play the gender card
To dismiss or discredit an opinion, argument, position, action, decision, etc., as being the product of prejudice against one's gender. The candidate played the gender card as an explanation for why her polls were much lower recently, claiming that the media has been giving her less visibility than her male opponents simply because she is a woman. I hate it when casual misogynists try to brush off legitimate criticism by claiming that you're just "playing the gender card."