WOMAN POWER

GIRL POWER IS BACK, BUT NOW IT HAS MATURED INTO WOMAN POWER AND IT'S PUTTING WOMEN FIRMLY IN THE DRIVING SEAT.
Words by Sue Baker
Pictures by Nick Dawe, Barry Derbyshire and Getty Images

Ten years on from when the Spice Girls first erupted onto the music scene and inspired a generation of teenage girls to feel actively in control of their lives and futures, it’s obvious what a revolution they triggered.

Women’s spending power has increased by 50 per cent since the 1980s, and women now make an 80 per cent of consumer buying decisions - including traditionally male products like cars. And a modern woman’s car has become more about quality of life and a key component of her empowerment. It’s her time-saver, networking tool and passport to independence.

Vauxhall Tigra marketing manager Shelley Perkins agrees - ‘The face of Girl Power has grown up considerably, with more confidence, and brilliance in handling career and family, and girl-to-girl, or woman-to-woman relationships’. And as a result women are increasingly succeeding in careers that were once considered largely male preserves - like these...

THE RACING DRIVER
Motor racing has always been very much a male-dominated sport, but that certainly doesn’t deter gutsy girls from trying to make their mark. In fact for a determined woman like Agnes Rush, it only enhances the challenge.

Agnes competes in the prestigious Formula Woman series, driving a Caterham 7 at race circuits around the country - one of 16 finalists who successfully battled through from 1500 hopefuls in a nationwide contest to find talented new women racing drivers.