Gender behind the Camera

There is a local film festival going on here in Albuquerque called "The Duke City Shootout" (I'll leave any comments on the implication for westerns to Erik), and they are running a commercial where they talk about how you can see up and coming filmmakers, "so you can say you knew that dude before he did the crappy romantic comedy."

My question is, why a "dude" right away? And unfortunately, it's not even the fault of the advertisers who came up with the word choice. How many famous women are directors? And not just in terms of mainstream films, but in the independent and foreign world, as well? Sure, we hear about people like Catherine Breillat, but the name-checking she gets seems to just reiterate the point - how many other famous women directors do we hear of? (And this isn't a slur on Breillat's fans - it simply seems she's one of the few female directors who is cited, and I can't help but wonder to what extent it's her filmmaking, and to what extent it's her gender). People like Penny Marshall get acclaim - "A Penny Marshall film" - one suspects, again, because, in part, it's her gender, and not her filmmaking, that gives her attention and credit.

Why is this? Why is directing (and even producing) a movie such a male-dominated world? Does the boy's-world shut out women, or do they have no desire to participate in such a world? I suspect the answer to this dilemma really shows how far we still have to go towards gender equality in this country and elsewhere.