Hoo boy, you got me started on the fanservice thing. I'll make my thoughts on this, then I'll switch back to the topic of this thread.
D: Fanservice is bad now?
Maybe because it is fantasy, and RL women don't wear those? Like said before, it appeals to the men. My favorite gaming charater is Mai Shiranui, and, she wears all of 5 square inches of clothing, yet she still kicks ass, and is a strong woman!
Just because someone is DRESSED slutty, doesn't mean they go around screwing every guy in sight, kthnx.
Just because YOU don't have issues with it does not mean that no one else should. I find fanservice to be degrading when it's applied to a character whose personality does not warrant such things. Skimpy/slutty clothes given to an ass-kicking, strong female character as a required outfit is a slap in the face to a tough character. It weakens her, puts her sexuality and sex appeal ahead of any contributions she makes to the storyline. It's fine if it's an optional second costume or something like that, but not as the default for the character.
It's totally different if a character's personality warrants fanservice. If they're intentionally made to be giggly, bouncy, scantily-clad by choice, etc. then that's different. Putting the strong female lead in a bra and thong and expecting her to be taken seriously is like making a soldier wear a G-string and sandals when he goes into battle instead of armor. It denigrates the character, denigrates their abilities by focusing on sex appeal and objectification over their strengths, and tends to piss people off.
Whew. That's my thoughts in a nutshell. Now back to the thread topic.
So I was watching a show on Discovery Channel last night about sex (Anatomy of Sex, if anyone wonders), and a thought occurred to me. Why is it that, in our society, men are able (and often encouraged) to talk about their sex lives while women are generally encouraged to keep theirs under wraps?