From the moment Donald Trump was elected president, the face of the resistance has been female: the Women’s March, the #MeToo movement, the surge of women who ran (and won) as Democratic candidates, the women running Indivisible and other organizing groups around the country.

So it’s fitting that the face of the elected officials who are now empowered to check Trump — the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives — is a woman, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi is a compelling foil for Trump in many ways, bringing experience and intelligence to bear in a battle against a man whose overconfidence is only matched by his inexperience and incuriosity. But her gender adds an interesting dimension to the drama, creating a far different dynamic than would spool out if the Democratic leader were, as most members of Congress still are, a man. Many people in politics and media are still not used to female power, and Pelosi’s novel position, while creating some pointless problems for her, also gives her some surprising advantages.

This was made quite clear in this week’s showdown over the State of the Union address.

No doubt Pelosi’s prowess at Capitol Hill politics was on full display in her choice to deny Trump his chance at delivering the annual speech until he decides to end the shutdown. The move showcased Pelosi’s talent at reading people and figuring out what actually motivates them. Trump will never be moved with appeals to decency, as he has no decency and doesn’t even pretend to care about it. But taking away opportunities for him to preen and brag before a national audience hits him where it hurts.

More subtly, however, Pelosi is also using her gender to put Trump — who is visibly unnerved by having any woman around that isn’t clearly there to serve him, sexually or otherwise — on his heels. Trump is already a terrible politician with no discernible deal-making skills, and he’s clearly rattled by Pelosi in the same way that he was rattled by Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential debates. So he’s avoiding direct conflict and hiding in the White House sending out tweets, rather than deal with this woman who unnerves him by merely existing and refusing to be subservient.