I have a son who is fast approaching 3. I'm so fed up with hearing the word 'Lady'
'Pay the lady'
'Say thank you to the Lady'
Etc.
It is loaded with so much about what it means to be female. There is no secondary term used to speak about men in common use.
'Pay the geezer/bloke/gent'
'Mind out, let the bloke past'
We never say it do we?!!
Men are Men and don't have a term of address loaded with notions of vulnerability or anything else in common use
I've got a bee in my bonnet about this at the moment. I encourage my son to refer to females as women.