Because you are being polite about this I will answer :) (Yes, there were some people who were not polite about this LOL)
Firstly, fanservice is just not all created equal. You may call T&A fanservice and this fanservice too because it just fits the definition of serving fans, they are just vastly different. On the most basic level of difference, T&A generally serves an already over served set of fans, basically straight guys. Lets not try to pretend that they don’t already get enough in every type of medium already. Fanservice that shows off muscle on women is still rare and notable, so that’s just one easy level of difference.
A little deeper now, fan service that’s just boobs and ass usually does not inform us anything about the character. There are exceptions to this but they are few and far between (isabella from dragon age, bayonetta). Usually it actively hinders the character because it has literally nothing to DO with the character, only serving to pander and having no narrative otherwise. In this case however, showing off her muscles shows us she’s strong because she’s a mechanic/engineer and likely spends a lot of time doing hard labor. If she were just thin and lithe like all the other women it would actually be out of character.
But the biggest difference? The fans being served in this instance are empowered by the fanservice rather than dis-empowered. When you reduce a female character to just T&A you project that women should be valued for their T&A… which is not only an over saturated message, it’s also a message about something you can’t really change nor would changing it be inherently healthy.
Telling everyone to be stick thin and get huge boobs is obviously just not universally healthy, might be for some, but for most they’re fine the way they are. On the other hand, valuing muscles and strength the way we value it in men means it lets women know it’s okay to be buff too. Right now women being buff is mostly seen as “gross” or disgusting, despite it being actively healthy?? So while men get the message that it’s good to be strong, women get the message that being strong is undesirable and unwoman-like. Even though being strong is very important to your health. This fanservice goes against that, and serves the interest of women by showing them a body type that is actually good to aim for. (Well that’s a little finicky too because muscle definition like this is actually really hard for women to get compared to men but that’s not something i’m worrying about right now)
Now the only way you could say these types of fanservice are comparable would be if you imagined a world where the context was different. If for our entire history women were valued for how buff they were and cast aside for being soft, thin in the waist and voluptuous elsewhere. That every women was pressured to weight train every day and get overly shredded, no matter their body type or desire / lack of. All media is now buff-centric and you’re shamed for not being ripped. In this world, yea, more of this fan service would be shit.
But we aren’t in that world. The context is entirely different, women still need to be told that lifting a few weights won’t turn you into the hulk. My friends will put off weigh training because they don’t want to “get bulky” instead opting for pure cardio. At the same time they can’t lift their own luggage or groceries. So. Context matters. Fanservice that serves the betterment of people is not the same as fanservice that enforces a flawed status quo. If the context were different.. but it isn’t..
As for straight/bi guys wondering if they can enjoy it: you can enjoy anything you want, but please don’t fight for something that harms other people and remember that media has an effect on real human beings while characters in media itself are not real with no ability to make decisions for themselves. Do not judge people by your preferences, do not speak over them, etc.
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