The very notion of people presuming that a character is presenting a specific sex is, I think, the deeper stereotyping which occurs. Whether or not people find such stereotypes flattering is secondary.
If the ways people formulate their perceptions of self and other are faulty, then any instance of “pandering” is only an attempt exploit this deeper, pre-existing problem. Like most social problems, if people address the root cause first, then the secondary effects quickly lose relevance. If people cease making such stereotypes, then people will cease trying to exploit them.
