The XX Factor: What women really think.

Man, Woman, Candidate

In the NYT this morning, Gail Collins' column is all about Hillary's toughness. Collins reams Clinton for the substantive answers she gave during Tuesday's debates, but gives her style points for holding her own while "being yelled at by six men." "They began piling on from the first question. She took it all and came out the other end in one piece. She’s one tough woman. Kudos."

Meghan, you pointed out that Hillary gets called a pretender, and wondered if that's because she's striving to be a manly-girl. Collins' column is another phenomenon: Hillary gets points for being tough precisely because she's a woman. Those cross currents will probably be with us through the election; their relative strength could determine whether she wins. I wonder, though, if Hillary's reputation as a pretender has another origin. I believe her toughness. It's empathy that I have trouble feeling from her to the same degree.