If this were true, that would be very pathetic. Fragile masculinity at its finest.
Japan has some deep-rooted issues and are slow on the progressive front. Many of the dev team and investors are likely of older generations, which have much more restrictive viewpoints regarding lots of things. Such things are still prevalent in the younger generations as well, though you can see certain views begin to expand. This is why males have yet to see more diverse, or effeminate, glamour like the male bunny outfit. The closest you'll get to any sort of feminine male character is the "pretty boy" archetype, which you see predominantly on Male Miqo'te. This is also likely why Female Au Ra ended up "frail" and petite, as that too is a very, VERY strong archetype, especially paired with the tall and strong Males.
Doesn't excuse them from criticism. That said, I'd like to see a source for that excuse before making any serious judgments about their character.
I think Au Ra females are the perfect height. If they were super tall they just wouldn't be as cute.
I would really like someone to source this because my immediate reaction is just to give him the benefit of the doubt and say whoever said that clearly meant it as a joke or it was a bad translation. Of course, I may very well be wrong, but I can't imagine them being that out of touch.
Again, fully willing to admit I could be wrong, but I dunno...just doesn't sound right.
What appears cute depends on the person (eye of the beholder?). As an example, I think Roegadyn males are incredibly adorable (though not as much as the Galka from FFXI). To you, a tall female Au Ra wouldn't be cute, but for others, they could be.
Anyway, regarding longer hairstyles, I dunno if it can happen. Clipping issues aside, there's a high chance that a longer hairstyle will have it look incredibly stiff (like capes) and look awkward/bad on jobs that flip and spin around a lot.
That seems shaky at best though since when many people in the gaming community at large think of FF they think "brooding scrawny pretty boy with a ridiculous weapon".
It'd be nice to see something like one of the viera concepts
https://i.imgur.com/D6F3d2e.jpg
as an option for those who wish to play as male avatars since it's more of mid-point between Lalas and Miqo'te. They really look like tweens though so I doubt it'd happen.