Male authors who prefer using female pronouns

[Rev. Rye]

I've always found the practice obnoxiously self-conscious in a way that draws attention to the issue and thus presents an obstacle to simple reading of the text.

If you're assigning a gender to a situation like the one you describe, I'd suggest flip a coin if you care that much about the issue. I'd say heads, the person is male. If tails, make them female. That should be reasonably fair.