Those of you interested in the subject of Bond girls, sexual politics and the Bond franchise might find this article
interesting. (Fair warning - there are Skyfall spoilers within.) If you can ignore some of the bad grammar and mistakes, it's worth a read.
A better thought out article than the other one earlier in the thread, but still, some issues:
-Its claim that Monneypenny is "mocked for her one mistake." As I remember, it's mostly Bond who keeps bringning it up, and even then it seems mostly to be good-natured ribbing. And besides, considering she did shoot him and he was declared legally dead as a result, can one really expect Bond to just shrug it off as "stuff happens."?
-I was under the impression that Monneypenny was temporarily re-assigned to administrative duties while a review was conducted in the wake of what was essentially a failed mission. She discovered a liking for administrative duties and therefore stuck to that instead. There is nothing sexist here. It's quite common in many Bond films for Bond himself to be suspended of his duties following a failure, although he usually goes ahead and acts on his own anyway. And there is nothing sexist about choosing work you prefer doing.
-As mentioned previously, Judi Dench wanted this to be her last Bond movie, so what if her replacement is a male?
-Yes, M was raked over the coals for her mistakes in this movie, but that's what happens to people in authority when they screw up. And I feel I should point out that the one who was most accusatory of her during the enquiry was another female.