It doesn't really bother me with the characters I play in these games are either male or female for many reasons.
One I just want a good game that I'll spend many a hour on playing. If the character is female great. If the character is male great.
Tomb Raider is an example I will use. The originals, whilst they certainly sexualised her character, it didn't really matter. Lara wasn't a character in her own right, just an avatar to be used. The puzzles were the focus and so it could have been Indiana Jones and it wouldn't have affected the game. It was only in the reboot that focused on Lara being a woman because she was in an Island that had people hellbent on sacrificing women to a mythical Sun God. Plus the game focused her as a proper character, not as a avatar. It was an origins story after all.
Games like Skyrim I go for a male character in the first playthrough, and female for the second. Just to explore different options and see what happens.
Plus I've noticed people who generally like playing as females more than male because it makes them feel more badass,like they are empowering women. To be honest I don't see why they feel like this, because if they feel that way about women why don't they feel that way about men? Is it because they are more male characters to play as? I don't know but I feel pretty much equal when I play both men and women in games.
Sorry if this doesn't make a lick of sense. Typing on a Ipad is the worst.