When John Boehner walked onto the House floor in early January to address the first legislative session of the 114th Congress, women occupied 84 of the seats around his dais. It was more than the chamber had ever seen, and still, women accounted for only a slim fraction of the politicians on Capitol Hill. Today, nearly a century after Jeannette Rankin, a Republican from Montana, became the first woman elected to the House in 1916, women comprise just 20 percent of Congress.

Political scientists know that when women run for office, they win. “The growing presence of female leaders in politics is likely to inspire, encourage, and energize potential female political leaders,” writes Dartmouth professor Deborah Jane Brooks in He Runs, She Runs, her recent book on gender stereotypes in politics. “That, in its own right, is cause for optimism.”

But female politicians still face sexism on and off the campaign trail, from Capitol Hill to state legislatures to daily press clippings. This year—as pundits wondered whether America was ready, at long last, to elect its first woman president—female politicians encountered journalists who mentioned their pink nail polish and commentators who likened them to stewardesses. Here are the best examples of female politicians dealing with utter crap in their jobs in 2015—and overcoming it.

January 20

Joni Ernst gives the Republican rebuttal to Obama’s January State of the Union address. In her address, she speaks at length about how she used to wear bread bags over her shoes to keep out the rain as a child in Iowa. While her speech did sound a little stilted, the media later compared Ernst, an Iraq veteran, to a stewardess and a cheerleader.



Joni Ernst delivering response in the style of an in-flight safety video. — Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) January 21, 2015

Joni Ernst's #SOTU response speech would have worked well for a 9th grade cheerleading competition. #fail — Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 21, 2015

February 2

The New York Times reports that the Republican takeover in the Senate knocked the number of women leading committees from nine the previous year—when women held a record number of chairmanships, even heading up traditionally male committees like Appropriations and Intelligence—to two. Of those two, Lisa Murkowski, the Republican senator from Alaska who now heads the Energy Committee, recounted how aides to Kevin McCarthy offered her a windbreaker with “Chairman’s Table” written on the back. The only problem was that it was designed for a man—and far too large to fit her thin frame. “His staff was, of course, very apologetic,” Murkowski told the Times. “But I did think that was somewhat telling. We are not thinking about the women.”