TV’S Vera, a feminist icon for the ’20s? You’d better believe it

It’s a good time to be a woman over 40. It has often been said that after you pass this age milestone you become “invisible”. But a growing army of positive role models are helping us embrace this new chapter in our lives.

This week’s cover star Brenda Blethyn is one of them. A national treasure, the actress has spent 40 years in showbusiness and has won a Bafta and Golden Globe.

But it’s her role as septuagenarian super-sleuth Vera that has captured our imagination most recently. Now in its 10th series, the ITV detective show pulls in an average of 8.4 million viewers and has earned her a legion of young fans.

In our interview (pages 6&7), Brenda says she relishes playing “an older lady on the telly who is not someone’s mam” and she reveals her wellies-wearing DCI has become a surprise feminist icon.

She says: “When I ask them why they like Vera so much, they says it’s because she tells the boys off.

“In real life there are lots of strong women like Vera out there in positions of authority. You just don’t see them on TV very often.”

Thankfully, that is fast changing. Actresses like Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore are dominating our cinema screens, Kylie and Madonna are flying the flag in music and the original supermodels Helena Christensen and Kate Moss are still in demand with the big fashion brands.

The truth is, older woman are no longer content to blend into the background. They are sexy, funny, intelligent and voracious – and they deserve to be seen, and heard.