I grew up with a male, holy terror, Tigger, who lived to be 18 years old. I remember him as being very affectionate when he wanted to be, but I have the scars to prove he wasn't always so sweet. I think I probably brought some of the aggressiveness on by playing too rough with him. He was a wonderful cat, who to this day, my mom remembers for how many things he broke and scratched in her house!
Shrimp Boat was my timid rescue kitty. She only loved me. Never wanted to go outdoors, and unfortunately was a "scaredy cat", excuse the pun. We had her for 7 years, but took her on a trip once in our camper, and she escaped and we never saw her again. I grieved for her and I still do.
Mimi came next and has been the queen of my family for almost 12 years now. Mimi is one of those wonderful cats who is so easily taken care of. She goes out when she wants, comes in when she wants and can love you to pieces, WHEN SHE WANTS. She loves to sleep on you. She is especially affectionate when we are in bed. But the arrival of Butter, a male, has thrown her for a loop. Butter is not a lap cat, but loves to be near us. He is much younger and very playful. He sleeps on the bed, but never on one of us. Maybe he'll come around because he's only been with us for about 7 weeks now.
Bottom line....I just don't know. Mimi, alone, is a terrific cat and defies all the "female" stereotypes mentioned before. But with the addition of a young, curious male, her personality has changed. Maybe female cats need to be in a single cat household.
I love both, but learn something new from them every single day!