It's a pullet, a cockerel this age would have tons of skinny pointy tipped feathers all over the neck and back. Not as "soft looking".
Either it's a mottle with not much white or is from a line where the mottles are sparse when young and get better defined as they age. Mottle tends to increase with age, so for show if they show great mottling when very young, they tend to turn way too white when older. Or this is not really a mottle, but is a carrier.. very occasionally carriers will show a hint of mottling. Time will tell on this issue.
Yep females sometimes will do the wing thing when threatening another female. It's akin to humans throwing up a fist and saying 'Ya ready to step outside...?'