Phogirl,
Good thread. Personally, I don't think it is about gender/sex as much as it is about perceptions of approachability. My wife has a very bubbly personality and is very very approachable. I, on the other hand, can be very quiet and matter of fact. In our case, customer reps/sales tend to give her the attention when we're out together buying something or browsing. It's no biggie. Sales/customer service people tend to focus on people they think they can work with better in terms of making the sale, etc. I don't let it bother me, in fact, I welcome it. She filters the info for me
