YOU CAN NEVER BE OUR WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Some days he’s Philip the top banker. On others she’s Pippa. But now female City workers are saying...
A MALE bank director who wears wigs and dresses to work on some days and men’s suits on others has sparked controversy b y a c c e p t i n g a n a wa r d for top female executives.
Married father- of- two Philip Bunce describes himself as ‘gender-fluid’ and ‘non-binary’ – meaning neither male nor female – and decides each day whether to dress as a man or a woman and whether to call himself Philip or Pippa.
He even has a security badge featuring both his male and female identities for when he arrives at the offices of top investment bank Credit Suisse.
This weekend, however, he finds himself at the centre of a storm after being included in a list of Britain’s top 100 female executives compiled for the Champions of Women in Business awards.
Bunce was ranked Number 32 i n the l i st, organised by the Financial Times and diversity campaign Involve, and material released to announce the awards shows him in both his male and female guises.
The commendation pays tribute to Bunce as a ‘key proponent for many of Credit Suisse’s gender focused initiatives’ and as an advocate for ‘ a more di verse gender workforce where there is the parity, equal representation and equality across all 3 genders’.
But Gwen Rhys, founder of the Women in the City organisation which celebrates female talent, questioned the inclusion of Bunce in the female section.
‘This person may well be a champion of diversity, but I am curious as to why the category that they have been put into is that of females,’ she said.
Dr Sarah Rutherford, a diversity consultant and former bank director, said: ‘He never claims to be a woman. Credit Suisse perhaps had good intentions but it was wholly inappropriate to put him on the female list.’
Former Credit Suisse employee Caroline Farrow wrote on social media: ‘Had a woman gone to work in Credit Suisse wearing a shocking pink lace dress & towering heels, a manager would have had a word.’
Karen Ingala Smith, who runs a charity for domestic abuse victims, wrote: ‘ If Philip Bunce wants to wear a frock and lippie to work once a week, then good for him.
‘There is no good reason why he shouldn’t. But that does not make him a woman and certainly not f e mal e . S h a me on @FT for listing him as one of the Top 100 Female Executives.’
And university lecturer Dr Sophie Allen said: ‘Someone with integrity who was offered this award would have refused it in favour of a woman who had genuinely had to deal with discrimination throughout her life to excel in her career. But rather than standing in solidarity with other women, @pippabunce is insulting them.’
Credit Suisse announced t he accolade f or Bunce on social media, saying: ‘Congratulations to Pips Bunce on being listed as one of the Top 100 Female Executives in the 2018 FT & HERoes Champions of Women in Business list!’ In response to the award, Bunce said: ‘I am truly honoured and humbled by this award and am proud of t he progress we a r e making towards all forms of gender diversity and equality.’
In a previous interview about his ‘gender fluid’ lives, he said: ‘I like to be Phil one day and Pippa another, using different forms of dress and make-up to do so. I do it at home and at work. I am straight, have been married for more than 20 years and have two children.’
Last night he declined to comment, but in response to earlier criticism he described his detractors on a now deleted tweet as ‘sad terfs’ – a derogatory acronym standing for ‘ trans-exclusionary radical feminists’, suggesting they were transphobic.
Suki Sandhu, founder of the awards, said: ‘We are very clear that nominations to the lists are open to everyone including those who identify as trans and nonbinary. We believe that nobody has the right to tell an individual how to define their own gender identity, and that includes us.’
Credit Suisse, which employs Bunce as a technology director, said: ‘We are very proud to be an inclusive employer which celebrates all aspects of diversity.’
‘It’s wholly inappropriate to put him on the female list’