The 4 different female tribes you'll find in London

After a five year-long survey, Rachel Pashley has identified four core female tribes
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As a senior strategist at advertising agency J Walter Thompson, Rachel Pashley needs to know how people think in order to understand how they spend.

For too long, she says, women, who are an increasingly powerful financial force all over the world, have been pigeonholed by advertising campaigns into narrow stereotypes. “Women were always defined by their responsibilities, usually parental, so campaigns were targeting either ‘busy working mum’ or ‘stay-at-home mum’ while men enjoyed a broader, much more nuanced range of ambitions, goals and desires,” she says.

Pashley decided to commission the Women’s Index Survey, a global report conducted over five years which asked 8,000 women aged between 17 and 70, in 19 countries, lots of questions about their ambitions, attitudes and aspirations.

Overall, 83 per cent of women around the world agree that there has never been a better time to be a woman, although in Japan, with its traditional “surrendered wife” culture, just 43 per cent of women agree. Women in countries with troubled economies such as Italy experience a more hostile attitude towards being a high achiever, and in Western countries in general they turn out to be less ambitious for themselves than in Asia Pacific, Japan being the exception.

Brazilian and Saudi Arabian women come top as the most entrepreneurial. Indian women are proudest to call themselves feminists, in direct contrast to Russian women. Pashley also established that women are less likely to get venture capital funding when starting a business than men, and some are held back from going into certain careers because of a lack of precedent.

“Women are entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, sportswomen and more, but we’re just not hearing about it. I wanted to tell that story, so I coined the term Female Capital to describe the value that women bring to the world — value that is innate to us as women.” These days, being strong and empowered, she says, is a core part of the new femininity.

Pashley has identified several core female tribes, with characteristics that, broadly speaking, apply universally across all the countries she looked at. Here are the London female tribes:

Alpha Females

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Key characteristics: driven and confident, emotionally self-sufficient, sexually expressive, keen on “leaning in” and in many cases aggressive. They found companies and sit on boards. Those with children have nannies and supportive partners.

Top Alpha Females: Alexa Chung, Natalie Massenet, Victoria Beckham.

Favourite places: Any Soho House, The Allbright, 5 Hertford Street.

Favourite clothes: Céline, Armani, Goyard and chunky diamond rings they’ve paid for themselves.

Hedonists

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Key characteristics: the focus for these women is on having a good time, self-development and enjoyment. They often postpone marriage and children and take a special interest in social media, festivals and mind-expanding cultural experiences.

Top Hedonists: Poppy Delevingne, Dolly Alderton, Alice Levine.

Favourite places: All Points East, Port Eliot Festival, Laylow, Soho Farmhouse.

Favourite clothes: Preen, Vampire’s Wife, Shrimps, Talitha.

Traditionalists

PA Wire/PA Images

Key characteristics: these women prioritise nurturing and family values. They may commit to helping their husband’s career and looking after the children as part of their side of the bargain. They may also have a strong entrepreneurial streak and run a business on the side — but the family is the centre of their universe.

Top Traditionalists: Jools Oliver, Mary Berry, Emma Bridgewater.

Favourite places: home, Petersham Nurseries, London Zoo.

Favourite clothes: J Crew, Topshop, Todds, Whistles.

Altruists

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Key characteristics: these are the women who want to make the world a better place, whether through tech, social pioneering, promoting health, ethical and sustainable issues or being culture-shapers.

Top Altruists: Martha Lane Fox, Amika George, Livia Firth, Amal Clooney

Favourite places: glitzy charity fundraisers, amfAR galas, Davos,

Favourite clothes: Stella McCartney, Matt and Nat, Chinti & Parker, Dandy & Brooks.

New Female Tribes: Shattering Female Stereotypes and Redefining Women Today by Rachel Pashley (Virgin, £20), buy it here.

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