This conversation really surprises me. Every LFS around here seems to be dominated by women employees/managers. The one main LFS (Marine Scene) where I went to learn everything is now run by a woman and she knows a LOT about what we are attempting to do. I mean, she can glance at any coral and give you the Latin and common name for it. She teaches everyone about the right way to keep a reef system. If you ask her about a fish or a coral, she asks what else you have and she tells you whether it will work or not.
When I first came here to RS, Lynn was the one answering a lot of my MANY, MANY, MANY questions and I obtained a LOT of respect for her opinion and in most cases, she backed up what the lady at the LFS was saying (yes, I was looking for second opinions at times). I don't consider this hobby to be gender specific. I've seen some plumbing jobs that blew me away and they were put together by women.
But then again, I grew up on a Dairy farm and there wasn't a mentalitiy of "That's mens work, and that is womens work." Everyone worked equally as hard as everyone else, regardless of gender. Everyone pitched in when a job needed to be done. So yeah, my mom could beat the crap out of me every bit as good as dad could if I needed it.
