Why do they always throw in a character who's all Femme Fatale donning leather & looking all tight-bodied & sexy carrying guns & acting all bad-ass in almost every single action movie?????????
Honor Blackman, Avengers british TV series 1962/63/64
- did her own martial arts stunts live in studio - had brilliant lines with matching delivery
You may think this a trivial response, but do your homework. There was no such heroine in dramatic roles before her, and there have been a million since.
If you're asking why psychologically, not sociologically, the answer is because in highly civilized society of legally enforced egalitarianism, we (men) long for a partner who has her own damn white steed and shining armor; the trade off for rescue of damsels isn't worth the tarnish.