Comparison of Maya and Kate

After watching Zero Dark 30 I found the main character Maya to be both intriguing and a memory. I say a memory because her job of working with the CIA and leading a task force is exactly what I wanted and dreamed about when  was younger and envisioning a career with the government after military service. Nevertheless, after watching the film and comparing both Maya and Kate from the novel, Sand Queen I noticed two very important and stark differences between the women. Maya is a woman I can more easily relate to. She's a woman who s not only in a male dominated field, but she's assertive, performs ten times better than the men in her field, she's a spitfire, disciplined and an all around badass that doesn't take non-sense but she is still able to have those bonds with her coworkers of both sexes. Kate on the other hand is more naive in where she's trying to find her footing in this field. Though both women joined their perspective government agencies right out of high school Kate's background somewhat stifled I feel the way as a woman, the way you're "supposed" to enter these male dominated fields. But I can be wrong. As a more assertive woman I honestly felt a little frustrated at the way Kate handled some situations in which I felt she was being timid, but then again I'm not in her shoes. These women have different personalities. Yet, tragic enough what I found in the movie to be true that no matter how much of a badass you are at your job, having a vagina will still overshadow your work. In the movie where Maya gathers all the intelligence needed in a meeting they are having with a guy I presume to be a level below the CIA director, when it was revealed that Maya was the one who acquired all the intelligence he looked shocked. And of course, it was because he couldn't believe a woman who was no more than thirty was heading such an important mission.
This just goes to show that though we are making a little little progress in accepting all groups to play on the team both the movie and the book just reaffirmed that women in many male dominated fields have a long way to go.