I have a female and a male dog.... CoCoa's a manipulative little hobiscuit, but I think that's more her personality and breed mix more than her gender. She's very cuddly if you ask her to, but she's also a manipulative whiner.
Rien's independently clingy. He's not a velcro dog, but he's a "I will be in the same room with you at all times if I can" dog. He usually is laying down within three feet of me, but not touching me if he knows I'm busy. If I'm not busy, it's a completely different story. He's not a really big cuddler unless he's asked, but he is very big on touching me in some way at all times if he's allowed to. He usually takes it upon himself to just lay on my feet. I definitely agree with whoever said that females love you and males are IN love with you.
I prefer males, definitely.
I've never had a male cat, but I've always wanted to. My experience with shelter cats leads me to believe that males are just more mushy. I'd love a big black boy kittie someday along the line.