Some male opponents are smearing them with rumors alleging adultery and lesbianism, charges that are harder for them to overcome because society holds women to higher moral standards. If she's married, she's ignoring her husband or children.
Men are subject to sexual rumors, too.
That's a fact of the culture that is not particularly unique to politics. More is expected of women. Women also face questions about their appearance and traditional responsibilities as spouses and parents that men rarely get. She maintains that she was defeated by a telephone and mail campaign by her opponent's supporters, who charged her with everything from practicing Satanism to having an abortion, an illegitimate child and a homosexual son. If I had been a male, they couldn't have gotten away with any of this.