Sorry for butting in, but -
A) Because it's an easy way for journalists to fill space. It provides a potentially interesting angle and maybe a couple of soundbites in what would otherwise be another boring interview with another boring artist (because let's face it, electronic producers are not the most exciting people on the planet). Most of us don't listen to a Maya Jane Coles or a Cooly G record and think "wow, this is good. Fascinating that a woman made it". It's just good or it's not.
Also I've read a few interviews with established female artists like Dinky, Ellen Alien, Magda etc. and their gender is rarely brought up or even alluded to. They're just artists who happen to be women. So yes, it is irrelevant in such cases, and I would consider this to be a good thing.
B) Because, as you said, there are only a "few" of them and therefore it's a less worn out topic than most. This is why a popular DJ who isn't a producer is always asked what it's like to be a DJ who doesn't produce, has he ever thought about producing and when will you start making records already.
However, I do think that gender is relevant in this case in the sense that it would be helpful/motivational for a woman interested in production/dj'ing to read about the experiences and perspective of a woman who's actually "made it".
I don't think any of us can provide a concrete answer to that, but here's some conjecture anyway - Why are there so few Indian techno and post dubstep producers? Why are there such a small number of black Rock and Metal bands? Well, a multitude of reasons I'm sure, but the primary one would probably be that a significantly lower percentage of these demographics are interested in that particular field than the dominant group and therefore a lower percentage of them are good/lucky enough to get noticed. Why? I have no idea why people are drawn to the things they're drawn to. But if my answer to both these questions was "well, because of racists", that would be idiotic.
Similarly, to imply that the reason there are less women in dance music simply because "sexism" is a lazy oversimplication and doesn't help the feminist cause in the slightest. I'm not saying that this is what you're implying, but the DJ Mag article in the Guardian by the female dj (can't recall her name) linked to in The Quietus piece was a terrible example of this. While there may have been 10 thousand female dj's who didn't make that shitty list, there would be about a million male ones that didn't either. I'm under no illusions that we live in a sexist society, but for her to come to the conclusion that she didn't make it because of some patriarchal conspiracy (and not because maybe she sucks but doesn't suck spectacularly enough to make a list topped by David Guetta) while moaning about not making "top-billing territory" smacked of a case of entitlement and self-victimization, not sexism.
Okay, I'm just rambling now, so I'm gonna stop.
Sorry for the rant. I think I'm done talking about gender politics for the rest of my life.
Edit - Just wanna add that the Corpsey post is excellent and he makes some great points about post dubstep and the discourse surrounding it.
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