Rat Catcher,
Every day men obtain positions through seniority and their ability to meet standards (your words) and yet this is not considered noteworthy. But if one possesses the other set of genitalia it is heralded as a stupendous accomplishment. Why?
Perhaps you think that it is such a grand achievement because you believe that sexist discrimination places a nearly insurmountable barrier to female advancement. No doubt such obstacles exist but my experience in the real world has shown me that every such obstacle a woman faces in her career progression is balanced or exceeded by A SPECIAL FAVOR GRANTED BY OTHER MEN BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN. Thus the playing field is level thus her achievements are no more or less laudable than those of men thus when people make a big fuss over things like female captains it strikes me as condescending. The feminist cause is not advanced by such patronizing hoopla.