I'm inclined to think that it is because Etna is built as a foil to the "standard" over-sexed battle girl character. She has basically no secondary sexual characteristics. If Etna constantly referred to herself as a dude (
), you'd believe it basically without question.
If I had to honestly make a guess, I'd say that this kind of reaction is basically caused when character designers make their consumers feel self-conscious about how fucking creepy they are.
Also, is this character actually some kind of half-cow? Is that the excuse?
Finally,
I guess I'm not the best guy to take a side here. I just shrug and mumble "so lonely" when a plate mail bikini shows up next to a guy in actual plate mail. And find real porn to masturbate to before posting about it angrily on forums.
IDEA:
Comic where female lead possesses magical, full body tattoos that when exposed to the light of the sun or moon make her invincible proportional to the amount of the magic ink that's being touched by that light.
BUT, she firmly believes in personal modesty/is embarrassed by the enchantment/design of the tattoo. I think it could make for a decent 30-40 page story.