Celebrating its 70th anniversary, BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Power has released a list of women who have impacted women's lives over the past 70 years. The fictional character Bridget Jones and singer Beyonce have found their way into the list of the most influential women in the last seven decades.
Justifying the inclusion of the character, the judging panel said that Bridget Jones is "a flawed heroine". First appearing in the 2001 film, Bridget Jones's Diary, the character was portrayed by Renée Zellweger. According to a report published in BBC, Emma Barnett, BBC 5 live presenter who chaired the judges, explained that the list was about who have impacted real women's lives. This impact doesn't have to be good, bad, serious or funny.
Also featuring in the list was pop singer Beyonce. According to RadioTimes, the judges felt that the Crazy In Love singer has managed to do two things. "She turned herself into a very successful commercial brand but with that, she also put out quite a positive feminist message, right from the start. Particularly now she's moving into race relations talking about black lives matter. Being a black woman who is held up as a global beauty icon at a time when beauty and pop culture is still very white," the website shares.
However, former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher topped the list. Talking about Thatcher, the judges said, "Love or loathe her, it is hard to think of another woman who has had more of an impact on British women than Baroness Margaret Thatcher within the last seven decades."
Feminist academician Germaine Greer and Helen Brook, known to have set up the Brook Advisory Centres in 1964 and offered contraceptive advice to unmarried women are also part of the list.
The other women listed include Barbara Castle, the Labour MP who campaigned and introduced Equal Pay Act in 1970, and Jayaben Desai, who fought against low pay and poor conditions for women workers.
The announcement will be made on Wednesday at 10:00 GMT in a programme recorded at a Buckingham Palace reception attended by The Duchess of Cornwall. The event will mark Woman's Hour's 70th-anniversary celebrations.
