IT took just two little words for newlywed actress Kate Beckinsale to spell out her devotion to her man this week. Embroidered across the back of her white bikini bottoms, the message was loud and clear: "Mrs Wiseman", it said.

At one time this would have seemed a slavishly old-fashioned statement. Young career women like Kate used to cling onto their own names in an attempt to preserve their independence and individuality.

I know, I was one of them. "When is this nonsense going to stop?", my uncomprehending mother complained for the first few years, insisting on addressing letters to me with a "Mrs" followed by my husband's Christian name as well as his surname. Which I thought proved my point entirely.

Yet, increasingly, modern, successful females can't wait to ditch their own names and flaunt the fact they're a "missus". And they're about as far removed from the Stepford Wives as you can imagine.

Last week Posh Spice wore a humorous T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Mrs Beckham". Even a powerful, sassy control freak like Madonna loves being known as Mrs Ritchie.

When my mother married, she was forced to give up work and become a housewife as, at that time, women weren't allowed to continue working in nursing when they married. By clinging onto my name, I was partly reacting against the generation that had gone before.

Today's newlyweds are different. Ironically, taking your man's name is fast becoming a statement of confidence and independence. Because it doesn't really matter any more. Women have moved on. They are no longer worried about their own identities being swallowed up by their husbands'.

Women like Kate, Posh and Madonna make me feel pathetically old-fashioned. But since I've clung onto my name for more than 40 years, there doesn't seem much point in giving it up now.

GLAMOUR model Jordan, at the MetroCentre's WH Smith store in Gateshead today, is another woman who has turned feminism on its head. She may, thanks to extensive plastic surgery, have transformed herself into the ultimate male fantasy figure but she's a hard-headed, successful businesswoman at heart, admired by many women. Book stores report 80 per cent of sales of her best-selling autobiography are to females. Men, it seems, are not so interested in what she has to say. Now there's a surprise.

TESCO is cracking down on sick leave as a way of dealing with "unplanned absence". But illness is unplanned, and it happens. What the company is saying is it doesn't trust staff. This new scheme, where workers are not paid for the first three days off sick, is sure to backfire. Who wants to buy fresh meat from someone with a streaming cold or bad diarrhoea?

WHY did Channel 4 send two B-list celebrities with prosthetic make-up under cover to examine how we treat people with facial disfigurements? We learnt little from presenter Craig Charles and model Caprice acting out the part for a few hours in front of the cameras. Why not feature real people who have lived with genuine disfigurements for most of their lives and may actually have something interesting to say?