March is Women’s History Month. Not only is this an excellent and relevant time to address all of the groundbreaking, persevering, inspiring, and incredible things that women have accomplished, but it is also an especially germane time to examine a number of issues under the feminist lens.

In particular, one issue we need to focus on is the representation of women in fiction: in our movies, novels, television shows, video games, comics, and even music.

So often, female characters are often portrayed as perpetually positive and plucky. Nothing ever brings them down, and when their ambitions are foiled, the fallout is not too catastrophic. If female antagonists are ever presented, their motives are usually shallow.

I’m tired of these female villains, the ones who lust for love, looks, or children. In the rare occasions that female characters are driven to ‘evil’ deeds outside of these motives, they are often dripping in sexuality and therefore deprived of their own agency, as they usually fulfill the role of the temptress meant to distract the male main character. If not the temptress, then these women are so cold and distant and frigid that they become the frozen parodies of human beings.

I want female characters with as much complexity and moral ambiguity as their male counterparts. I want them to be driven by their own desires. I want women to be written as people.

These women, though it seems unlikely, are a more subversive version of feminist icons. They shatter the archetype that women are inherently motherly, nurturing, and loving. I want female characters with depth, with grit, who teach us that people are not all good or all bad, but somewhere in between.

While the representation of women in fiction is still not ideal, the popularity of female villains has increased within the last few years. For example,

Game of Throne's Cersei Lannister is a simultaneously loathed and admired character. She's power-hungry, manipulative, and generally monstrous, but still a loving mother.Another famous female villain in current fiction is Amy Dunne of the novel and film Gone Girl. While Amy is a sociopath, she is also highly intelligent, organized, and does what she wants to get precisely what she wants.

Other recent female villains in cinema include Harley Quinn of Suicide Squad, Bellatrix Lestrange of the Harry Potter series, and even Regina George of Mean Girls.

We need these wicked women. They indulge in their depravities, their violence, their misery, and their lewdness. They teach us to not suppress the hidden, unsavory sides of our psyches. They teach us the intricacies of being human.

To wrap up this article, I present to you a quote from the marvelous writer Gillian Flynn about the much needed diversity of female characters: "Isn’t it time to acknowledge the ugly side? I’ve 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 — good, potent female villains."