It would be nice if they didn't, but every class is a character with a semi-established personality and story, so it makes sense for them to be gender "locked". The NPC characters also react to you differently based on who you play. It's mainly a difference in character design.
Make them gender neutral, I honestly don't care about their backstory anyway if I'm honest. I want to play "my" character. Imagine they'd be as restrictive in their possible builds because "duh, in their backstory they only used specific spells too".
I finally got PoE'd out a few leagues ago, after playing for 8 years or so. But after watching this trailer I think I miiiight have to get back into it again 😄. Looks awesome!
Definitely give Ruthless a go, I love it.. reminds me of early game ARPG's on higher difficulties. Positioning really matters, you have to adapt based on what you get. It seems to have been the proving ground for PoE2's new tempo.