Everyone eventually gets called on something no matter what their gender. Everyone eventually moved past all of their initial impressions.

I think part of the reason Tommy gets the praise he does is because Kelly is so down on him. Nobody really likes Kelly at this point - so Michael is enjoying the fact he can prove her wrong (& I think he says that people treating kids as if their stupid just because their young drives him nuts).

Kc respects his female characters. Just wait until the end of season 4 & see what he does to the one of the guys to bring the ladies center stage. (It's effective, but kinda mean)