What hope have young women got with Wonder Woman, Beyonce and the Kardashians as role models?

Really charismatic women like come with imperfections, unpalatable traits and aren’t easy company – just like men

Janet Street-Porter dressed as Wonder Woman: 'There’s not much that’s liberating about being trussed up in a pair of unforgiving navy blue knickers, a tight basque and a huge wig' (PA)

There has been a big stink about the inclusion of Maggie Thatcher and Germaine Greer on the latest list of powerful women. To celebrate its 70th anniversary, BBC’s Woman’s Hour chose seven females who, in their panel’s opinion, have done the most to empower and shape women’s lives over the past seven decades. Other notable entries included Helen Brook, who founded the pregnancy advice centre in 1964 and Barbara Castle, who fought for the Equal Pay Act.

I loathe the idea of a woman on a pedestal, a winner selected by a random bunch of worthies over tea and nibbles. Yet another meaningless list to put alongside the GQ Awards, the Golden Globes and countless others.

Having said that, who could deny that both Greer and Thatcher had the guts to stand up and fight for what they believed in? Thatcher was not interested in helping women, just driven by an unserving belief in her own credo, a woman who had the tenacity to push aside any bloke in her path.

Greer isn’t concerned with being liked. Back in the 1960s and 70s she fought to expose women’s lousy place in the world and push back boundaries so we could enjoy more choices sexually and socially. She was (and stll is) the scourge of the tasteful compromise, the politically correct solution, something today’s namby pamby university societies find so hard to stomach, with their feeble attempts to stifle rigourous debate.

Really charismatic women like these come with imperfections, unpalatable traits and aren’t easy company – just like men. That’s why they should be celebrated, not trashed because they aren’t seen as “the right kind of feminist” in 2016.

Why do women need role models anyway? The UN has just summarily dumped Wonder Woman as its latest honorary ambassador, chosen last October to fight for gender equality. The choice of a comic book character rather than some trendy and pampered actress (as is the norm) sparked a huge protest, with more than 45,000 people signing an online petition; there were vociferous demonstrations outside the UN in New York.

The corsetted female with her funny little gauntlet gloves and little whip has a special place in my heart, however. Back in 2007, I dressed up as Wonder Woman for Elton John’s 50th birthday celebrations in London. It was meant to be ironic, but there’s not much that’s liberating about being trussed up in a pair of unforgiving navy blue knickers, a tight basque and a huge wig, and I did seem to attract a lot of dubious male flotsam.

Wonder Woman – like Bridget Jones, who bizzarely takes a place on the Woman’s Hour list because the judges said she “gives women the right to be imperfect” – is a fictional character, not a real woman with a back story, moulded by her upbringing. Bridget and Wonder Woman were created for one reason only: to flog merchandise by connecting with their target audience. They might as well have choosen Eva Peron as played by Madonna.

The inclusion of Beyonce on the Woman’s Hour list, a singer supported by a huge team of staff, flogging a dubious version of female empowerment with bodycon suits that aren’t so far removed from those of Wonder Woman, reinforces much that is depressing and constricting about modern feminism.

There is a bland uniformity about the way many women look today: angry eyebrows, huge hair and contoured makeup. I lay the blame at stars like Beyonce and the Kardashians. Far from empowering women they are seducing them into conformity, an army of bots fearful of being different in case they are shamed on social media for having the wrong looks.

The pressure on young women to follow their peers has never been stronger. Look at the Duchess of Cambridge with her perfect hair and impossily skinny figure – she couldn’t be further removed from the norm if she tried. And, given her immense wealth and priviledge, how does she like to relax? Not by doing anything creative (at least Prince Charles is a keen watercolourist) but by filling in Secret Garden, a colouring book for adults. Read and weep!

Women seem to have gone from anger, rage and visceral belief in a cause to sweet submission in less than a generation.

By the way, the people who might really need role models are under-achieving young white men. Where are the people they can be inspired by who aren’t making music, kicking a ball or beating someone up? Certainly not someone like David Beckham who is turning his sons into extensions of his own money-spinning empire.