... I just tried to imagine what a "tough, manly halfling" would look like ...
1) I have no troubles imagining a tough halfling (and thanks Tuco for your example! It was glorious).
I'm notat all surprised that the wish for a "tough, manly looking characters" was posted by men irst. I never have seen a similar wish by women to have "cosy, femanly looking charascters", so to say. It's always male players who demand first.
2) Mainly because most female characters are... Feminine... Which represents the majority of the female population? *thinking* I mean, did you ever play APB Reloaded? The ladies there often designed their characters about as stereotypical as the guys made their female characters. Same thing occurs in MMORPGs like FFXIV, WoW and GW2. In my experience (which is only about 17 years of playing MMO RPGs
), there is not that much of a difference in how men and women design their characters. Some women like revealing armor - as do some men. Some women want cute and girly characters - as do some men. Some women prefer more realistic / moderate armor and rugged appearance - and, yet again, as do some men. It is less of a gender thing than a individual matter of taste-thing.
Anyways, if you're asking why women aren't demanding more masculine characters... Well, I mean - then you have not been very observant at the discussions going on. Ladies (and men alike) often argue for greater body customization and diversity - including traditional feminine aspects, and the complete opposite. Variation and alternatives is good! No matter personal preferences, it only makes sense to appreciate customization options.
And I can very well imagine a "storm" coming from the same male players if there was a woman demanding a "tough looking female" character look.
3) I don't think I've *EVER* seen a man complain about females wanting "tough looking female(s)"... Quite the opposite.
I mean, whatever makes sense for the character. A female mage that has spent her entire life studying and reading up on arcane magics should be a little thinner (or thicker) and less athletic than the female mercenary warrior that has seen enough wars to last an entire lifetime. I have not ever seen anybody argue against that logic (of course, there can sometimes be discussions whenever a character should be fit or not, but there is never any debate regarding that there SHOULD be different body types).
I mean, the usuual reactions of male players are like this : "Men should look grim, dark, clothed entirely in black, if possible, manly and tough, and women should look like Hello Kitty".
4) What? Yet again, I have not ever seen anyone reason like that unless they are literally just trolling around. I really don't get why you don't want "manly, tough, grim, dark, black clothed" men included though? I'd even advocate for the Hello Kitty options for those who want it.
This isn't diversity in looks. It is quite the opposite.
5) Wrong. By the dictionary definition.
My own opinion on that is this : I can only play what i have at least in part in my self.
And, fate gave me that too small body without a manly look.
Which meant for me, that I could never played manly looking charactersm because throughout my whole life, I never had that in me.
6) Right... But what about the people who happen to be bulkier in real life? What about their representation? Should they be excluded and be "forced" to go with the wrong body types because you're feeling spiteful from previous gaming experiences? That does not feel fair, nor logical. Why can't they have their presentation in terms of more bulkier bodies, and you have your presentation in terms of slimmer bodies? Win-win.
So, I have emancipated myself from the cliché of those grim, tough, manly looking characters. Games which have that are simply not played by me. My money is saved.
7) Oookay? I myself would never exclude a game just because they happen to include one or two body types that do not match my irl one. It feels really odd from a roleplaying perspective to be mad about additional options. Nobody wants to take away the more slender body type away from you - so I really don't even get what you're making a fuss about. Why does it bother you what other people want to roleplay as? You literally don't have to touch the body type, nor would other player's characters ever be forced into your game.
Just keep your slimmer character and be happy, and let other people get their bulky characters and be happy. Everybody wins, and everybody gets the representation / roleplaying options that they want. \o/ Yay variation.
