when gillian flynn said âIâve grown quite weary of the spunky heroines, brave rape victims, soul-searching fashionistas that stock so many books. I particularly mourn the lack of female villains â good, potent female villains. Not ill-tempered women who scheme about landing good men and better shoes (as if we had nothing more interesting to war over), not chilly WASP mothers (emotionally distant isnât necessarily evil), not soapy vixens (merely bitchy doesnât qualify either). Iâm talking violent, wicked women. Scary women. Donât tell me you donât know some. The point is, women have spent so many years girl-powering ourselves â to the point of almost parodic encouragement â weâve left no room to acknowledge our dark side. Dark sides are important. They should be nurtured like nasty black orchids.â
