All calicos are female. Grok was, too.
Have you read ‘Stranger In a Strange Land”? Androgyny is one of the themes.
Don’t know about high-brow or urbane. It’s classic science fiction from a master, though. I’d say it’s more New Age artsy-fartsy hippie-dip.
Luckily, cats don’t care.
About 1 in 3000 will be male. Those rare male Calico cats are very valuable.