She's the hapless singleton who's obsessed with losing weight and nabbing her dream man.
So, it's fair to say that Bridget Jones doesn't fit any conventional mould of a feminist role model.
And yet, Bridget and her chain-smoking, big panting-wearing ways has struck a chord with women the world over.
This is a literary character who many of us see ourselves in; she's neurotic, scatty and whole-heartedly willing to embrace the messiness of life at every turn.
Now her creator, Helen Fielding, has admitted that she's always been irritated by those who label Bridget "anti-feminist".
Appearing at the Hay Festival this weekend - in comments reported by the Guardian - Fielding says those who critique Bridget's feminist credentials are "shallow", since the character's strength is drawn from her ability to laugh at herself.
"If I may, the accusation of it being not feminist is a little shallow," Fielding told a crowd of book-lovers at Hay.
"Number one, we are not a minority. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we haven’t got very far at being equal, have we?
"I think it’s worrying in the first place that people would think a book about a woman laughing about her foibles is not feminist," she added. "It is a mark of strength to be able to laugh at yourself, not weakness."
Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore is among those who have labelled Bridget "anti-feminist". "She's as vapid, consumerist and self-obsessed as ever," Moore wrote, commenting on the release of the third Bridget Jones book, Mad About The Boy, in 2013.
But according to Fielding, Bridget was never meant to be taken that seriously - and her humour is a mechanism to be admired.
"Humour is a very powerful tool as we all know for getting through difficult time," Fielding noted.
The author created the roots of her world-famous character in a series of newspaper columns in the mid-90s, before securing a book deal.
She initially denied that the calorie-counting protagonist was based on her own life "because I was trying to write serious novels", but now admits that Bridget was inspired by herself - albeit an exaggerated version.
"I have never got pregnant by two men. I have never eaten more than 30,000 calories in one day," she said.
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