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Gillibrand In New Book: Male Colleagues Have Made Insensitive, Skeevy Remarks

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) dished some dirt in her new book, "Off the Sidelines."

As CBS 2's Dave Carlin reported, Gillibrand painted some male colleagues as insensitive and clueless, and even skeevy and hostile.

She wrote that after losing 50 pounds, another senator squeezed her waist and said: "Don't lose too much weight now. I like my girls chubby."

Another quote from another senator read, "Good thing you're working out, because you wouldn't want to get porky!"

A colleague when Gillibrand was in the House allegedly said, "You know, Kirsten, you're even pretty when you're fat."

One woman told CBS 2 such remarks have no defense.

"Hurtful digs like that are just not appropriate for anyone in any profession, whether it's male or female," said Kate Giovambattista of Cobble Hill, Queens.

Writing about the experiences, Gillibrand leaves out certain details -- including names. One man took issue with that choice.

"I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt, but if you're not going to name names, then how do we know if the story is accurate?" said Faried Assad of Cobble Hill.

Rebecca Traister is the author of "Big Girls Don't Cry" about women in politics

"I hope that we'll find out who these people are," she said.

Traister also said she understands the senator protecting her colleagues' identities.

"She has collegial relationships with them. She's she sort of affection about some of them, saying, 'I know he didn't mean it poorly,'" Traister said. "That's one of the complications of this."

Traister said women with similar problems need to know they are not alone. She is glad Gillibrand wrote the book now, instead of waiting until after leaving office.

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