a question for the masses

Why is Hillary Clinton so fixated on the fact that she is a woman? I mean, yes, she is female (at least in some sense of the word) – that is certainly unavoidable. But she keeps using it as leverage, again and again… almost as a plank in her drive to the Democratic nomination, and, eventually, the White House.
Would it not be better to be elected on the basis of your stance on issues, past performance, and future plans, rather than your gender? I mean, at least the first three you have control over… the last is kind of dumb luck. Of course, it could be nothing more complicated than the fact that she is… oh… shall we say “lacking” in the first three? Nah, that would be too easy.