Nice theory, augustk, but I think you simplify things a little too much.
Not all of us are ww2 aviation history enthusiasts, although many are. I for my part can tell that although I've learned a lot during these 10+ years playing AH, I still don't know the names of the Finnish aces, not to mention worldwide. I have read some Biggles novels and a bunch of Commando and Air Ace magazines, but merely for excitement. The adventures of Tom Sawyer or Tarzan were and still are just as thrilling as the war stories. In my late teens I wanted to be a military pilot, because they had no unemployment problems, had good income and early retirement age.
I don't know about your whereabouts, but when I was at school they didn't teach us too detailed ww2 history. One reason might have been not making the former enemy (USSR) angry by worshipping war heroes. As for my kids, now 13 and 16, ww2 is already so ancient history that only main lines are considered important, not single fights or fighters.
Gaming wise recent studies show that girls are interested in different type of games than boys. So, although there have been women in wartime aviation tasks, reliving their adventures through games isn't a girl thing to do. If it were, dominating women like Lara Croft or Charlie's Angels or Nina Williams from Tekken would be role models for girls just like Indiana Jones or McGyver are (were) for boys. As a kid I remember playing Tarzan and Batman with other boys, but I can't remember any of the girls ever jumping from trees as Sheena Queen of the Jungle or Wonderwoman or Xena, not to mention proudly wearing their outfits on the backyard or playground. It seems that from the very beginning women are from Venus and men from A... I mean Mars.
As a final note, the above does not mean that a woman playing AH would by any means be less feminine than her stereotypic Barbie-bred sister. Nor am I considering them as weirdos or freaks. Each one of us have our own reasons why we have stuck into this game and each reason is equally valuable.
