Kitty hissing at women?

Hello! I have a two year old fixed kitty named Delilah. She's a love bug to our roommate, my husband, me, and any guys that come over to the house. She'll be all over them, flopping in their laps, purring, the works. (Pictures for those who like them!)



Here's the issue: When a woman, any woman, enters the house, she swipes and hisses at them, and practically becomes an entirely new cat. This is a big problem as we got another roommate, who is female, and Delilah is throwing fits. She's acted curious about her, going up to sniff at her clothes or even take treats from her, but if any eye contact is made at all, Delilah will swipe and hiss. We've had her checked for any medical issues, JUST in case, and everything's clear.

We're not really sure what to do about this behavior. Any suggestions would be wonderful.

It's so strange, but I've read and heard about some female cats much preferring me as well as some male cats much preferring women. I don't know why they would have this preference, but assuming you are a woman and she's perfectly fine with you, it may just take a bit of time and work before she gets used to the new roommate.

My wild guess is that ladies have high pitched voices which irritate cat.  Especially when greeting cat.  Men not so much.  Try soft, low voice when talking to cat....

Seems like some cats are predisposed to prefer a certain gender & others do so because of past trauma. My friends found a cat that literally walked into their house one day. They kept her. From day 1, she loved the husband & disliked the wife. We took her when they moved & the same thing. She loves my dad & doesn't like me or my mom. When I visit with my husband, she'll tolerate him. We don't know the cause, but it's consistent.

On the other hand, I've seen cats who really prefer women v men. I've noticed that the cat will get scared from a man's deep voice, but not from a woman's softer voice. So it really can be a multitude of things.