If I think a man would be a good Mason I inform my wife. She invites him.
LOL... I like it... but in all seriousness, it is funny how we are perceived as a boys club, yet a comment like the above would confuse someone who holds such view.
A potential member came up one night over a dinner party. One of the wives chimed in and her exact words were "I do not think he would be a good Freemason". When asked, she described her (accurate) view of the qualities of a Freemason, and in her view he did not have them. He did not trust him. She knows a lot of Freemasons and has been around us for 30 years. Her husband, father-in-law and 4 of 5 sons are brothers (the eldest is not, but I would support him in a heart beat to join). The brothers talked about her opinion, and accepted it as if from a brother - and the man was never proposed... and I've come to see she was spot on..
Likewise, I said to my partner, "I am thinking of proposing X"; her response was to admonish me for not having done it earlier, to her, he felt exactly like the other Freemasons she knew. He was initiated last year.
Freemasonry is a fraternity, but it is not misogynistic . If a woman understands the fundamentals of the Craft as well as a brother does, her opinion is likely to be heard. Indeed we've had our girls at planning meetings, their voices can really add something. They spend years around us, at dinners. sometimes in the kitchen (my partner, who is on a six figure salary and a senior executive loves cooking with her daughters for lodge, the are treated like heroes (because they are) and they all get to spend time with the guys who work beside... okay, under them, in the kitchen, they do this to support me - and because they love feeding folk, and with lots of hungry 30 and 40 yo boys, love the enthusiasm for their food from starving brothers LOL), at social functions... the girls often end up with a clear view on the fundamentals - they dont get bogged down in the details and the old problem of not seeing the forest for the trees...