Feminine Evil: Sarah and The Saints

Alright, let's play a game! Guess who the villain is in each of these three sets of characters:

Sasha and Trish (InFAMOUS)

Caterina and Lucrezia (Assassin's Creed II)

Claire and Alexia (Resident Evil Code: Veronica X)

If you guessed Sasha, Lucrezia and Alexia, you'd be right. Now, aside from the admittedly murkier palettes of Alexia and Sasha, what could have clued you in? Well, it might be a precedent that's been set-- not just in games, but in music, movies, and every other form of media-- where a woman who flaunts her sexuality is considered evil or amoral, while a conservative woman is considered comparatively heroic and pure.

Let's take a look at a couple more examples of this concept in play:

Jill Valentine (Resident Evil 5)

Mary Sunderland and Maria (Silent Hill 2)

On the left, we have the 'good' version of these two women, and on the right, the 'evil' version. Jill and Mary in becoming villainous or morally ambiguous characters both become more sexual, as an extension of this concept. If a female character turns from heroic to evil, it's an unfortunate trend to do this. Sexual promiscuity in women is associated with villainy, as part of the values society teaches us-- women who are good are supposed to be virginal and conservative; they're supposed to keep their bodies covered and avoid flaunting their sexuality.

But, despite what fiction might tell us, this doesn't carry over to reality. A woman isn't suddenly 'evil' or 'inhuman' because she chooses to wear less clothing-- and the idea that she is can cause trouble for her. Many women in reality are victimised or vilified for what they wear or their sexual history, due to the connotations fiction and language give to these choices. A woman who dresses in little clothing is called 'provocative'-- a word that means she is 'provoking' people with her clothes. A man who does the same won't be called the same words, and if he is victimised in some way, generally won't be told it was because of his clothing.

And this is where we come to The Saints and Sarah Kerrigan.

Sarah, before and after

Saints, before and after

In this particular discussion, it's not the fact they're sexualised that's an issue, it's that their sexuality is tied into them becoming or revealing that they are antagonistic and evil. Sarah was-- from what I've read-- a good girl, until she turned evil, lost her jumpsuit, and started walking around in nothing but her own skin. The Saints are just a group of nuns, until they pull off their robes and pull out their guns. These women are all depicted as heroic or morally ambiguous until their breasts are on show; and while these implications would be okay in isolated places, it's not an isolated phenomenon. It's a common part of female representation across all forms of media, and it contributes to a culture that repeatedly and consistently demonises women who choose to flaunt themselves.

Women don't suddenly stop being good people when they start showing off their bodies, and the repeated fictional implications that they do aren't helping real women in the world. So that's my issue with these clips.