The proliferation of technology is a reminder that intelligence and adaptability, not mere physical strength, now drives this society. Some things, sadly, have regressed. The feminist and anti-gay backlashes have been painful to watch. Finding out from your adolescent daughter that she's treated badly by her peers in part because she'd rather not play girl games has been painful to listen to. While society's gains have been mixed, women have made enormous gains in the science fiction field over the last twenty years.
Women are in leadership positions throughout the field, as editors, publishers, agents, and writers.
About the only position where women are still dramatically underrepresented is that of the professional artist. Twenty years ago, writers like Russ, Le Guin, Delany, McIntyre, Wilhelm, and Tiptree presented variants on the traditional gender roles, variants still being experimented with now. Now, Yolen, Varley, Mixon, Scott, Lackey and other writers are continuing to push the envelope. I suspect Beth Meacham is being treated better in the publishing field now, than Marilyn Hacker was thirty years ago. Society is a trickier nut to crack.