The news reports today were filled with mentions of Cherie DeVaux, the first woman who has trained horses to win both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont. And, while I would take nothing away from Ms. DeVaux’s accomplishment, I was struck by the incessant emphasis on her gender.

I do understand that she is the first woman to have done this but what I don’t fully understand is why it matters, in today’s world, whether the achievement belongs to a woman or a man. To me, the emphasis on “first woman” echoes with a sound of underlying bias, an implication that men are something more, whether it is capable or skilled or experienced or something else.

Maybe I feel this as a woman who has faced these biases more than once in my professional career. I remember having an interview a number of years ago. My flight was delayed and delayed and I ended up staying overnight when I should have been up and back in the same day. I had been traveling all day and, after dinner, the organization’s CEO sat with me in his home office. One of the first questions he posed to me was “Don’t you think it’s a real disadvantage to be a woman in a position like this?” I gave a credible answer, I think, but I have never forgotten that question and its blatant sexism.

Here’s another moment I remember in an interview, meeting the chair of the Search Committee for the first time and hearing him blurt out “Gee, I thought you would be taller.” Once again, sexism was at the core, the real message questioning whether a woman (all 5 feet of her) had the capability to step into the role. By the way, I did land and accept that job and went on to have close to 10 successful years with that organization but those words, and what they implied, have always stayed with me.

I had thought that the generation before me had fought for equality in the workplace, that the battles had been fought and won. But, while things are certainly better than they were, and many of us have had opportunities that would never have been available in the past, that distinction and the bias that goes with it, have yet to disappear.

There are no easy answers to this question, no simple solutions. As women, we have to continue to succeed and continue to stand up for ourselves. We have to continue to educate our colleagues, our families, our fields because there is still a long way to go.

As we continue to fill our full hearts, tenacity and strength must live right along with the love.