This is fairly depressing to read in 2010. The Dallas Morning News has an analysis of an upcoming debate among the GOP candidates for governor in Texas, including incumbent Rick Perry and US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Christy Hoppe drags out the old Mars vs. Venus trope and says that Perry "must stay steady and calm." As for Hutchison:
Kay Bailey Hutchison, in her fervor to score political points, must not come across as too "shrill" – a word reserved almost exclusively to describe women in debates.
She must avoid a high-pitched tone and anything that resembles scolding. What comes across as forceful for a man is sometimes seen as churlish in a woman.
Are journalists still getting paid to come up with reinforce the idea that confident women are "shrill"? Why not go all the way and say that women candidates must be careful not to come off as heretics?
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