Male pets or female pets?...

I've only ever had one pet. A bird and I think he was a he.

Well, I don't know for sure about the goldfish I had as a kid, but both dogs I've had in my lifetime have been female, while both cats have been male. I don't really have a preference, but in my experience the female dogs tended to be calmer, smarter, and friendlier than other people's male dogs, while the male cats tended to be mellow guys (my late male cat had a girlfriend at one point--her moods ranged from sweet to ferocious.) I like to keep a pair of budgies at a time, and while the pair of females got along equally, in both male/female pairings, the female tended to rule the roost. (In one case, the female beat up the male--screaming and blood was involved).

Cats, had both. Males were less finicky yet not as endearing. That's a sample size of 2 females & 2 males cats. 1 of each at once for a few years... female wanted no part of him, meanwhile he was as lazy as a rabbit & would just look at her like wtf drugs are you on.

had two female cats (not at the same time) and co-owned several male and female dogs and don't see any difference the sex would make. now if you ask which dog breed is smart or stupid i can certainly give you a few recommendation on what not to get

Female

I've only had a male dog so I'm not sure about differences, but I've had both male and female cats and the absolute best was a grizzled, ugly, nasty looking tom that we neutered. He turns out to be the sweetest, most laid back and lazy cat ever. We still have our girl but we miss that cat every damn day. Our girl is bipolar in the way cats have that reputation, but our old boy was insanely anti-cat reputation.

I also have box turtles, and I have to say the males are aggravating as hell with their constant energy and focus on me, each other, and the one female. They always want one of the 3 Fs-fighting, fucking, or food. Lol. But they have such personality, it's hard to be mad at them even though I do wish so much they got along.
My female is a bump on a log. Not much personality, she doesn't care much for interaction although she is the calmest and tamest of all of them, and she absolutely hates the camera around her. The boys will pose all day long but she just walks off. She's the one who will sit on the couch with me in my lap while I play on my iPad or watch TV. The boys would have to be exhausted and nodding off, otherwise they're climbing all over me trying to get to my face. (?) She is old too, that might have something to do with it too although if it does it's not much I don't think. I had another female for ten years that was pretty hands off too. These boys are nothing like that. They are entertaining as hell lol.