I feel weirdly icky about the gendering in this society;

It felt so wrong to have someone referred to as he!

I am having to remind myself that having been given details about the physical configuration of Breq's body says nothing at all about her gender

Very good point, and particularly so in Breq's case as I'm strongly drawn to her gender being ship.

There's a lot of backstory information here, it explains Breq's religious icon (though with a twist I hadn't imagined at the start of the story, and where her money came from.

And that name is just so appropriate!