Is there a gendered aesthetics? A few good questions

When I wrote my Violin Sonata last year, I was grappling with several questions from the realm of New Musicology. I thought I would share them here to see if they might get your creative juices flowing...

1. Is there a feminine aesthetic of music? Does music by women sound "different?" If so, how?

2. By the same token, is there a masculine sound of music? Is Beethoven masculine? Bartok? Bernstein?

3. Do composers ever borrow (if that's possible) the other aesthetic?

4. Are there any hierarchal values encoded in music? For instance, what is the underlying, deeper cultural meaning to the notion of a feminine ending?

5. What does it mean that so many conductors and composers are men? On the faculties of major conservatories, how many women do you find teaching composition or conducting?

6. Does any of this matter? How can you support your answer?

7. Before you start your next composition, ask yourself, "What would my music sound like if it was my 'feminine' style'?" Or your my masculine style, for that matter. (Note this question has value no matter what your own gender is!)