"What do you think of women using knives?"

I guess I lack context or experience, because my reaction is "Huh?" It wouldn't have occurred to me that people would have a gender bias on that one. Except, I guess, if someone is freaked out about the possibility that a woman might be using any kind of possibly-dangerous tool. I suppose that referring him to Neil Gaiman's "A Girl Needs a Knife" (e.g. as performed by the Flash Girls) would be a bad idea.

This sounds like a really creepy guy, and I hope he was possibly offering work, not "work".