People really don’t understand the difference between a character being attractive and being intended for consumption by the other gender.
There’s a big difference between a character looking hot and a character being intended for sexualization. There are lots of attractive characters out there that aren’t intended to be consumed by other genders, objectified, and sexualized. For example:
Batman. Undeniably attractive. He is good looking.
But he was not intended for consumption by women. He get’s power poses and muscles because that’s how men want their male heroes, the one’s they aspire to be like and project onto, to look.
By contrast look at Black Widow. She is intended for male consumption.
She doesn’t have long legs, a tiny waist, a pronounced butt, and big boobs because that is what women want their heroes to look like. She looks like that because that’s what men want their women heroes, the one’s they picture themselves romancing, to look like. She’s not just attractive, she is also sexualized and intended for a male audience.
Now look at a male character meant for women. Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon.
He’s not buff and bulky, he’s long, lean, and well dressed. This is what women want their hero men, the one’s they want to fall in love with, to look like. This isn’t a male fantasy, this is a female one.
Now look at a women intended for women. The main characters from Totally Spies.
They have small waists and long legs yes but their boobs and butts aren’t particularly noticeable. They get power poses instead of one’s intended to sexualize. They look like this because this is what women want to project themselves on. This is a women’s power fantasy. This is closer in comparison to Batman, good looking but powerful, than it is to Black Widow, sexualized.
Now are all of these characters attractive? Yes. But do you see the difference between sexy and sexualized? Sexy depends on the ‘type’ of the viewer and what they like in men and women. Sexualized has less to do with what you personally think is hot and more to do with what society as a whole thinks is hot. So when I say that Wonder Woman in the movie was not meant for male consumption I am not saying she isn’t beautiful, sexy, or attractive (I left that movie gayer than I was before). What I am saying is that she was posed, treated, costumed, and written more like an attractive human than like an object for men to gawk at.
