persuade them. Her father was actually the influence of her to be independent, strong, adamant and later to become the woman leader; however, the movie indirectly show us how she put great effort to satisfy what her father demands of her. In short, the movie occurs to me that the movie director wants to express the real Margaret Thatcher as also a normal lady, a typical mother who has her affection to her husband and children and who has her own emotion. In addition, after watching the movie, there is a one memorable quote that I could never forget. The quote is as follows: “never run with the crowd, go your own way.” This is a word quoted by Thatcher's father, who was an effective person to her to step in as a politician into the men's world of the 1980s. The reason I felt myself that this quote was important is because my father also said exactly the same words to me. While I was in high school my father told me not to follow what others think is good, what others prefer. To be more precise, during my high school year, everyone hopes to go to three prestigious universities in Korea instead of thinking about what they want to be, what are their dreams and what specific major they want to study. Despite other friends, I have a big dream to become one of the members of the United Nations and I felt myself that I should experience diverse cultures and learn many different languages. Also, I felt that studying in university in my own country will not greatly help to improve my English skills. Just like Margaret Thatcher, I also chose my own way instead of following others. I kept searching and decided to apply to the Institute of Liberal Arts. For now, I really enjoy studying international law, international policies, international organizations and more. Moreover, my English ability is improving and also my Japanese skill is gradually developing as well. I am fully satisfied about my choice and kept walking my own way, my own road to reach my dream. I also want to be an Alpha girl, who took the lead role within a group working for making changes and making better world just like an ambitious woman, Margaret Thatcher. Women, be ambitious!