I must confess to being accidentally one of those sort that are being held to contumely in this thread. I was at my first Basschat bass bash in Northampton a few years ago, and asked a young lady who she was with. Fortunately she held her temper and explained to me that she was a bassist. In my defence, I had gone there with my band's USP, Mrs Zero the singer, and was in an accompanying-female mental gear.
Can'r remember who said female bassist was now, she was around at the same time as AM1, Shara 5-string and Zoe BillySheehan but wasn't any of them.