RosieRad:
But it's always "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls"
But also, generally, 'men and women'. When we're talking straightforwardly, it seems we use the order that reflects everyday life, the patriarchy. When we're being self-consciously polite, 'ladies' come first (and not just in life-boats, Glagla).
Or perhaps 'Ladies and gentlemen' dates from a time when women's status was inferior by such a secure distance that men felt able to be generous in such modes of address, salving their guilty consciences with the pretence that they put women first.