Rating systems and rate factors vary from insurance company to insurance company. Auto insurance premiums are determined by using many factors, gender generally being one of them.

With all factors being equal, a female between the ages of 18 and 25 will generally pay less then her male counterpart. This is because generally speaking younger women have fewer accidents and moving violations than males in the same age group. Statistics show that males typically are more aggressive drivers and thus with some insurance companies their risk factor is higher so a male driver's car insurance rates are higher than that of a female.

Some of the other reasons that this is the case is because males on average drive more then females. And if you drive more then your odds of being in an accident increase. Also, young men are more often risk takers behind the wheel. This often results in moving violation tickets. Both of those factors result in higher premiums.

Male under the age of 25 typically have the highest premiums. Females normally cost a bit less to insure because of statistics showing they are not as aggressive behind the wheel.

So gender does affect your rates, because statistically females drivers have less incidents than males their rates are in general lower. Of course if a female has a bad driving record and her male counterpart has a good, clean record then the female's rates would normally be higher due to her record. 

For more information on rating factors that car insurance providers usually taken into account read our online article titled, Factors That Affect Your Car Insurance Premium.