Stern sex and soft sex

hi! I have come across a question" are you a stern sex or soft sex" I have totally no idea of what the questioner were asking about. would you guys shed some light on it? thanks in advance!

That's an indirect way of asking "Are you male or female?" At least, I hope that's all it is.

That's certainly ambiguous! At first glance you'd think the "stern sex" is male, unless you're talking about disciplining children, for eexample. My wife would belong to the "stern sex" then.