Why the sudden interest, Sean? This is one of them perennial topics that pops its head up from time to time.
As for the image of the Saturday club run as testosterone and snot, that's because the main people who post about their rides are the faster riders for some reason. It does rather distort the image of the club when we do actually have a range of groups with a very wide range of riders, from the eyeballs out kind to those who like to take in the views and take it easy. The groups riding to set speeds is great for anyone, male or female, to work their way up in speed.
The problem is the wide range of ability within female riding - the faster ones will go to the racing clubs, the slower ones will be more likely to go with the CTC or a group like the Pollards Hill lot. There's not many racing women to go around and the slower ones don't really think of joining a racing club - it's just the wrong image to attract them. Even in the CTC sections the majority of riders are men. I should know, I started riding with my local CTC section with my father as a child and rode with them until a few years ago when I joined the Addies and got too fast for them
There's also the idea that cycling on the roads is dangerous, so many women are put off by that.
Being in any cycling club is like being in any male-dominated area (work or play). I only joined the ACC because I saw something in a mag about how they had over 40 riders on their club run - I thought I might be in with a chance
Actually, Lee, I can cope with the testosterone, it's the estrogen I can't