By the way, the “father figure” dynamic is often present with female students as well, but a bit differently since the body functions differently... so a woman is in awe and wants to follow and learn and become just as great and strong etc (or at least to attempt to do so) even though she knows that not everything will be possible due to obvious physical differences. I mean, there have been great female warriors who are fast, great endurance and strength, etc., but if she stands against a 6 foot tall heavyweight athlete face to face what are the odds...
In most older schools there were special practices for girls. More attention was paid to flexibility, speed, cleverness, sneakiness, and even sexual tricks like in old days in Japan where female ninjas would seduce their victims/enemies and catch them relaxed and unaware...
So, yep, we do feel the parental guidance/awe thing. Either that, or inevitable attraction which is horrible and can lead to bad bad consequences given that most REAL Sensei and teachers WILL NOT fall into male/female interactions beyond what is permitted by their own strict principles.
I think being female in any school or whatever arts is the whole another twist and it’s very interesting to observe. All issues of gender equality aside, I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, we are all deserving people... but different physiology and hormones do play a role and cannot be dismissed UNLESS a woman has already passed the stage of learning where she can have total control of her cycles, womb, hormonal bursts, mood swings, etc. If not, forget it.