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OK, here's the deal on Pilates from my wife. She's a qualified Physiotherapist with two additional Masters Degrees (one in Sports Injuries and one in Musculo-skeletal physiotherapy).
Pilates was developed by Joseph Pilates after World War I in Germany. He used it to help veterans who were bed-ridden, yet still needed some exercise.
Apparently there are three types of muscle contraction; ecentric, concentric and isometric. Isometric contraction is when you tense your muscles but don't move anything. Concentric contraction is when you "lift" something (ie, lifting weights); your muscle is shortening or contracting in this circumstance. Eccentric contraction is when you "push" something (ie, walking or pushing a weight upwards); your muscle is extending in this circumstance. Pilates relies upon eccentric muscle contraction.
I've never seen Pilates in action, but apparently you are on a bed (or matt), and pushing/pulling cables and levers. This results in eccentric contraction of the muscles. This was good for bed-ridden soldiers, who may have lost an arm or leg etc.
Pilates was popular during Joseph Pilates lifetime but began to fade out towards the 40's. In the 50's it enjoyed a revival, especially amongst dancers. Proponents began to see that Pilates helped create "long and lean" body-types. No one really knew why, but it was great for dancers who wanted to improve their body strength without "bulking up"; which was common if they did free weights etc.
It once again gained another revival in the 80's (especially in New York apparently) for the same reasons. Dancers (and then celebs) liked the results.
In the late 80's the University of Queensland did some groundbreaking studies on the contraction of a core muscle (in the central torso) called the transverse abdominus (my spelling might be wrong). There is also another muscle called the multifidus involved. Their study showed that these muscles contract a few microseconds before any other conscious movement; especially those that produce strain on the spine. This is an involuntary and unconcious contraction. It is apparently done to add stability to the spine (the muscle adhers to boney extrusions of the verterbra called fascia). Without this, spine strain and injury can occur.
Physios have found that a lot of bad back pain, especially lower back pain, is a result of poor abdominal muscle control; either the transverse abdominus and multifidus contract at the same time or after the "primary mover" (this is the term Mrs Mephisto used to denote the main muscle that you conciously contract). Physios have found that working on this "core stability" problem can do wonders for people with bad back pain.
They often use ultra-sound to help people consciously identify the muscle, as it's hard to "think of" and contract normally. You lie there and basically tense your insides whilst they show you the results on a ultra-sound machine. Eventually you learn to "feel" the abdominal muscles and can then consciously contract (and therefore exercise) it. This helps your core stability which in turn helps your back pain.
What has this got to do with Pilates?
Well, as Pilates became more popular, some physios noticed the result themselves and also realized that a good part of this technique was also exercising the abdominal muscles. Now, most Pilates has been "improved" with specific abdominal exercises. In effect, they have enhanced some of its core stability parts to make the results even better. At least, Pilates when taught by professional and qualified physios.
Pilates is considered an excellent technique, not only because it can help improve your body shape without bulking up (remember, it creates long and lean body shapes), but is also extremely useful for many professional athletes. Sports physios have found that improving core stabilty has a positive result in improving general all round fitness. It also means that once your core stability is strong, it's easier for your peripheral muscles to irmprove. Mrs Mephisto described it as "kind of like getting a good foundation down before you build on top of it". Apparently everyone from professional runners to rugby players use it successfully. It's also very good for pregnant women, as they exercise the right abdominal muscles, without straining the important ones (something to do with the womb etc; I can't remember the names of the muscles involved).
So all in all, the answer is "No, it's not just for girls" and "Yes, it is very good for you, if taught by someone who knows what they're doing".
I hope this was useful. Any errors are my own and due to an imperfect recollection of the conversation I had with Mrs Mephisto.
Mr Mephisto
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