"If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.”
-Margaret Thatcher, May 20, 1965


Being the first female to lead a major western democracy, she showed the ability of women in politics by overcoming obstacles from her male colleagues & the media.
“She believed in her own ability and wasn’t going to let being a woman and having young children stop her. She was an extraordinary pioneer, one of the first professional women to have children, get a nanny and go straight back to work.”
- John Campbell, Biographer
“She smashed the idea that a woman couldn’t be tough in foreign policy, or keep control of her government, that a woman would cry or spontaneously menstruate at the first sign of political pressure.”
-Claire Berlinski, Author: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters
“Margaret Thatcher always refused to practise the politics of victimisation. Rather, she gained her place in history the old-fashioned way – she earned it, by working twice as hard as her male competition and being twice as good. She earned the respect of every one of her counterparts in the Western world and beyond – and she deserves the respect and appreciation of women everywhere.” -Carol Platt Liebau, Political Commentator
Not everyone saw her as a women's activist. Thatcher herself praised women's rights while arguing against the feminist movement. The debate continues on if what Thatcher did becoming the UK's first female prime minister was enough for her to be labeled as a woman activist. 
“Nothing Margaret Thatcher did, absolutely nothing, created positive change for women. In fact she made everything worse." 
-Beatrix Campbell, Author: Iron Ladies
“She allowed British women to celebrate their ability not just to be nurturing, but also to be unpleasant, to be cruel, to be death-dealing, to be egotistic.”
-Natasha Walter, Feminist
“The entire privatisation project was very bad for women. The first targets in the public services were aimed at those largely performed by women, such as cleaning and catering. They were franchised out to contractors who then could hire the same women, more cheaply for worse conditions. Even as clients, parts of the newly formed welfare state were no longer available to women.” -Beatrix Campbell, Author: Iron Ladies