UPDATE: Dame Shirley Bassey doesn’t believe women should be pilots, firefighters, police or soldiers.

The 78-year-old singer insists she would be “very worried” if she was in a plane being flown by a female and thinks ladies should be “feminine” and not want “men’s jobs”.

“There’s a reason why men are here. If I was flying with a female pilot, for instance, I’d be very worried. Women have periods and hormones, and that bothers me about women who want men’s jobs,” she is reported as saying.

“Like firefighters, police, soldiers ... I don’t believe in women soldiers. Come on, women should be women. We should be feminine.”

And the Goldfinger singer thinks women should stop fighting for equality in the modern world because it only “emasculates” men.

“Women in my industry aren’t empowered. Never have been, never will be,” she told the Daily Mail newspaper.

“Think about the modern man. The gene goes so deep, it goes right back to the caveman days: man must have control.

“Women should not change it, because we’ve tried and we’ve emasculated men. It’s dangerous to mess with science.

“I’m not sad about it. We should accept it. It’s worked this way for a long time. Men went out and brought home the bacon. Women are now going a step too far, trying to be cleverer than men - or as clever.

“Now, the man becomes the house-husband and it’s wrong. It shouldn’t be that way.”

Bassey — who was previously married to Kenneth Hume from 1961 to 1965 and Sergio Novak from 1968 to 1979 — admits she doesn’t expect to find love again because her success is too intimidating to men.

“I’ve been married twice and it has not worked out, but that’s my problem because I’m a successful woman and successful women cannot get a man who is at ease with himself,” she said.

But she insists she’s happy about that.

“I’m old enough to appreciate being on my own. I love the idea of not having anyone around to dictate what I do - like when I go to bed and when I eat,” she said.

“I will never, ever get married again, no way.”

The veteran British singer has become embroiled in a storm over her comments.

The remarks have sparked a furious online backlash, with fans condemning the 78-year-old over her views and now senior members of the British Women's Pilots Association, which supports female pilots and encourages more women to train as aviators, has waded into the controversy.

"I think the facts speak for themselves - there are now plenty of excellent female pilots to demonstrate that there is no reason why they should not fly aircraft," Professor Marion Wooldridge, the BWPA's deputy chair, said.

"The comments made are, I think, a remnant of another world, and I personally feel sorry for anyone with such a narrow view of what half the population, including themselves, can and should be doing."

Bassey's representative is yet to respond to a request for comment.