1. A few thoughts on Kingsley Amis, Philip Larkin, J.G. Ballard, Anthony Powell, Christopher Hitchens, BDSM, the political libido, & the tendency of some male writers to sexualize Margaret Thatcher.
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6. Hitchens, in his memoirs, is the writer who goes into this subject at the most length, retelling with relish an anecdote about Thatcher whacking him on the bum with a copy of Parliamentary orders of the day and saying "naughty boy."
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7. Hitchens account emphasizes the element of sadomasochism play in these fantasies, suggesting that Thatcher's hold on the "political libido" (CH's phrase) was about her power, the thrill of submitting to her dominance so to speak.
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9. There is an element of truth to this. Kissinger's "power is an aphrodisiac" can apply to powerful women as well as men. But it also plays out different in the two genders.https://twitter.com/PallasTweet/status/1065408246276481026 …
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10. I don't think I'm over reading these sexualizing comments as showing the need of many men, even those who supported her politics, to try and contain her, to foreground her gender broke gender barriers and triumphed in a male field.
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11. This makes sense. Thatcher was a hugely disruptive figure, not just as first British Prime Minister but also a particularly transformative leader. The sexualization had an element of diminishment, saying in effect, "she's still a woman"https://twitter.com/WilfridPinkPig/status/1065409097313517568 …
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He didn’t get out much, did he?
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Kingsley, in fairness, did this to all women. Pretty sure MA mentions something in Experience about his father confessing to erotic dreams about the Queen...
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Does Kingsley say ‘more than any other woman’, in as many words? I think Amis Junior says somewhere in ‘Experience’ that his father’s most protracted libidinous infatuation was the Queen. Kingsley, of course, would never have made such a compromising admission in print.
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Kingsley says in memoirs he used to have the most dreams about the queen but they were replaced by dreams about Thatcher and then he started to have the most dreams about Thatcher.
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