A couple tidbits from the Suskind book. From The New Yorker:
During the early months of Obama’s Presidency—“Confidence Men” covers the first two years—his White House, Suskind says, was a testosterone-fuelled boys’ club where important female staffers and agency heads felt bullied and ignored by their male colleagues. “Friction over the role of women in the Obama White House grew so intense,” the Washington Post wrote, summarizing Suskind, that the President “was forced to take steps to reassure senior women on his staff that he valued their presence and input.”
But the really astounding bit is cited in this article in Mother Jones. Turns out Larry Summers was, on at least one occasion, more insightful about gender than Obama.
Many thanks to Bijan and Mr Jender. Sorry for delayed posting.
Feminist Philosophers 
Why is the idea that Larry Summers could have a better insight than Obama about gender really astounding?
Ever read his speech about diversifying the workforce, made at the NBER con in 2005? If not, here it is:
http://www.harvard.edu/president/speeches/summers_2005/nber.php
My favorite part is:
“So, I think, while I would prefer to believe otherwise, I guess my experience with my two and a half year old twin daughters who were not given dolls and who were given trucks, and found themselves saying to each other, look, daddy truck is carrying the baby truck, tells me something. And I think it’s just something that you probably have to recognize.”