I hear what you’re saying and I’m not saying you were wrong in your usage. The issue I think most women (including me) have is when men refer to us as “females” while not referring to themselves as “males” is that it makes us feel like they view us as not fully human, or like a lesser animal. Problematic people are often trying to feel superior to others, whether via race, class, religion, age, etc etc, and certainly speciesism (is that a word? Autocorrect thinks so) can play a role.

That’s still a bit different than saying “males” or “females.” Using those words as nouns makes it feel like a nature documentary narration.

I used to have a kitty who drooled when she was happy. (She passed a few years ago.) She was a grumpy thing, but occasionally she would deign to give us some love and get some in return, and after a few minutes she’d shake her head and it would go flying everywhere, lol. Sometimes I wonder if she liked living with us, being so grumpy at times, but she must not have totally hated it.