Stop Echoing Stereotypes

The article you published about Ernestine Hernandez, computing division head at Point Mugu, perpetuated the very stereotypes that she has broken in her career (“Naval Base Employee Fights Different Enemy,” Dec. 2).

You say she is “slim and pretty”--what did you expect and what if she hadn’t been? What relevance does that have with the struggle of women and especially African-American women to get ahead?

“Hair coiffed to one side, dresses in stylishly cut suits and is strikingly soft-spoken, with a voice that is slightly melodic.” If you had interviewed my boss, who is a man, I doubt that you would have commented on his hairstyle, clothing taste or his voice. He, by the way, is soft-spoken also.

I am so tired, as a woman, of reading articles that mention a woman’s clothing or personal appearance when it is not relevant to the subject matter. Also, the emphasis on femininity implies two disturbing things. One is that it is rare for women who are managers to be feminine and also that there is something undesirable about a woman who chooses not to be feminine.

I was startled to see a woman reporter perpetuating stereotypes that men have been foisting on women for centuries.

LINDA LOUISE ROBINETT

Port Hueneme