All this affects are the pronouns npcs use for you, and what the game represents you as. The options are, Male, Female, and Neutral.

If you pick There are 6 Archetypes available for you to choose from:

The easiest of the archetypes to play for beginners. This is a blanket term for any character that installs cyberware into their body to enhance their fighting capabilities.
Pros:
1. Easy for beginners, and fun for veterans.
2. Very powerful in combat
3. Starts with bone lacing and a trauma dampener, allowing you to take more hits

Cons:
1.Very poor charisma skill
2.No ammo for the colt that you start with

All in all this is a very good archetype to start with and is a formidable foe in combat.

The help file for street samurai reads:

Street samurai are people who have chosen the path of technology to work
in the city.  They are tough, if not a little insane, and proud of the
tech they augment their body with.  To them, the hottest cyberware and
bioware are the tools that will bring them success.  Their environment is the metroplex.

Starting Stats:

Body: 6
Quickness: 6
Strength: 6
Charisma: 1
Intelligence: 6
Willpower: 6
Essence: [1.46]
Bioware Index: [4.40]
Essence Index: [4.46]
Magic: 0
Reaction: 6

Starting skills:

Athletics (proficient / rank 3)
Clubs (innate / rank 6)
Brawling (practiced / rank 2)
Assault rifles (innate / rank 6)
Electronics (proficient / rank 3)
Negotiation (proficient / rank 3)
Street Etiquette (introduced / rank 1)
Driving/Bike (proficient / rank 3)
Driving/Truck (introduced / rank 1)
BR/Bike (proficient / rank 3)

Languages:
English (genius / rank 10)

Starting gear:

Worn:
eyes: a pair of thermographic goggles
worn over shoulder: a leather rifle strap(assault rifle)
worn about body: a black trench coat
worn on body: a 100% cotton T-Shirt
worn underneath: form-fitting body armor III
worn on arms: a pair of forearm guards
worn about waist: a black leather duty belt
worn on legs: a pair of black BDU pants
worn on feet: a pair of black combat boots

Inventory:
a Neophyte Guild housing subsidy card
a welcome brochure
A Neophyte Guild duffelbag
a pocket secretary
The Title to a Ford Bison
The Title to a Harley Scorpion
a cellular phone
a basic electronics kit
a vehicle toolkit
a medkit
a DocWagon platinum modulator
a Colt M-23

Pockets:
500 normal rounds

Cyberware:
A smartlink-2 system - alpha
A thermographic vision modification
A boosted reflexes III - alpha
A datajack
Some bone lacing (ceramic)

Bioware:
A cerebral booster II - cultured
A synaptic accelerator II - cultured
A trauma damper - cultured
Muscle toner IV
Enhanced articulation