I don’t ‘think’ I care about the writer. I had no idea until much later that Ursula Le Guin was even a woman for example, and I’d say many on here would include Atlas Shrugged as a favourite. Regards character I’d probably be more drawn to male characters but when I think of reading GoT it was a young girl and an ugly dwarf that I most routed for. John Galt is the hero in AS but Dagny drives the story. That said, I definitely skip over films and programs that are female led, precisely for the reasons you point out. They are usually consciously emotional and/or romantic, and female led action pics I just assume will be a bit woke and far fetched (whilst knowing this goes for male leads too). So yeah, I’m probably a sexist pig even when I’m trying not to be