I must say that I'm personally surprised to look back through this thread and see how huge of a deal some people made out of a little thing.
For what it's worth here's my perspective.
Aviation (my field) in general is a predominantly male field. The number of females in the field is rising slowly and steadily but it is still largely male dominated. For the record, my flight instructor is female, and she's also one of my closest friends (relax, she's my age). I'm on the flight team at my college (for more information go to
www.nifa.us). We have 4 girls on the team and about 15 guys. The people who get to compete in regionals and nationals are the people who show that they are in the top 5 in their events on the team (we hold cuts throughout the season). So basically whoever goes to competition is based on merit and coaches decision.