Byline: REBECCA FOWLER
THERE could be no more powerful symbol of the rise of the City superwomen than the spectacular climax of the High Court clash a few weeks ago between two of its biggest stars.
Carol Galley of Merrill Lynch and Wendy Mayall of Unilever came face to face in the ferocious dispute over a [pound]1 billion pension fund.
Galley, 52, the City's so- called Ice Maiden whose personal wealth is estimated at around [pound]100 million, showed no signs of melting even when she lost her firm [pound]70 million to Unilever over alleged mismanagement of the fund.
She emerged as polished as ever in an immaculate pale pink suit and designer handbag. And the fact that the trial involved two women at the top of the City ladder appeared to bear powerful testimony to the inroads they have made in the past 25 years - and how tough they are.
The last great bastion of sexism appears to be crumbling. There are equal numbers of women and men working in the City, and the new generation of City superwomen in their 30s, following the likes of pioneering fund manager Nicola Horlick, are rising to the upper echelons on whopping salaries.
But what is the truth about women in the City? Has a high-heeled revolution broken through the glass ceiling? And what is life really like for the superwomen leading the change?
Women are visible everywhere in the City, in their Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana suits and Manolo Blahnik shoes.
Monogram Denim HandbagsThe sudden sprouting in the Square Mile of expensive hair salons equipped with Reuters TV screens, express manicure services, Hermes boutiques and exclusive gyms hints elegantly at their impact. They have top degrees, are fiercely ambitious, practise yoga, rarely drink alcohol - but they also have a taste for luxury and fast cars.
Damier geant canvas Fake HandbagsAnd nearly all of the most highly paid of the Vogue Traders, as they have been dubbed, are mothers.
Their rise has coincided with the arrival of the big American companies, which brought a waft of political correctness to the City.
Men have been told privately to drop the public schoolboy humour and have been sent on gender awareness courses.
At Bloombergs, male employees have been instructed to avert their eyes if a woman is walking up the lavish glass staircase.
And at Schroeders, they were warned not to comment on the appearance of female colleagues, lest it be deemed sexual harassment.
Yet the big question is why so few women are reaching the top rung alongside the likes of Galley and Mayall?
And have they been more hindered than helped by politically correct efforts to ease their path.
YOU DO not have to dig far beneath the glamorous veneer of the City to find there are still gaping discrepancies in how women are perceived. Those who do rise up the ladder often receive far lower salaries than their male counterparts.
An Equal Opportunities Commission report suggested that women working fulltime in banking and finance earn 55 per cent of the salary paid to men doing the same job.
The recent rash of employment tribunals involving City firms have also cast an ominous shadow.
Last year, an investment bank trader accepted a [pound]70,000 payout af
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