In early Obama White House, female staffers felt frozen out

[The Northerner]

Friction about the roles of women in the Obama White House grew so intense during the first two years of the president’s tenure that he was forced to take steps to reassure senior women on his staff that he valued their presence and their input.

At a dinner in November 2009, several senior female aides complained directly to the president that men enjoyed greater access to him and often muscled them out of key policy discussions.

Those tensions prompted Obama, urged on by senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, to elevate more women into senior White House positions, recognize them more during staff meetings and increase the female presence in the upper ranks of the reelection campaign. “There were some issues early on with women feeling as though they hadn’t figured out what their role was going to be on the senior team at the White House,” Jarrett said in an interview on Monday. “Most of the women hadn’t worked on the campaign, and so they didn’t have a personal relationship with the president.”

The women’s-inclusion issue in the Obama White House is featured prominently in a controversial new book to be released on Tuesday, “Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington and the Education of a President,” by journalist Ron Suskind.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/friction-over-womens-role-in-obama-white-house-was-intense/2011/09/19/gIQA9OUygK_story.html

[librechik]

1. Summers and Geithner again, among others no doubt

Kudos to Ron Susskind's new book "Confidence Men." It's full of details about what misgynist bullies those two were. (and are, no doubt)

[DonCoquixote]

2. Hilda Solis, Hillary Clinton

Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and yet the right wing wants to paint O as sexist.