Evo7,
I think you're probably right. Also women are kind of expected/taught to be unselfish and not to spend money on themselves; it's supposed to go on the kids or the house or something sensible. Having said that, most of the women I know think what I'm doing is great, and are nearly as excited as I am about my getting my CPL(H).
QNH,
In an ideal world you would be right of course. But most minorities have and need organisations, simply because it's so bloody lonely being in a minority. When I was doing my PPL I hardly met any other women who flew, and I know at least one woman who never met any at all. As for going commercial, I didn't even dare ask about it at first; I'd never met a female commercial pilot, and didn't know quite how to put it to people who I knew would be amazed - and when I eventually asked my instructor he was indeed gobsmacked. Also, once you've got your PPL it's nice to find other pilots to fly with, but men hardly ever ask a woman if she'd like to fly with them, and can tend to take it the wrong way if she asks them - does she fancy them or what? You don't need that sort of complication as a new pilot. Airfields and flying clubs can feel a bit like old boys clubs too; women are a novelty but can feel somewhat excluded. And it's so so tiring to have it always assumed that you're someone's non-flying wife!
I'm speaking purely from my own experience and that of a few of my friends now; some women may not find this happens and that's absolutely fine. And most of us find ways of coping or dealing with it or just not caring. But for me, and a lot of others, the BWPA fulfils a need. Maybe it shouldn't, but it does.
Interestingly enough, I once flew with a male friend/co-pilot to a BWPA meeting at Sywell. He was happy to come along, but disappeared immediately to look around, saying he felt strange being the only male with a bunch of women. The fact that every other time we'd flown I'd been a lone woman with a bunch of men and hadn't even commented on it had never occurred to him.
