I am grateful to Legal Week readers for their interest in my column so far, and especially to those who take their time to post comments – some of which, I note, appear to be a little distracted from the content of the writing by the accompanying picture of a woman’s legs (as modest as it is). I would much prefer to hear your views on the substantive issues I focus on. Besides, I must confess that I cannot claim ownership of those legs and I did not choose the photo. Had I been given the choice, I would have picked one with much better shoes.
The comments have presented me with a great opportunity to consider an important issue: is being attractive a curse or a blessing for a woman in the City? First things first, in my view, any woman in the professional world has to overcome the presumption that she won’t be able to fully cope in what is essentially a male environment. This means that in order to succeed she has to be more robust, more hardworking and more adaptable than the average man in her position. The challenge obviously gets even harder if she wants to start a family and keep her career.
