It’s not just women’s and men’s paths that look different; it’s also how reporters tell their stories. Ms. Gillibrand’s red-district folksiness got her branded by some as “a country bumpkin who is in over her head.” Mr. Buttigieg’s is cast as a bonus — he doesn’t wear a jacket (“I just feel more comfortable with my sleeves rolled up,” he said) and can win in a red state.

Ms. Gillibrand entered the Senate as its youngest member, a designation that was an immediate liability. Although she was at times called a “rising star,” she was caricatured as a clawing Tracy Flick, ambitious but unwilling to pay her dues. Her “aggressiveness seems almost gauche, even for a politician,” a journalist wrote. She was cast as “a young woman in a hurry.”

Few seem worried that Mr. Buttigieg is in a hurry. Instead, people wonder whether America is ready for a millennial president, a question not asked in relation to the admittedly unlikely Tulsi Gabbard, also 37.