What kinda gal?

I was walking home from Harris Teeter with the 24 cans of beer I had bought (yes, future employer, I do, occasionally drink beer; and no they were not all for me) and experienced something funny as well as a little disturbing.

An older man smiles at me from the other side of the road:

"That's one fine girl, carrying her own beer. My kinda gal!"

I smiled at him and said "yes, of course." Ten seconds later, I stop by a traffic light and two guys my age smile, nod and give me a big "yeeaah."

It's funny, the way so many people is this country just randomly smile and talk to you. However, the perception that a woman a) doesn't drink beer and b) can't carry her own 24 cans of beer annoys me. Not saying that this would be something representative of American mentality, but there is still a difference between men and women in this country that I don't experience back home.

This is actually something I have experienced in most countries where I have traveled, lived and spent a lot of time. I have often found myself closer to the male attendees of a party than to the female ones. Somehow, I always seem to shock people, doing things girls shouldn't do. And now I am asking myself; are Swedes relatively equal or am I a manly kind a gal?