Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-11058666-20150901033946/@comment-26116863-20150916231206

There really aren't a lot of male villians on this show to begin with. Out of the three that I can think of, Malcolm, Rumple and Isaac, I like Rumple and Isaac, despite all the horrible things they have done. Out of the female villians, Zelena annoys me greatly, I don't really care about Cora, Regina was insufferable as the evil queen (better as Regina), and Ingrid was nuts (But still strangely nice, in a way). Milah wasn't a very good mother.

People in Storybrook didn't trust Regina at all, at first. It took a long time for her to win their trust.

As far as I can tell, they've been treating  most of the villians pretty equally. Zelena does horrible things and sends everyone to another world: Jail. Isaac does horrible things and sends everyone to another world: Jail. Rumple kills many people and causes great suffering: too hard to hold for long, so forget about it as long as he behaves. Regina kills many people and causes great suffering: too hard to hold prisoner, so let it go as long as she behaves. These people are still powerful, so I think they just let bygones be bygones in order to prevent more destruction.

As for our society, people tend to take into account power balances, and be more sympathetic to the people they see as having an unfair disadvantage. In real life, physical violence by men  directed towards women tends to be treated more seriously because men tend to be physically stronger than women, who are generally less able to fight back.

Other than brute strength, though, they are pretty much equal, and should be held equally accountable for their actions. I always cringe when I see a female character slap around some poor man, often taking him by suprise after he's made some innocuous remark, and everyone acts like it's fine, or even admirable. Not cool. It's about power balances, respect, and not taking advantage of other people. Which gets me to Regina....

In Storybrook the balance of power is completely shifted by magic. Anyone who has magic is at an advantage. Regina had magic, the Huntsman was at her mercy. She took advantage of him. End of story. Horrible person who would be prosecuted under normal circumstances ( like if she had somehow done that to him without magic).