A female banker, 27, has written this to a Financial Times columnist: "I know that you will think this problem is mad, but I fear I'm too good looking for corporate life. As a student I used my looks to make money modeling, but now that I'm in the City I feel they are holding me back."

She goes on, "Female colleagues distrust me, while male colleagues are drawn to me, but don't take me very seriously. My boss has told me that I need to network more. But I find networking events are ghastly, with all the eager men dribbling over me. What can I do, short of turning up to work in a bin liner?"

While it would be easy to dismiss the young lady, she does touch upon an interesting problem for some women. In a male-dominated environment, good looks can be a distraction.

This is, of course, unfortunate, and I am at a loss as to the solution. Many women seem to opt to downplay their looks in the work place.

But not ex-Citigroup banker, Debrahlee Lorenzana.

The former banker in a midtown Citigroup branch claims in an arbitration case that she was fired for being too good-looking. She wasn't subjected to the expected boom-boom room form of harassment. Rather she was harassed to make herself less attractive in order to be less distracting to her male colleagues. She didn't think that was fair.

Perhaps this indicates yet another reason why women seem to be shying away from a career in finance. Who has time for these sorts of issues?

For more
- read the letter

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