Sexism or Not?

When a successful woman suffers a professional setback, it's not always clear whether gender was a factor. (See our full coverage on sexism.) Consider the five well-publicized cases below. What's the verdict?

Morgan Stanley C.E.O. John Mack fires co-president Zoe Cruz.
Sexism: Her ouster is a huge symbolic blow, especially since many men were left standing.
Not sexism: Cruz oversaw trading and risk operations and rightly took the fall for the bank's $3.9 billion subprime loss.
CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric is panned and ratings plummet.
Sexism: Sexist attitudes, disguised with words like "perky" and "celebrity," are behind the negative reactions.
Not sexism: Couric's chatty, good-humored persona plays on Today but not on the Evening News.
News Corp.'s HarperCollins fires ReganBooks publisher Judith Regan; she sues.
Sexism: According to Regan, the company had a pattern of "firing high-level women," and ignored an earlier complaint of sexism.
Not sexism: She was dismissed for using anti-Semitic language with a company lawyer, after a book by O.J. Simpson went awry.
Supporters complain about Hillary Clinton's treatment on MSNBC.
Sexism: Chris Matthews called her "she-devil," "shrill," and "grating," and attributed her success to her husband's infidelity.
Not sexism: Sure, some of those words could be offensive. But the point about infidelity could apply to a man as well.
Then-president of Harvard Lawrence Summers suggests fewer women work in science for a scientific reason.
Sexism: He was basically saying women aren't as smart as men.
Not sexism: Summers was merely exercising his academic freedom—and he had been asked to be provocative.
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