London, Nov 17 Young women who love to dress up fashionably are not betraying feminist ideals, says a leading head teacher.

Jill Berry, president of the Girls' Schools Association, defended Cambridge undergraduates who posed in their underwear for an online student magazine last month and said that girls can follow fashion without compromising intelligence.

"Girls can be highly intelligent and interested in being seen to be attractive - the two aren't mutually exclusive," The Times quoted Berry as saying at a conference of girls' school head teachers.

"Caring about physical appearance and fashion and wanting to feel good about how you look doesn't have to be a betrayal of some feminist ideal.

"I love new shoes but it doesn't make me shallow," she added.

Berry also extended her support to girls who quit high-flying careers to focus on having family, insisting they shouldn't feel guilty.

She admitted that there were other head teachers who disagreed but said she welcomed the "raging debate" triggered by her remarks.

"I am absolutely sure that there will be people who say we have to be careful about this message," she said.

"There should be women at the top of every profession and should be more women as managing directors at FTSE level.

"I think sometimes women choose not to have these things. It is not that they can't, or that they have tried and failed. There are women who say, 'At this stage of my life that is not what I want for myself, for my family, for my life,'" she added. (ANI)