She-Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street

by Paulina Bren Narrated by Rebecca Lam

Overview

In development with Mark Gordon Pictures



The propulsive story of the women who sought, and gained, a piece of the action on Wall Street.



First came the secretaries from Brooklyn and Queens-the "smart cookies" who learned on the job despite the obstacles. Then came the first Harvard Business School grads, who, despite their hard-earned diplomas, often settled for less. Eventually came the yuppies of the 1980s in power suits and commuter sneakers. In She-Wolves, award-winning historian Paulina Bren tells the story of the first generations of women who fought their way into the bad-boy culture and lavish opulence of the finance world. If the wolves of Wall Street made a show of their ferocity, the she-wolves did so with tough-as-nails persistence. Starting at a time when "No Ladies" signs hung across the doors of Wall Street's clubs and unapologetic sexism and racism were the norm at top firms, Bren chronicles the remarkable women who demanded a seat at the table. She-Wolves is an engaging and enraging look at the collision of women, finance, and New York from the go-go years to ground zero.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

07/22/2024

Bren (The Barbizon), a gender studies professor at Vassar College, serves up an enthralling chronicle of how the first generation of women to work in New York City’s financial sector fought for equality. She explains that in the 1960s, New York financial firms staunchly resisted hiring women (one manager told a female applicant, “Why are you here? We’d never hire a woman”). The women’s movement helped erode these barriers, but those who broke through endured almost uniformly cruel treatment. (Bren notes that Alice Jarcho, who became the first woman broker on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1976, regularly found mayonnaise-filled condoms left on her desk.) Still, women invented cunning strategies to get ahead. For example, Barbara Moakler, who joined Lehman Brothers in the early 1980s, convinced her chauvinist coworkers she had a boyfriend at Goldman Sachs so that her colleagues, hoping to do business with him, would treat her with respect. Though the tales of sexism outrage, what sticks with readers will be the resourcefulness and resilience of Bren’s subjects (when Doreen Mogavero was unable to find a job that paid her a fair salary in the late 1980s, she founded a brokerage that became the “first and only women-run NYSE-member firm”). It’s a sharp look at the difficulties women faced breaking up Wall Street’s boys club. Photos. (Sept.)

Liza Mundy

"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."

Amy Odell

"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."

Kate Bolick

"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."

Mary Gabriel

"Superb… Paulina Bren proves herself to be a master storyteller… 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."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192200308
Publisher:	Ascent Audio
Publication date:	09/17/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged