But you do think a person can change gender expression midlife in a way that is unexpected to outsiders?

I know a number of women who definitely changed "gender expression midlife in a way unexpected to outsiders." Coz when they were teens they became Catholic nuns. And many decades later they left the convent and became average Jane citizens. Some of them came out as lesbians after leaving the convent - and amongst those in that category, some were "butch" and some were not. But other ex-nuns came out as heterosexual women who had relationships with and married men.

My stepmother was such a woman. For 44 years she had her head shaved, wore a religious habit, adopted a dour and severe affect, and served in many high-level, authoritative roles in Catholic education where she scared the bejeezus out of the school kids and college women who attended the institutions where she was a teacher, principal, dean and president. I was fortunate to be with her in many situations in her post-nun life when she was out and about in the world looking like a bog standard woman of elder years with her (now grown-out) hair showing along with her arms, legs and figure and younger women or men with perplexed but curious looks on their faces would tentatively approach and nervously say, "Excuse me, Sister Jerome is that you?"