Female Villains

As you probably already know, I really like villain characters, but it sort of makes me sad how often female villains seem like they have this rule where it's like they're required to be ~*sexy*~ first and then villains second. Or they have to be voluptuous or seductive femme fatales first and foremost and then be evil and cunning second (the level of evil and cunning really depending on the character, but still). Having a "sexy" female villainess isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the fact it's so much more prevalent with females as opposed to males and feels more like this unwritten rule and obligatory mold for them still disappoints me. I notice a lot in superhero comics the villainesses will be far more likely (if not always) wearing something far sexier or revealing as opposed to the males, and even then they'll have the same cut-n-paste sexy body type (and sometimes even the same face shapes, eye, and lip shapes) while the males are usually more clothed and meant to have their cunning, wickedness, evilness or some other dark aspect of their personalities put before any sort of "sexy appeal."

I wish we'd do that more for female villains. For example, people always say that they don't like characters like Edward Cullen because "monsters shouldn't be pretty/sexy/want to romance you" but at the same time I'd really wish the same would hold true a bit more for female monsters. Especially since monster men in fiction are more likely to be deformed, grotesque, or just downright monstrous while the females will usually have an "attractive" or womanly figure by default (most of the time, anyway). Basically, the male villains are more likely to have actual personality, evil traits, or psychosis highlighted as major parts of their character before any sort of good looks, while in a lot of cases every single female villain is put into a "sexy" mode so they all blend together as opposed to standing out by individual traits, etc (for example, having one sexy girl isn't a problem when she's contrasted with the shy girl or the dark girl or all other different kinds of body types or girls, but most of the time they're all automatically shoved into the "sexy" role so they pretty much become interchangeable dolls).


I'm not saying ALL female villains are like this (an example I'm personally fond of is Medusa Gorgon of Soul Eater, where her cunning, intelligence, and ability as a villain is put far before any sort of physical or sexual appeal and she doesn't even dress provocatively in an impractical way), and I know there are some other good ones that don't rely on sexual appeal more than half the time, I just wish it was more prominent though.

EDIT: A number of you are missing the point. The point wasn't about Victorian sexual ideals or whore/Madonna tropes, it was the fact I think it's utter bullshit that female villains are far more often portrayed as sexual objects or objectified sexually (often unnecessarily) as opposed to their male counterparts. It's the fact that it often feels like an unwritten rule where a female can't just be a villain or some sort of monster, she has to be a super ~*SEXY*~ or sultry villainess and her sexiness eclipses or takes precedence over other aspects of her personality. It's the fact that it's bogus that most male villains don't usually have to fall under that while many female villains have to be sexified or objectified on some level and in a lot of cases it can be difficult (especially in the world of comics) to find female villains that -aren't- portrayed that way. (basically, being a sexual object/sexualized first then being a villain or having a villainous personality second).