Perhaps it was no accident that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wore all lilac on the night that Democrats won back the House and Senate. She stood in stark floral contrast to her male colleagues of both parties, most of whom had donned traditional dark suits.

For the first time in history, the most powerful position in the House will be occupied by a woman — tiny and stylish at that, with tasteful jewelry and fitted, colorful, designer suits, some by Giorgio Armani.

Gone are the days of a burly male wrestling coach. And Republicans — male and female alike — insist it’s not so much a woman in power that irks them as it is the woman and party she represents.

“I would rather see a Republican woman run the House,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who, despite his ongoing contempt for Pelosi, said he doesn’t plan to try any conciliatory gestures such as sending flowers. “I don’t think it matters. I don’t think I’m on her radar. I don’t see much policy coming from that side of the House.”

As Pelosi stands poised to assume the highest-ranking position in Congress, questions linger. For one, does the Speaker’s gender matter? For another, will men in Congress be forced to behave differently?

While many lawmakers, both male and female, acknowledge that men and women handle power in unique ways, a minority of members interviewed for this article are what one might call gender-blind — they claim to see no difference at all.

In the coming days and months, we will observe the new, feminine face of Congress and watch what changes, if any, it brings.

“It’s not going to rock their world, but I do think the men may have to learn to negotiate through more collaboration than through bullying,” said Scott Haltzman, a Brown University psychiatrist and professor who specializes in gender issues.

Last week after the leadership races, newly elected House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) wrapped a protective arm around Pelosi’s shoulders, making her look small and delicate, like someone he had to protect after she had supported his opponent, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.). The photograph that ensued was affectionate, sweet and far different than the picture would have been had two men been elected to powerful positions.

Just two years ago Sen. Fritz Hollings (R-Miss.) retired, and in his farewell speech he had this to say about women in Congress: When he first came to Congress, Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine) was the only woman in the Senate, and she was “outstandingly quiet. Now we’ve got 15 or 17 and you can’t shut them up,” he joked.

With the recent midterm elections there are now 16 women in the Senate, the highest number to date, and 71 women in the House. Two new women were elected to the Senate; 10 new women were elected to the House.

Additionally, the country has nine new female governors. Even D.C.’s new mayor, Adrian Fenty, is tapping a woman to be the city’s next police chief.

Male lawmakers insist that they appreciate the presence of female colleagues. But some have a harder time expressing such appreciation. When asked how men and women handle power, Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) responded as though he had just returned from a marital session with Dr. Phil.

“Sometimes they don’t fight fair,” Buyer said of women. “Men do very well at focus, well at what’s in front of them. Women bring their memories to the debate and bring in things that may not even be relevant.

“To them, it’s relevant. They bring in external things that may have occurred in the past. So you have to come in, nod your head and be a good listener.”

Deborah Condren, a business psychologist and author of “amBITCHous,” said she believes men in Congress will at first be “confused and befuddled as their views of women in power prove to be illusions. Then they’re going to run like crazy … so that they can build alliances.

“Let’s face it, there’s just one word that our culture bestows on that supremely ambitious woman who values success in her career: bitch. Ambitious men are go-getters, but ambitious women are bitches.”

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said women in Congress have it much tougher than men in that men always talk over them. “Men are learning,” he said, adding with laughter, “We’re not the fastest learners.”

He said Pelosi has been underestimated, and he echoed the sentiment that men and women handle power differently. But he cannot find the words to describe the difference. He leaves that to the nearest woman in the vicinity, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.).

“I don’t think it’s so much what a woman does as it is the people who are around the woman judging her,” Eshoo said. “Nancy Pelosi has continuously been surprising because she has been underestimated. Anyone who underestimates her does so at their own peril.

“She’s a lady through and through. She has never been attracted to or taken on any maleness. There is no doubt she came into the world as a female. She is stunning.”

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) said Pelosi is enough female presence in leadership right now. Moreover, she said, “The caucus isn’t ready for it. Nancy is enough for them.”

Sanchez’s biggest gripe? “Women share leadership responsibility more than men do,” she said. “Men delegate it down.”

She also said men always talk over women in Congress. “It’s OK, women understand,” she said. “We figure out other ways to get their attention. We go through staff. I go through their wives. What a better way to get to a guy than through his wife?”

Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.), a psychologist, also believes women are held to different standards than men and have a harder time in Congress. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence, the attacks that were made on [Pelosi] during the campaign,” he said.

“There’s a fundamental misogyny by Republicans. The Republicans focused on Nancy Pelosi [being] soft on terror, implying that a woman leader will not be tough on terror. Nancy is tough as nails and it didn’t work.”

Baird doesn’t just talk a good game. Both his chief of staff and district director are women. “I put a lot of faith in those people, set aside the gender,” he said.

Reps. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) and Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) and outgoing Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) also said they see no leadership differences based on gender.

“I just don’t think there are differences,” said Wilson when asked if men and women handle power differently.

Gingrey agreed. “I’ve never really felt as a man that a man has any particular lock on leadership ability,” he said.

Chafee appeared entirely uncomfortable about making any grand statements about men versus women: “No, you can’t generalize. They’re all different. I don’t like to generalize.”

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), like Hollings, recalled that when he first arrived in Congress there was only one woman, Chase Smith. “She was very intelligent, elegant,” he said.

And then in a sweeping overview of the female gender, he said, “They get angry. They smile. They cajole, but they come forth with a background that often men cannot fathom … the experience of a mother, childbirth and such.”

“Who knows?” the senator said, smiling. “Our next president could be a woman.”

In the meantime, Congress will have to adapt.

Haltzman, the Brown psychiatrist, said women “tend to put more effort into building rapport. Often their objectives go beyond getting the job done [to] actually trying to ensure that people feel good about getting the job done.”

When in crisis, he said, women fall into “tend and befriend,” a philosophy founded at the University of California at Los Angeles. They will work together and seek collaboration when they are stressed, as opposed to men, who, when stressed, go off into their own space.”

Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) said there are disadvantages to being a man in Congress.

“Sometimes in caucus, men will get into verbal arguments,” he said. “If you do that to a woman, it’s a problem. Women can get pretty mean to a man, but as a man you have no defense.”

Campbell recalled the two races he had against women. Both “caught me flatfooted,” he said. “You have to be careful.”

Judith Shapiro, president of Barnard College, a predominately female institution, is an anthropologist with a specialization in gender studies, having lived with a tribe in the Brazilian jungles in the early ’80s.

“As far as leadership styles are concerned, it may be that women are more likely to work cooperatively, but I wouldn’t want to get too carried away with that,” Shapiro said. “As we well know, [former British Prime Minister] Margaret Thatcher is not like Nancy Pelosi.”

Shapiro said women in powerful positions sometimes take on male characteristics, or “heads-of-state characteristics.”

On the other hand, she said, “Women don’t get to screw up and be forgiven as much as men. Can you imagine if [former Defense Secretary] Donald Rumsfeld were a woman and screwed up the war as much as he had?”

Shapiro believes more women in power will serve to boost the equality of the genders. “It may just be that the very fact of having women in leadership positions leads to a greater equality between men and women,” she said. “Women are no longer a strange, minority phenomenon.”

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is also gender-blind and predictably would prefer that a Republican woman be in the top House leadership post.

“I have always focused on what it takes to be most effective,” said Blackburn. “For me, it has never been a gender question.”

When asked if she was excited for a woman to be Speaker regardless of party affiliation, Blackburn’s tone turned crisp and taut. She said that having Pelosi as Speaker will cause women to spend more time watching Congress and who its leaders are. But, she stressed, “I would rather us be in the majority. I would rather it be a Republican woman.”