"The distinctions on this men to women, the increased lens on my family, nobody wrote about the family lives of Ralph Becker, Dave Buhler or Keith Christensen, and there is plenty to say there, both good and bad," Wilson said. "Yet everybody knows I've got these two kids, and, oh, are they going to be OK in all of this, and how do we feel about that, when nobody is asking those questions about the others?"

Corradini feels Wilson's pain. She said she was under the same microscope as Salt Lake City's first female mayor.

"There was more scrutiny and kind of a challenge for some folks to say, 'Gee, is she really up for this?"' Corradini said.

Any woman seeking public office should be ready for an uphill battle, Greene said.

"If you are going to get into politics, you'd better have a thick skin. They are going to attack you somewhere," Greene said. "And if you are a woman who can't take saying, 'Oh, she's a woman,' then you shouldn't be there in the first place."

Wilson doesn't want to be labeled a martyr for the feminist cause.

She said she just believes she didn't get a fair shake — from newspaper coverage to Anderson's comments on motherhood.

"I'm pretty thick-skinned. I'm fine now," Wilson said. "I won't back down or lessen my advocacy for electing women. I will increase my advocacy.

"Can a woman with kids be effective in office? Yes."

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com