for me sometimes it's that i find certain traits more interesting in characters of one gender than the other. like, i'm so over stoic, aloof male characters because there are five million of them and i just find them boring now. but stoic, aloof female characters? give me more of that. same with soft, nurturing female characters. boring, they're a dime a dozen, but i eat up soft, nurturing male characters because you see those so much more rarely.