I make everything, by everything I mean here is a lump of clay, here a sheet of plastic, here is a roll of cloth and spool of thread, here is a jar of beads... and all the tools used to transform them into either works of art or works that try to capture the essenece of a character or world.
So to that end I have totally emersed myself in historic construction- my 16thC gear is made very differently to 19th which is differet to my modern Uniforms which is different again to modern dresses etc etc. And learnt how to mold and cast in a variety of materials (latex, cold foam, epoxy resin, urethane resin). Modern and hstoric corsetry... Leatherwork with tooling and dyeing... I even know what to look for in metal armour even though my Arthritis means I'll never be hands on.
Being female has never been an issue in making anything, aside from attitudes from those selling me product (which is one of the reasons I do a lot of research before shopping) or towards how I look in my work.
It's one of the reasons I have moved away from many forums and on to blogging/sharing sites like deviantArt.
It's not about fans or attention or gender, just about connection.