Gryffindor Staircase

[fourjays22]

No: HPFGUIDX 82973

Standard newbie disclaimer -- I was unable to find anything about 
this in my search, and I apologize if it has already been discussed. 

I was curious what role (if any) people think the Gryffindor 
staircase might play in books six and seven.  I'm referring to the 
bewitched girls staircase we learn about in OoP that doesn't allow 
boys to ascend because they (boys) were at one time thought to be 
untrustworthy.  I've been wondering if all the boys' staircases in 
the four houses were bewitched?  If so, is this common knowledge?  
Could this be a key location of some sort of final battle if/when LV 
enters Hogwarts?  If people (specifically Death Eaters) are generally 
unaware the staircase is bewitched, it could make the girls' 
dormitories a remarkable hideout, esp. since Bellatrix (and Narcissa 
perhaps as well?) seem to be the only active female death eaters -- 
the girls' dorm could be a foolproof way to deter LV.  We (the 
readers) have spent a lot of time with Harry in the boys' dorm, but 
we know little of the girls' dorm.  I sense this is a detail that may 
be important in later books.  

The staircase also made me think about Rowling's take on sexism in 
the books.  Clearly, her focus is primarily on racism/prejudice, but 
I think she's made some hints that the Slytherins/Death Eaters (I 
know the two groups are not interchangeable) types are sexist as 
well.  I'm thinking about the fact that there are no girls on the 
Slytherin Quidditch team (JKR says this specifically and I don't 
think this is a throwaway line), eg, and the fact that the Death 
Eaters are primarily male, while the Order, by contrast has a large 
number of females.  And of course, the Gryffindor Quidditch team is 
almost half female.  Obviously, there are plenty of girls in 
Slytherin house, so it's not as clear cut as the Slytherin's dislike 
of Mudbloods, but I've thought that JKR might be making a point that 
the strength of Gryffindor and the Order lies not just in their 
embrace of non-100% wizarding folk, but in the full integration of 
women and men into the ranks.  The staircase is kind of a "reverse 
sexist" institution, based on a stereotype of boys, and I wonder if 
this theme will come into play in the later books, perhaps a bit more 
overtly.

So, thoughts on the role of the bewitched staircase or Slytherin 
sexism?  

Julie