Pop star. Talent show judge. National treasure. Cheryl Cole can do no wrong. As of this week, she also has ‘Most Inspirational Woman of the Last Decade’ to add to her CV.
A poll for cosmetic surgery review site the Good Surgeon Guide placed her above Oprah Winfrey, Dame Helen Mirren and J K Rowling in the inspiration stakes.
1,178 women took part in the poll, which gave them a list of names and asked them to choose which woman had inspired them most in the Noughties. 51 per cent voted for Cheryl because of her ‘success’, while 29 per cent chose her due to her ‘beauty’.
In all, 78 per cent of those polled felt Cheryl was their top choice. Completing the top ten are Dame Helen Mirren, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Katie Piper, Queen Elizabeth II, J K Rowling, Sharon Osbourne, Kylie Minogue and Amy Williams.
Millions of women have followed Cheryl’s rise from the pop star hopeful of 2002 to superstar girl band member, fashion icon and (very) publicly wronged woman. Doubtless it’s a combination of her rags-to-riches tale, beauty and sympathy over her separation from husband Ashley amid allegations of multiple infidelities which encouraged women to choose her.
Although she’s wildly successful she manages to maintain her image as that of a woman who has never forgotten her humble beginnings, is really close to her mum and loves nothing more than a night in front of the television with a cup of tea. She’s not one of those stars who are too out of touch to function, she’s ‘our Cheryl’ - and that’s why people adore her.
Looking at the somewhat random list it’s clear that success in any field is inspirational to your average woman. We’ve got a sports star, an author and a philanthropist on the list and though I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of Katie Piper until yesterday, it’s not hard to see why women have been inspired by her story.
Even so, it was totally unsurprising to see the list topped by someone known for being beautiful and famous. It’s a predictable outcome when the results of these sorts of surveys are published. Pretty much everyone I’ve discussed the poll with has responded with an eye roll, wondering why the achievements of someone who found fame through a manufactured pop group are so much more amazing than those of countless other women who achieved so much during the Noughties.
And more than one person wondered why she’s considered so inspirational for looking good and having great clothes, particularly as there are scores of pioneering fashion icons who are, well, more interesting.
I imagine that the list the women polled were presented with wasn’t exactly wide-ranging, but yet again it means that our ‘inspirations’ as being touted as filling a pretty narrow range of lifestyles and a pretty narrow definition of success when this simply isn’t true.
No offence to Cheryl, but her name just wouldn’t enter my head if I had to think up some inspirational women – and not just because of the oft-forgotten ‘toilet attendant incident’. It would be great to see more column inches and more attention given to those women who have succeeded in a variety of things, from the media and the arts to science and politics. And what about women who may not have ‘achieved’ greatness, but have simply done good things?
Otherwise it’s the same celebrities as usual – little wonder plenty of women are angry about their daughters being presented with a narrow range of role models and career choices.
Image via Sunday Mercury