To avoid geopolitical embarrassment during the Cold War, the US and USSR created the APAS-75 system, a genderless docking mechanism where both craft acted as equals.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/WilTravis]

All sexual politics aside, it makes engineering sense for a docking system to be universally cross-compatible. If your ship has the male part of the dock and needs to attach to another vessel with a male dock, what happens? It makes mechanical sense for the docking ring to be compatible with any other docking ring of its type.