Whether I'm a 'lady' or not is open to debate and my husband would say "good God, NO!" in no uncertain terms especially after he slogged in WT while I flew F (OK I did offer to swap but being a gentleman he declined).

But that aside, it's perhaps a bit archaic, but I would take it in a spirit that there are still not many lady* pilots compared to gentlemen* pilots and so some people may find it a little surprising, given the lower chance of encountering lady pilots compared to gentlemen pilots. Just the pure numbers/statistical stuff...

And the hard road that is... for either gender but makes it a bit harder for women with compulsory grounding with pregnancy and that, besides some of the ergonomic issues that very petite people may encounter. Of course, there are far more petite ladies than petite men.

So, anyway, I think the gender talk in itself isn't really a problem as such, as long as it's not done in a potentially offensive way, I'd say - and I don't think the OP meant any offence, although it may feel a bit archaic.

* Some may say that there aren't many gentlemen pilots even though there are many male pilots. I know some very unlady like lady pilots though, so the percentages may be... about the same!