Race, Gender, and Genre
61
pantyhose. Then there was the jewelry. The pin in the emerald
brooch was only two inches long, but that made it long enough
to slip between the first and second cervical vertebrae into the
base of the brain. The prongs of the diamond ring stood
straight out when you pried the diamond loose, sharp enough
to sever one of the major arteries. And there was a platinum
bracelet, a thin hoop that didn’t have its ends joined.
Straighten it out and you have a nine-inch stiletto {Flicker 64).
While this list shows the deadly side of feminine objects, it also shows that
the Baroness can be more capable as a spy because she is expected to have
certain articles on her in travel. Upon making her a set of transmitters and
receivers that look like uppers. Sumo says, “‘Rich, beautiful women take pills...
Nobody will think twice about them’” {Ecstasy 93). Although she has her lethal
knowledge of everyday items; her hidden technology; and “the edges of her
hands, the heel and side of her foot, a sharp elbow or knee,” Penny is still given
an actual gun. She carries a .25 caliber Bemadelli VB that carries five rounds
but is known as “the smallest automatic ever made” (Diamonds 26). The gun
both packs a punch and is easily concealed in plain sight but is hard to take
seriously, much like the Baroness herself
Penny is as mentally prepared for espionage as she is physically ready. She
is all but completely emotionless. When she is abducted in Death is a Ruby
Light, she awakens to what would normally be a startling and completely lifealtering event for any woman: “There were finger marks on her breasts and
thighs. There was a burning sensation in her vagina. She’d been raped. She
wondered how many times” (137). Readers never see her lament this violation,
seek therapy, or even discuss it. Instead, she discovers which men were involved
in the gang rape, kills them, and moves on with her mission. There is no
“processing” the ordeal. As a female agent, she is threatened with rape on
several occasions to the point where she “[expects] a brisk rape by some two
hundred men, torture, and then some ultimate disposal” {Sonic 183). Readers are
led to believe that this is how a female agent copes with what is seemingly
inevitable. Her dearth of feeling extends to death as well. Whe