I mean, it kind of feels like people are treating it with that importance when it's painted as an author intent of "don't objectify Tifa" for the fans or that Nojima is talking out of both sides of his mouth because of the relevancy of Tifa's appearance—at least that's what I've gotten from what's been said.
I wouldn't say it's the objective of Tifa's story - not at all, because there's still a story to be told filled with other important points - but personally I felt that it was one of the messages which Nojima wanted to communicate with her story. The reason for this is because Nojima had tied Tifa's appearance into some of the more memorable moments in her story, and some of the more memorable parts of her character development, to the point where I got the impression that he was doing this on purpose. It felt like it was done deliberately and intentionally, and I got the impression he did so because he wanted to communicate messages about Tifa's character as it related to her appearance. Simply put, it seemed like he turned the attention of the reader towards Tifa's appearance (not the entirety of the story of course), and used it as an opportunity to showcase the content of her character in a way that extended past her physical beauty. Her appearance was like the elephant in the room, and rather than ignoring it, Nojima acknowledged it and used it to shine light on more important aspects of her character. I'll bring up several examples which I think showcases what I'm talking about.
(98-121)
“It’s okay. I can do this.”
“No, it’s not. You keep messing up.”
It was exactly as he said. She moved aside, hanging her head in frustration and disappointment.
“You’ve got a nice set of muscles. Guess you lack stamina. Thought you’d be a great way to attract customers though.”
Uncle’s harsh words pierced her.
“Just go home for now. If you can come tomorrow, then come. If not, then we’ll leave it at that. Don’t have time to teach you everything.”
...
She didn’t want to see anyone. All she wanted to do was to hide under the covers. But how could she do that to Rakesh? She couldn’t treat him that way.
...
“Oh yeah? So you think you can continue? Uncle was worried about you.”
“I’m fine. I have to keep going.”
This was Tifa's first day at the job. She found out that she was valued based on her appearance by Uncle. She was allowed to quit, but she didn't, and resolved to continue working at the stall. In this scenario, Tifa's worth was valued by her appearance, but with the way that Tifa responded to this situation, it highlighted her perseverence and determination to improve and continue working. Tifa sold around 200 buns on her first day, 400 on her second day, and eventually up to 1000 a day, which matched what the previous employee was capable of doing. She usually sold over 1000. This demonstrated, as an employee, while her appearance helped to attract customers (which Uncle mentions later in the story as a lesson about business), she was able to carry her own weight and was as good as the employee who worked there before her. It's worth mentioning that Tifa was motivated to hit that 1000 mark, as she set goals that she had to hit in order to maintain a work-pace which would allow her to hit that mark (she had to cut her time down to around 30 seconds for each bun, or 28.8 seconds according to Tifa). Once again showing that her success at the stall came through her own efforts.
(98-121)
“In five years, it’ll become just another part of you,” said Damini. “This young lady here got the same procedure done half a year ago. Look. Here are the photos from the recovery process.”Tifa sucked in her breath. Damini was showing Marle the printouts of her exposed chest.
“I don’t wanna see that! Get that outta my face!”
...
“What do they think women’s breasts are?” spat out Marle. “I’m sorry. Because of all my grumbling, you had to go through something so humiliating.”
“It’s nothing.” But she was happy that there was someone there who understood her. “You took me by surprise though.”
This was the time where Tifa met Marle. It was a situation in which Tifa's chest was "indecently" exposed to a stranger, which became a humiliating moment for Tifa. Marle is one of the more important NPCs in the remake, and saw Tifa as a granddaughter figure. What I thought was interesting was that Tifa's appearance here was the basis for their meeting. Her appearance is tied into Marle's character, and Marle acts as a protective figure to Tifa. I think this was something Nojima did deliberately to tie some interesting subtext into their relationship - their relationship ties a sense of protectiveness into Tifa's appearance.
(122-149)
“Hey there, City Beauty. It’s your chance to get rich quick! You can apply with those pretty looks of yours! How’s about workin’ that pretty face to make some money?”
“I’m not interested.”
...
“Hey! What are you doing?!” It was a woman’s voice.
Turning around, she saw Jessie barrel towards them, propel herself upwards into a jump, before driving a toe kick smackdab into the side of the hoodlum’s face."
