For all we hear about women characters being pigeonholed into the same archetypes, its amazing to me Lightning deviates into a different archetype and is suddenly a man. The woman's wearing a short skirt, has boobs, and pink hair. If Lightning looks like a man, Cloud is NOT effeminate. You can't have both.
Even Dacon, who I know does not like Lightning's design, has never accused her of being manly to my knowledge. Her too-thin legs are what bugs him. (I don't mean to misrepresent you, so I hope I didn't, but I think that's right)