She said such occurrences were not limited to Mr. Trump, adding that female journalists are frequently called out for their appearance, their hair and the way they dress.

Comments like the president’s detract from a woman’s value as a professional, she said.

“We absolutely do not see that happening with male reporters,” she said. “I don’t know what the solution to this is. It does need to be called out. It does need to stop.”



Kris Macomber, an assistant professor of sociology at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., said in an email that Mr. Trump’s comments reflect “textbook paternalistic sexism,” which is often couched in a “ ‘playful’ tone, as if she should feel flattered.”

“Donald Trump’s track record for sexist remarks is well documented, and this particular case fits right in line with his previous remarks,” she wrote. “He didn’t say those things for Perry’s sake; rather he said those things to show all the people in the room (and the cameras) that he’s the kind of man who flirts with women he considers attractive.”

Most notably, a month before the election, a 2005 recording surfaced of Mr. Trump talking to the television personality Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” and speaking in extraordinarily vulgar terms about women.

In 2013, President Obama apologized to Kamala Harris, who was then the attorney general of California and is now one of its senators, after telling a group of wealthy donors that she was “the best-looking attorney general in the country.” The comment drew accusations of sexism, which the White House at the time quickly sought to quiet.