The 2016 reboot of Doom does many things right as far as level design, combat, and secrets go. Its female villain Olivia Pierce is, for a character that is functionally a mere figurehead for the "demons", a very progressive character in the real sense, on top of everything else. These demons are dimensional extraterrestrials, and Olivia has helped them infiltrate a human Mars base. She is ruthless and happens to be a woman. Although it is thankfully starting to shift towards true egalitarian representation, women are still generally treated in storytelling media as if they are naturally collaborative, kindhearted, and passive, and men as if they are supposedly not. Olivia Pierce is a more modern example in gaming of a female villain that is presented very much on defiance of sexist stereotypes that ultimately are against men as well as women.
In an entertainment industry that can overlook older women, Olivia's older age is also significant because it defies the trend of emphasizing younger and thus potentially more conventionally attractive women. Of course, there is nothing irrational or Biblically immoral about such an emphasis in one game or another, as long as it is not a default trend used to intentionally or by passive neglect exclude aged characters and/or voice actors--and as long as male beauty is not neglected either. Olivia's gender, age, and scoliosis (hence her exo-suit) are not what her character is reduced to, but they also do not in any way thematically or narratively interfere with her competence in unleashing an invasion of Mars by the demons. She makes no extended monologues or any serious mistakes other than that of doing as she pleases in true egoist fashion; she seeks power from her alliance with the race that attempts to destroy the rest of hers.
Now, if there is a given level of harshness against men that is justified or even morally required in a specific situation, the same could only be true of harshness against women. Both are human; gender is a category of the body, having no connection to mental traits like aggression, kindness, concern for one's appearance, and so on. Having one kind of genitalia or another does not logically necessitate having any of these or other personality characteristics, and vice versa. What one man or women is like does not reveal what another man or woman is like. These things already refute the very possibility of any gender differences being related to moral rights and obligations that are unrelated to actually having genitalia (an easy example of such a thing would be the Biblical obligation to be circumcised if one is a man). So, too, does the fact that even on the level of social experience and not strict logical necessity prior to the former, no man or woman would ever display different behavioral traits than another if there was such a thing as valid psychological gender stereotypes [1].
While Doom does not feature elaboration by characters on these issues, the way it presents its characters and narrative is certainly consistent with these logical truths. Olivia is egoistic. She is the main antagonist. She is a woman, but the game does not focus on this one way or another, just as it does not do the same concerning how the Doom Slayer is a man. As for the Doom Slayer's rampage to reach and stop Pierce, there is no special level of brutality meted out on Olivia because she is a woman, as if her offense is being born female as well as colluding with Hell's demonic inhabitants. Nothing about the protagonist's actions are misogynistic. Pierce is treated just like any other living obstacle to the Slayer's quest to prevent Hell from taking control of Mars, and by extension eventually the rest of humanity.
The Slayer does not directly confront her until the end of the game when she becomes the Spider Mastermind as seen below. Again, he handles her as he has the rest of her demonic allies, and she remains in pursuit of superhuman power at the expense of other people to the end. From her introduction to her demise, Olivia Pierce is a rather genuinely progressive character, not just because she is a woman, but because she is a determined, successful (for most of the game), and unflinchingly selfish and callous villain and a woman. For all of its focus on quality gameplay moreso than on other things, some of the other elements of Doom that are subtle by comparison elevate the game by proximity to some grand philosophical truths. Not drawing special attention to Olivia because of her gender is itself in fact also an expression of actual gender egalitarianism here.
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