In this situation, Tifa was being scouted as a prospect to work for Corneo in Wall Market - it was obviously due to Tifa's appearance. What's interesting here is that it's another situation in which an important NPC, Jessie, becomes acquainted with Tifa. The basis of their interaction here is Jessie's protectiveness of Tifa after she was harassed due to her appearance. Jessie walks Tifa back to her container home. They became acquainted with one another. Tifa tells her story to someone else for the first time, and Jessie becomes a special friend to Tifa. Again the basis of their meeting here was the protectiveness of Jessie after Tifa had been harassed for her appearance. This is another situation in which Nojima had used Tifa's appearance as the basis for more important character developments.
(122-149)
"The last remaining officer shoved the nose of his rifle into the swelling of Tifa’s bosom. Humiliation and anger moved her. She kicked up and caught the trooper’s jaw with the tip of her foot... A figure jumped over her. It was Gatekeeper. He rose up in front of the trooper, who was just a mere boy, and his hand moved horizontally across the boy’s throat. Blood spurted out from it. She saw the glinting of a knife in Gatekeeper’s hand.
Shrieks erupted among the curious onlookers, and then she fainted."
Tifa's appearance here (her chest) becomes the basis of a traumatic scenario for Tifa. It was obviously a traumatic incident as she had not only witnessed the death of somebody she considered to be a "boy" - which caused her to pass out - but she had to pass by that location every day and was reminded of what had happened. I thought what Nojima did here was interesting because it tied her appearance into something traumatic. It was a graphic scenario. I felt that Nojima wanted to make an impact on the reader in which they would associate her appearance with the trauma she had endured.
(122-149)
“I’m pleased to hear that. I need your trust from now on too. It’s going to be okay. If you maintain your current pace, you’ll be a free woman in less than three years.” Then Rakesh looked around, lowered his voice and said, “I think you can pay it off sooner by working at Wall Market. That’s the thing, you see, you can’t force it. But if you’re seriously thinking about it, let me know.”
Whatever trust she had in Rakesh was now gone."
Once again Tifa is scouted as a prospect for working at Wall Market, and it's no doubt because of her appearance. Rakesh was the first "friend" which Tifa had made ever since she's arrived in Midgar, and it was at this moment when Tifa had lost all trust in him. This signified the end of her friendship with her first "friend.", and it was due to her being valued based on her appearance. This was a way for Nojima to tie Tifa's appearance into more important plot and character developments.
These are some examples I've found which I thought helped to explain my point. I don't think Nojima brought attention to Tifa's appearance as a way to tell us about how cute she was. I think he was doing so in order to communicate more important messages about Tifa's character. It showed how Tifa reacted to being valued for her appearance. It showed how her behavior changed - for example becoming more committed at proving her ability to work at the bun stall. Her appearance was associated with the trauma and negative experiences she had experienced due to her appearance. It became the basis of important character relationships she formed with Marle and Jessie, and it allowed her to see the truth about Rakesh.
I felt that Nojima had created these scenarios linked with Tifa's appearance deliberately. It was like the elephant in the room, and rather than ignoring it, Nojima wanted to acknowledge it and used it as a way to communicate messages about Tifa's character. He's acknowledging that, "Yes, Tifa's attractive," but he's showcasing the content of her character that extends beyond that physical beauty. I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this, but by claiming Nojima made these references to Tifa's appearance as a way to tell us about how cute she was is, IMO, not the case and feels like a shallow way of looking at both Nojima's storytelling and Tifa's character in ToTP.
As far as the "don't objectify Tifa" point goes, it felt like a meta-commentary which Nojima was making with the novel. It's not the only point he was making, no not at all, but I think it was one of the messages he wanted to communicate with the novel. As I noted above, it seemed like the references to Tifa's appearance was done intentionally from an external-universe perspective (in-universe too for character and plot reasons but that's not what the point is about here). From an external perspective, it was like Nojima - the author, the man himself - is acknowledging that, "Yes Tifa's attractive," but he - Nojima the man himself - is also encouraging the fans to look beyond that external beauty and to look at the content of her character that extends beyond the surface.
