Why did Japanese people start designing feminine looking men in their games and anime?

This is something that I've always been curious of. You look at any form of media between the west and Japan, the men look like men in America and the men look very feminine in Japan. An example is Cecil Harvey, possibly the girliest looking hero in all the Final Fantasy games, or Raiden in Metal Gear Solid. These heroes tend to turn off alot of people(mainly guys) in the west. I personally don't care what they look like. I'm just interested in the character. Anyways why did Japan do this? I know it was to appeal to women, but why do women like these really feminine men? When did they start doing this?