> historically women have been excluded in academic study populations
That may have once been true, but it is no longer the case. Since the 90s, women have earned more post-graduate qualifications than men. Women have parity in obtaining medical doctorates. They dominate the medical and life sciences, the humanities, psychology and social sciences, human resources, education, veterinary medicine, and many other fields. Computer science and some other math and engineering disciplines are rare exceptions.
I think you're misreading my point. You're arguing as if I'm saying that women's studies is still vital today because academia is still women-hostile. I'm arguing that women's studies may have at one point had a legitimate purpose, and outright dismissal and handwaving of their existence is un-intellectual. I'm therefore arguing for a more nuanced analysis of whether or not women's studies is still necessary, against the cynical dismissal in a forum whose membership is mostly men working in a field that's also mostly men.