Did I misunderstand the term "fan service" all along?

[pokoko]

RolStoppable said:

pokoko said:

Do you really believe that her original design was by accident?  Or that Disney isn't kind of famous for the heroine showing off her tumtum?  I have no doubt that it was a concious attempt to make her character more attractive.  I realize that you don't want it to be true but it's pretty obvious.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BareYourMidriff

The term fan service is really messed up if such minor things already qualify. I take it, if any female character wears a skirt, it would already be fan service? Any accessory for the hair would also be fan service because it's meant to be more attractive? At what point is a female character not fan service then?

Ah, now you're exaggerating.  I'm starting to get the feeling you wanted to keep the definition defined in such a way that you could criticize some things without touching other things.  Also, from your first post, there is the sense that you're only tying this to female characters, which isn't true.  Male characters taking their shirts off with the intention of pleasing female viewers has been around for decades, for example.