

Probably. As others have said here no one seems bothered by female leads in good stories - but the focus on gender when it’s a bad story is probably sexist.
I’m likely guilty of this myself, grumbling about “woke nonsense” and blaming the ideological messaging for the bad writing rather than just the bad writers.
It’s not all doom and gloom though - check out this list of books. Lots of highly rated entries there with female protagonists - many of which are targeted at a broad audience, not just women.
So one of his examples is that he bought stolen goods and when they were returned to the original owner he felt he deserved them as well? If he didn’t submit a charge back he’s complicit in supporting this fraud. The vendor should have offered to sell him a copy for the price he paid to the scammer instead.