Nobody seemed to complain about Lara Croft, Sonya Blade, Chun-Li, or Samus Aran. Of course, they were all attractive. You could admire them as bad ass and admire them as eye candy. Then Beyond Good and Evil came out -- a game featuring a female protagonist with short hair, dark skin, and no overt sexuality -- and no one played it. Tomb Raider rebooted to a mix of praise from people who liked the new horror-esque vibe, those who shipped Lara with the lesbian chick, and those who were disappointed that the bombshell of the 90s had been disarmed. There was a lack of interest on the part of some gamers, but not yet hatred.
Now, a woman shoots a gun or kicks an enemy in the face and gamers throw a table. I'm not really sure where that comes from. The same happens with movies. Anyone mad about the latest Terminator trailer obviously never saw T2 or Aliens. Or maybe they have a weird notion that a strong woman who's not trying to be sexy is political today, but wasn't political back then.
Maybe gamers felt that strong-but-sexy was for their benefit. And now that the focus has shifted away from sex appeal, they're confronted with the notion of women as equals without any of that being to their benefit. Or maybe they're frustrated and take it out on all women in gaming because no woman outside of waifu games is made to look sexy anymore. Or maybe it has to do with the hyper-political nature of today. Strong women increased while sexy women decreased, but that doesn't necessary mean the lack of sexy appeal is the primary reason for agitation. Maybe they're tired of politically charged dialogue in movies and games and assume that every strong woman who isn't a fighting sex doll is part of a liberal agenda.
I really can't say when this aggression toward strong women developed. What's the earliest game that sparked outrage for featuring a strong woman? And what was the target of the outrage? Were they mad because she was strong or because it was a sequel/reboot that made her less sexy?
Not recent but I just want to point out the vitriol towards Aloy for not being attractive enough compared to the actual model used for her face is still active last I checked. ---