the female sign ( unicode #$2640 = #9792 ) appears in YOUR browser as:

♀

So, in the source it reads "&#" ( ampersand, ... )

then the decimal number "9792"

and then a ";" ( semicolon )

In a Lynx browser ( text only ) I get "f."

In Mozilla ( = netscape ) a "?" appears.

I don't know about 'IE'.