[ScottBurson]

I can only speak personally, but I sure haven't experienced any of this alleged difficulty of getting feedback, especially of the negative variety. Sure, it's not the case that everyone I've mentioned one of my bad ideas to has objected to it, but there's always been someone willing to give me the bad news as they saw it.

I think it's entirely plausible that there's something gender-related going on. Women are often seen as less tough than men.