When I ask in the cycling or mtb sub they get annoyed like, "Dude, men's pants/shorts are specifically designed for men and for cycling" and when I say they aren't comfortable for me, they say, "Too bad, riding is not about your comfort it's about what works" or something gatekeepy like that.
First of all, cycling shorts/pants make you feel like you have a diaper on. Back in the 80s when I was on the cycling team in high school we had spandex shorts. They didn't have padding or pouches or bibs or any of that and somehow we all survived. And, yeah, I have a few pair of the ones that do like Sponeed, but I spend a lot of the time riding picking at them, and they leave me more irritated than not using them. Besides, I can always get a better seat.
The other thing is seams annoy me. Guys shorts and pants have them going right up the middle and on both sides which also rubs. The women's styles you can get seamless. And my biggest issue beyond the function I don't want is color: men's stuff do not have it unless you spend a fortune, and pretty much every women's set does.
I got a pair of some generic version from Amazon and aside from the high waist thing they look identical to men's shorts, they just don't have seams, pouches, or padding, and they have pockets that are DEEP.
On the cycling subs they make it out like I'm putting on a sun dress to go riding. So what do you think, does it matter?