An aspect that I haven’t seen mentioned explicitly is that female characters for the longest time were just easier to pick out in a 3rd person view.
They have a different silhouette, often more flamboyant garb (to stick out among the male dominated aesthetic), and sometimes even different animations making them easier to pick out in a group fight.
Also, I have fewer stereotypes of females in medieval or sci-fi settings, which makes it slightly easier for me to explore both the world and different roles in ways I might have missed playing a stereotypical male.