Poppagator, you said: "However, please don't think that the female party to such an encounter is always innocent while the male is automatically wrong."

I read that as 'anatomically wrong'. lol

The best thing I have seen - or rather, taken away from - a folk club was the rush of being in the midst of the combination of happy performers and happy audiences.

A couple of years ago several of us started a small folk club and I think it is just about the best thing I've involved myself in.

By the way, being aware of men drooling over hot pants on a great body wouldn't call forth my contempt but it would make me grin at the predictability of men- I doubt that they would say that her looks helped her musical ability but it couldn't hurt.

The only time I felt miffed at some men's reactions to a hot looking flashy female fiddler was once at a folk festival when the young woman was arrogant and overbearing and oblivious to the women players in the group. Most of the men crowding into her space were not concerned with her playing. Most of the women left the group and started another knot of players. Flashy plus nice is fine- flashy plus unpleasant is not.