--- description: "Good thing you're working out because you wouldn't want to get porky," Kirsten Gillibrand recalls one fellow senator saying title: Kirsten Gillibrand Talks Senate Sexism in Off The Sidelines Book image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt704312642ae88e86/6986a12f1eebf7379a3726c1/kirsten-gilibrand.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Senator Says Male Colleague Told Her 'You're Even Pretty When You're Fat' by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2014 8:58 PM CUT  Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY attends a press conference calling for the creation of an independent military justice system to deal with sexual harassment and assault in the military, in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Feb. 6, 2014. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY attends a press conference calling for the creation of an independent military justice system to deal with sexual harassment and assault in the military, in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Feb. 6, 2014.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2014 8:58 PM CUT Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) [says in a new book](http://www.people.com/article/kirsten-gillibrand-hillary-clinton-president "undefined") that she has faced several sexist encounters with her male colleagues, being nicknamed everything from “Honey Badger” to “hottest member of the Senate.” “Good thing you’re working out because you wouldn’t want to get porky,” Gillibrand says one colleague told her in the congressional gym, according to an excerpt of her book _Off The Sidelines_ published by [_People_](http://www.people.com/article/kirsten-gillibrand-hillary-clinton-president "undefined"). After she lost weight following a pregnancy, Gillibrand writes that one male colleague squeezed her waist and implored: “Don’t lose too much weight now, I like my girls chubby.” And she says one southern congressman told her, “You know, Kirsten, you’re even pretty when you’re fat.” “I believed his intentions were sweet, even if he was being an idiot,” Gillibrand writes. But Gillibrand told _People_ she hasn’t been fazed by these incidents, and said she’s using the sexism she’s faced working in Congress as motivation to take on issues like military and campus sexual assault. In the book, which is being released in September, she calls on other women to “speak up, gather strength” and “support one another.” “If we do, women will sit at every table of power making decisions,” Gillibrand writes. The first-term senator also told _People_ she isn’t deterred by the gridlock plaguing Congress. “If I can work an issue like sexual assault on college campuses and drive a national narrative and know I’m making a difference,” Gillibrand said, “then whether or not we pass another bill in Congress, there’s still good things I can do.” [_Read the rest of the story at People_](http://www.people.com/article/kirsten-gillibrand-hillary-clinton-president "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3197103/kirsten-gillibrand-senate-sexism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3197103/kirsten-gillibrand-senate-sexism/"},"headline":"Senator Says Male Colleague Told Her 'You're Even Pretty When You're Fat'","datePublished":"2014-08-27T20:58:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:53.384Z","description":"\"Good thing you're working out because you wouldn't want to get porky,\" Kirsten Gillibrand recalls one fellow senator saying","url":"https://time.com/3197103/kirsten-gillibrand-senate-sexism/","keywords":["Congress","Living","women","Senate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt704312642ae88e86/6986a12f1eebf7379a3726c1/kirsten-gilibrand.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt704312642ae88e86/6986a12f1eebf7379a3726c1/kirsten-gilibrand.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY attends a press conference calling for the creation of an independent military justice system to deal with sexual harassment and assault in the military, in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington","caption":"Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY attends a press conference calling for the creation of an independent military justice system to deal with sexual harassment and assault in the military, in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3197103/kirsten-gillibrand-senate-sexism/","name":"Senator Says Male Colleague Told Her 'You're Even Pretty When You're Fat'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Kirsten Gillibrand on Hillary Clinton's Influence","description":"New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand talks at the 2014 TIME 100 Gala about the influence of three women in her life: her grandmother, mother, and Hillary Clinton","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/k2Jwg7Yx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-04-30T07:31:25.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/k2Jwg7Yx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3197103/kirsten-gillibrand-senate-sexism/","duration":"PT2M18S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3197103/kirsten-gillibrand-senate-sexism/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```