Never underestimate the latent sexism prevalent as late as those days. Even though it seemed to me that the filmmakers were making it blindingly obvious in the latter scenes of EMPIRE that the "another" Yoda mentions is Leia, I had an argument with a fellow fan who vehemently, almost violently, denied that it could be so, and for no other reason I could see besides she was, you know, a girl. And this was my girlfriend talking! Even in the face seemingly incontrovertible evidence, even many women couldn't seem to conceive of a woman as a Jedi Knight.