AIBU to find this an odd thing to state on a menu?

[DoItForTheDucks]

I went to restaurant with a friend the other day. We were looking at the menu and two of the pasta dishes had the subheading 'The Ladies' choice(Creamy chicken and mushroom pasta) and The Gentleman's choice(Pasta in spicy tomato sauce with strips of steak and sliced chillis)

I found this so incredibly weird and also rather offensive. I was tempted to order the gent's pasta just to see if the staff would keel over in horror(I know that they didn't write the menu.)

The only other time I've encountered in person the whole concept of food intended for women and for men was at a wedding when one guest decided that the man next to her was being emasculated because he ordered the lemon cheesecake and not the chocolate fudge cake(which his wife ordered) and tried to convince them to swap as she was sure that being a man he really wanted chocolate cake and was being deprived. It was bizarre.

Has anyone else encountered this?

Thank you so much, Ellyess. Your kind words mean a lot Apologies if it seemed that I was begging for sympathy. I really wasn't. I just wanted to make the point that tragedies don't necessarily stop you from worrying about lesser issues.

The past decade or so has been one disaster or loss after another but the last year has brought a cluster of disasters, which has been incredibly difficult but I'm sure that much of MN have been and are going through much worse.

I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a terrible time too and I wish you a happier future also.

I have an update after talking with the restaurant manager, if anyone is interested. When the next seasonal menu is printed the terms Ladies' Choice and Gentleman's choice won't be on there. I'm happy with that as I don't expect them to immediately go out and print a new set of menus.

Brilliant DoIt. Well done for making a stand against Everyday Sexism.

@Eliza9917 yes they do ask which you want when you order. My point is only that the savoury gentleman’s one is a lot bigger than the traditional ladies one, why can’t they be a similar size? And why name them that way? They obviously don’t think that one is for men only or they wouldn’t ask which you wanted.

I don't think it's "lefty liberal snowflake" behaviour to call out sexism.
As others have said, this is the sort sort of insidious, low-level sexism that drips in, which becomes normalised.
Same with gendered toys and clothes for young children.
It wouldn't be tolerated if it were based in ethnicity, so why is it ok if it's based on sex?
And I am perfectly aware that I can swap dishes with my partner, and that I can order whatever I wish from a menu, regardless of what it is labelled as, but that isn't the point being made.
Fortunately I have worked in places where the women drank pints with colleagues, with no sexist remarks or challenges, and I seem to eat in places where the menu is grouped by food type, not sex of the diner.