Women condutors (musical, not trains)

So, I often read and post to a classical music forum put up by The New York Times and the other day someone opined that women had no business standing on a podium and leading an orchestra.
And immediately was “hear, hear’d” by a regular contributor known for his “conservative” politics.
I chimed to express the view that it was only a matter of time until more women enter the conducting ranks, but that they had been systematically kept out by the patriarchal nature of our society. In follow up posts, I added that the primary reason why more women have not entered and excelled as conductors was because, as in most traditionally “male” professions, women have been socialized to “not want to” be those things.
To my surprise, I was mildly swarmed (these folds are mild, but do swarm from time to time) and shouted down.
If this small community is indicative of the kind of environment alive in the classical music world, then it is worse than I thought for a woman who has the temerity to aspire to conduct.
If you are interested, the thread begins here; I post under the moniker dl1998q.
david