I agree - that this should not be a token gesture. And one would hope that a female moderator be granted the same respect.
Interesting reading on "she is an astronomer" corner stone project for IYA.
Promoting gender equality and empowering women is one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. She Is An Astronomer will promote gender equality in astronomy (and science in general), tackling bias issues by providing a web platform where information and links about gender balance and related resources are collected.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/globalp...sanastronomer/
Cheers Petra