In recent years women have been catching up with men on everything from pay to job prospects - and even drinking habits.

The stressful and macho work culture has resulted in increasing numbers of women heading straight for the pub after a hard day's work and matching men drink for drink.

But despite their converging lifestyles, the sexes still remain distinctly divided in their choice of tipple, sticking to the stereotypical images with women preferring wine while men more often choose their traditional pints of beer.

Now the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has unveiled a range of 10 "female-friendly" beers to try to shake off the drink's "flat cap" image and encourage more women to fill their glasses.

The drive was inspired by the organisation's research which found less than a quarter of women had tried real cask ale in a pub, and many think it is

old-fashioned and unfeminine.

More than a quarter said they did not drink beer because their friends didn't and a total of 17 per cent were put off because they thought the drink would make them fat.

Only 7 per cent found it stylish and attractive, although 19 per cent admitted they would try it if it was served in more stylish and fashionable glasses.

CAMRA spokesman Tony Jerome says: "Women are put off drinking from pint glasses because men see it as 'unfeminine'.

"A lot of women also think all real ale tastes the same, but in fact there are over 2,000 varieties across the country. There are wheat beers and fruity beers and many other varieties to suit sweeter tastes.

"And it is a myth that real ale is any more fattening than other alcoholic drinks - with wine, ale and lager, the only factor that makes a difference is how alcoholic it is."

Jerome says one of the main reasons women do not drink beer is because of the way independent breweries promote it.

"Many of the adverts feature a tractor or hops, which are not exactly female-friendly images. With this in mind, we are fronting our campaign with a modern version of Goddess Ninkasi, a modern version of the Sumerian Goddess of Beer, who was worshipped 4,000 years ago when women brewed the beer and ran the taverns.

"Women drink the Belgian beer Hoegaarden because it has got the right image, it is promoted in the right way, and it is served in trendy glasses.

"If breweries brewed sweeter beers, promoted them in the right way and served them in trendy glasses, we think they too could sell to the female market."

The group hopes the range of beers designed to appeal to women, including Young's Waggle Dance, Beartown Wheat Beer and Hop Back Summer Lightning, will attract more female drinkers to turn their backs on their customary tipple.

However Jenny Tonge, a writer for Vogue magazine, who has interviewed many women about their drinking habits, says she doubts the campaign will work.

"Women work in an equal environment to men and I don't believe that they will be attracted by a product promoted as a 'women's drink'.

"Urban professional women already know quite a lot about what they like and what is available, and it would have to be

a very sophisticated product to create even a small shift.

"There are women who are already committed to beers and ales because they like the taste. People either like the taste or they don't and a few gimmicks will not change that.

"Beer is an ancient drink and I don't think commercialising it into a 'women's drink' will make any difference."

Meanwhile, the charity Alcohol Concern cautions that over recent years women have been steadily increasing their alcohol consumption. The proportion of women drinking more than 14 units a week increased from 10 per cent in 1988 to 15 per cent in 1998.

A survey by Company magazine in 2000 found half of young women were getting staggeringly drunk at least once a week and putting themselves in danger by walking home alone and having unprotected sex.

And the same year a Government survey found the proportion of women who had drunk more than six units - its definition of a binge - on at least one day in the previous week had risen from 8 per cent in 1998 to 10 per cent in 2000.

Richard Phillips, assistant director of Alcohol Concern, says: "More women are now suffering from liver cirrhosis than cervical cancer.

"Women drinkers are being heavily targeted the drinks industry, with the creation of women friendly products and bars. We would like to see a coherent national alcohol strategy to combat harmful drinking among women which includes health promotion campaigns and prevention and screening programmes."

However, the Portman Group, the representative of the drinks industry, says it does not see any harm in CAMRA's campaign.

Spokesman Graham Goodwin says: "From our point of view, we've got no problem with someone saying, 'Try this instead of this', as long as it's done on the basis of sensible social drinking and is not trying to encourage people to drink more."