from "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen Part 2", the second episode of the second season, shows that C.J. is the only character to doubt whether she is qualified for the role in the Bartlet campaign she is being offered, despite her not being the only character to have a thin political résumé. C.J. is often shown to be a more emotionally vulnerable character, and sometimes stereotyped as subject to her own feelings. Since The West Wing frequently mixes the personal lives and professional careers of its characters, this tendency has the effect of letting her feelings influence her views on policy. In the third season episode "The Women of Qumar", C.J. learns that the United States is renewing its lease on a military base there. She has a deep-seated emotional reaction to this news throughout the episode, culminating in a scene in her office with the National Security Advisor, Nancy McNally. C.J. reveals her reasoning for her opposition, telling her that "they beat women, Nancy. They hate women. The only reason they keep Qumari women alive is to make more Qumari men". McNally is not swayed by this reasoning, arguing that the base is strategically pragmatic, and after C.J. unsuccessfully counters with a long-winded analogy to apartheid, she simply pleaded, "they're beating the women, Nancy!" After McNally walks away, C.J. regains control of her emotions and neutrally delivers the news to the press in her briefing. Webster opined that although this scene allowed for a powerful emotional statement on the issue for the viewer, it also revealed a gender bias in the writing of C.J.'s character. Author Shawn Parry-Giles commented that scenes like these play into the stereotype in which women are portrayed as too subjective and emotional for rational, political decision-making. White House press secretary As White House press secretary, C.J. is the most influential and visible woman on The West Wing. However, this role still positions her as a supporting character – her job is to spin the actions and policies of the president, but she does not have a hand in shaping that policy the way the male characters do. Initially, C.J. is portrayed as politically inept. She was shown to be clueless with respect to basic government functions, needing to be informed of the purpose of the U.S. census by Sam Seaborn in one first-season episode. She also admits elsewhere to having little understanding of