17 SEPTEMBER 1994, Page 31

Women on top

Sir: Paul Johnson (10 September) rightly praises women and their superiority in many fields of human endeavour. The late Lady Violet Bonham Carter was, I believe, the first woman guest speaker at the Cam- bridge Union. She opened her address by admitting that after a life-long career in the furtherance of women's rights she had nev- ertheless come to the conclusion that there were three occupations in which men excelled: as hairdressers, dressmakers, and cooks! Women with humour (as opposed to militant feminists) have always excelled.

Claus von Bulow

109 Onslow Square, London SW7