It helps indeed. I think. Once I dive in I'll tell you how the waters feel.
But, the point about having two different product classes for the gender makes complete sense. Especially since they will definitely be themed differently. Can you imagine any other instance where it would make more sense to create additional classes?

I have used views quite a bit, so that should be suitable.

Thanks a bunch.

p.s. sorry for the late reply, the subscribe to comments function has failed me.