SIR - For reasons I don't understand, on July 23 the BBC news ran a long article about the fact that this year, there are more female artists than male nominated for the Mercury Prize, including Dua Lipa. So what?

Doesn't anyone remember Kate Bush or Dusty Springfield? They did alright.

This reminds me of an interview I saw given by Cheryl on the Graham Norton Show (which I don't normally watch) in 2018. After watching a video in which Cheryl performed, Norton commented: " That was a strong performance". To which Cheryl replied: "I'm a woman". This caused huge cheers and whooping in the audience.

First of all, why did she announce she was a woman? We all knew that. And secondly and even more strangely, why did the audience go hysterical with delight when she said she was a woman?

If this is the face of girl power and feminism, I'm glad I'm not on board.

Alan Bates, Bowland Avenue, Baildon