One thing I've noticed, about British and Irish folk music at least, is that folk singers tend not to be too worried about the gender in which they sing. So you'll frequently hear male folk singers sing emotionally in the voice of a woman, describing how tall and handsome their beau is and how much they worry about him when he's away at sea. You don't really hear this so much in other forms of music, none that I can think of offhand anyway. So I've always thought of folk singers as being somewhat "gender fluid," in spirit anyway. In other words, it's not so important to assert your masculinity on the folk scene. For all the "woke-ness" of the young-uns today, I wonder how many current male pop artists would feel comfortable singing from the point of view of a woman? Folk is way ahead of its time!