Thanks for those clarifications, Dr. Nagoski, and no need to apologize for the tone of anything you shared. I appreciated viewing and reading! If I may, I’m interested to dig further a bit so I’m sure I understand.

Undoubtedly, we all unconsciously harbor racial, gender, and other biases that are difficult–some might say impossible–to completely get rid of (indeed these are confirmed in the peer-reviewed literature, some of which you shared). Also undoubtedly, our history is littered with men of one culture or another oppressing minorities and women. No argument from me on this.

That said, my question is, I feel, an honest and a simple one. Let’s take the ACDA example: if we worked to eliminate the sexism you describe in the organization and the field, what kind of benchmarks would you want to see to let us know that we were indeed making an impact and having success at eliminating sexism in the organization and with regards to the conductor gender imbalance you describe? What do you ultimately envision as to the balance of genders that you describe in your original post?