He was an equal opportunity jerk and she pulled the gender card.
If I were the guy who upset her, I probably would have instead said something else, like, "Touchy, touchy!" That would have been a gender-neutral comment. The "meow hiss" thing seems to me like a gendered insult, hence I believe that it was a tad misogynistic. Furthermore, for a man to use a "meow hiss" on another man, not only does that just seem unlikely but also if it actually did happen, it would probably be perceived as some sort of failed attempt at homosexual flirting. So I find it implausible that a man would meow-hiss at another man that way; it would likely ever only happen from male-to-female.
Even so, I do think that she was awfully touchy, especially for a cabinet secretary. If you want to command respect and exude authority, then you really should pick your battles rather than sniping at people like she did. She lost face with her touchiness, and then projected her loss of face on the man who mocked her for it. Since he is a senator and this is a hearing, it stands to reason that both he and she owed it to their constituents to display a little more decorum than they both did. But I am certain that she will universally be portrayed as the innocent victim despite her testiness while he'll be portrayed as a patronizing, misogynist pig. She too deserves some criticism in this, having sniped at him, but being a women she'll inevitably be given a total pass on her behavior.
