I would argue that Sigourney Weaver evolved Ripley as a character from a standard exploitation movie heroine in Alien (Of course she’s meant to be hot, what are you talking about! Also, she’s almost naked by the end), to a far stronger character in the subsequent movies. Linda Hamilton’s evolution in Terminator / Terminator 2 is somewhat similar, as is Patricia Tallman’s Barbara in the 1990 remake of Night of the living dead. We shouldn’t ignore these movies, but it’s certainly not the same as having an all female, non sexualized cast.