Alot of people can't cut it in the industry, male or female. Most of the women I've met who felt they were discriminated against, were the ones who couldn't cut it. IMO theres no difference between a man or woman in the workplace - only differences between individual people.
Of course, this is my opinion, not everyone's. Discrimination still does exist, cooking is not exactly an 'educated' trade, and many cooks have attitudes that don't belong in this day and age... I have been discriminated against on the basis of my age before (my experience and skills are very advanced for my age, and employers like to take advantage of this yet give me the lower wage based on my age and not my skills), and one Frenchman didn't like me because I was 'English' (or so he thought, before I cussed him out in French). I'm not one to take discrimination though, I refuse to accept it whether it's the FOH giving me attitude or the Executive chef. Let people know you're for real, you won't take any BS they send your way.
This reminds me of a funny story. One chef I worked for liked to slap people on the @ss before service (everyone, not in a sexual way, just for jokes). Once he snuck up on me, slapped my @ss, and without even thinking, just reflexes, I elbowed him square in the jaw, just about knocking him out. Never happened again.
One disadvantage for (some) women is the harsh nature of the business. You need to be tough to make it, as well as a little crazy. Many women are just too nice (IMO it's not a bad thing, I prefer being the nice guy, but sometimes you need to be an @sshole) , and don't stand up for themselves when they should. If you've got the right attitude though, nothing will get in your way, certainly not your gender.