I don't see how that exact description couldn't be used when writing about a man. In fact I assumed it was a man at the start of the quote (haven't read the article yet).
It's not only "possible", it's very common. The snark is not warranted. Almost all e.g. Wired profile stories do the same thing, male or female -- they only fail to add something in those lines when the subject is already known (e.g. Musk or Torvalds, so nobody needs to know how they look).
E.g.:
JAMES ALLISON LOOKS like a cross between Jerry Garcia and Ben Franklin, and he’s a bit of both, an iconoclastic scientist and musician known for good times and great achievements. He also doesn’t always answer his phone, especially when the call arrives at 5 am, from an unfamiliar number.
https://www.wired.com/story/meet-jim-allison-the-texan-who-j...