I was literally playing as a girl before it was cool in the early-00s (as a straight cis guy). My friends called me gay or thought it was weird and so did other gamer guys. Now all my friends do it and it's popular in general (again, in relation to straight cis guys).
I sometimes want to play as a guy now because it's too mainstream and I'm a hipster asshole. Only half kidding.
Listen, alright, this game is played in third person. I'm going to be staring at my player character more than all the people in this lobby combined. Might as well be something I like looking at.
And something I identify with. That's important too
I used to try to make my characters look as much like I actually do as possible. Then I started paying FFXIV now I rock a max height male Au Ra with blue skin.
I get it, I almost always create a male character bc it’s different from me irl. I think part of it is when you’re you 24/7 you just want to play as something not you