It was a self-fulfilling prophecy, to a certain extent. Guys grow up reading comics, are inspired to become artists, draw what they want to see, and because the comics don’t really appeal to girls, it’s only guys who end up offering feedback. And this feedback loop continues on until you get to the point where women are saying “no, wait, the comics industry is dying because they don’t have enough readers, but they’re turning off half their potential audience because no one in the industry creates for women, and none of the readers seem interested in trying to get more readers.”