About the Book
First came the secretaries from Brooklyn and Queens—the “smart cookies” who saw that making money, lots of it, might be within their grasp. Then came the first female Harvard Business School graduates, who were in for a rude awakening because an equal degree did not mean equal opportunity. But by the 1980s, as the market went into turbodrive, women were being plucked from elite campuses to feed the belly of a rapidly expanding beast, playing for high stakes in Wall Street’s bad-boy culture by day and clubbing by night.
In She-Wolves, award-winning historian Paulina Bren tells the story of how women infiltrated Wall Street from the swinging sixties to 9/11—starting at a time when “No Ladies” signs hung across the doors of its luncheon clubs and (more discretely) inside its brokerage houses and investment banks. If the wolves of Wall Street made a show of their ferocity, the she-wolves did so with subtlety and finesse. Research analysts signed their reports with genderless initials. Muriel “Mickie” Siebert, the first woman to buy a seat on the NYSE, threatened she’d have port-a-potties delivered if the exchange didn’t finally install a ladies’ room near the dining room. The infamous 1996 Boom-Boom Room class action lawsuit, filed by women at Smith Barney, pulled back the curtain on a bawdy subculture where unapologetic sexism and racism were the norm.
As engaging as it is enraging, She-Wolves is an illuminating deep dive into the collision of women, finance, and New York.
About the Author :
Paulina Bren is an award-winning historian and professor at Vassar College, where she teaches international, gender, and media studies. She is the author of the critically acclaimed The Barbizon and lives in New York City.
Review :
"“Through a combination of original interviews and research, its protagonists are shown in all their complexities. Bren has an instinct for memorable, demonstrative detail… [She] captures the feeling of the culture.""
"In “She-Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street,” the historian Paula Bren takes us on a lively journey through many of these [Wall Street] women’s careers, showing how ingenuity and dogged persistence led to occasional bursts of success… She-Wolves is filled with intriguing anecdotes…But these decades of struggle, exhaustively recounted in Bren’s book, have led to surprisingly meager progress… [reminding us] that it remains an old boys club."
"[A] fascinating, richly engaging exposé."
"Writing with flair and passion, Bren salutes the courage and talent of true groundbreakers."
"In this fascinating, frustrating history of women in high finance, Paulina Bren tells the stories of the mavericks who stormed a boys-club castle and, with grit, determination, and no small amount of talent, dragged seats to the table for themselves."
"Superb.… Illuminating, exasperating, at times hilarious, She-Wolves is a must-read for anyone hoping to understand where women in the United States have been and how much further they have to go."
"With verve and vivid detail, She-Wolves tells the true collective story of women who calculated, analyzed, sold, bought, and traded their way to the top of the financial system. It’s a riveting tale of trades and trade-offs, ticker tape and triumphs, sexism and strategy, ambition and ascent, as women dealt themselves into the game."
"A marvel of enterprising research and readerly delights. From the ambitious ‘clairvoyant’ sisters who founded Wall Street’s first women’s firm to a 1990s whisper network that traded in ‘survival hints,’ Paulina Bren’s untold history of women and finance is deliciously tangible—and timely. If you didn’t already appreciate the gains of #MeToo, you will now."
"She-Wolves is the fascinating story of the women who entered the male domain of Wall Street, enduring despicable behavior vividly documented by brilliant historian Paulina Bren. Her writing, both gorgeous and pithy, brings to life their triumphs and grit, sure to endure with readers long after the book ends."
"If I had a penny for every time my jaw hit the floor while reading She-Wolves, well, I’d probably have the salary of a woman on Wall Street in 1970. Paulina Bren’s fast-paced, detail-packed narrative provides context even for those who don’t know much about Wall Street, while thrusting the reader right into the fray, with scores of incredible first-person accounts. A multifaceted light on a complex history, one we should all know."
"A significant study of the trailblazing women who broke through the Wall Street barrier…Writing with flair and passion, Bren salutes the courage and talent of true groundbreakers."
"An enthralling chronicle of how the first generation of women to work in New York City’s financial sector fought for equality…what sticks with readers will be the resourcefulness and resilience of Bren’s subjects…It’s a sharp look at the difficulties women faced breaking up Wall Street’s boys club."
"Throughout the narrative, irreverence and humor spice Bren’s accounts… Applause for a searingly honest, detailed history of women working in American finance."
"This page-turner brings to life the hard-won gains of Wall Street’s earlier female pioneers whose brave, bold stories have been nearly completely forgotten.""
"The propulsive story of the women who sought, and gained, a piece of the action on Wall Street."
