Yes, I don't see how 'dead' means 'never existed'. Most often when I come across a show that treats deaths like Heroes does, I quit watching fairly quick, because I can't get into a show when the characters treat replacement characters like there was never a first.(And its one thing to like them on their own, its completely different to pretend they didn't just lose someone)

Personally, its never registered to me whether the person was male or female, as long as the death wasn't cheap...still, there are just not enough women left in the show to kill.