I might be all wet, but a "socket" is inherently "female" For example, many connector mfg'ers specify contacts as "pins" (male) or "sockets" (female) Where I got confused is "jack" and "plug" I thought a plug was a male gender,but sometimes plugs have socket connectors. Hmmmm....? I finally learned a plug's body fits inside a jack, regardless of the connector gender. Now, I'm trying to order a 100 pin Hirose board connector, and they have "jacks" "plugs" and "headers" each with either pins or sockets, and I can't tell from the lousy drawings which is which. Damn, it gets confusing out there sometimes.