There are some themes in the book, and this one was pretty obvious. It's made clear over the course of several chapters that Semirhage cannot be broken or intimidated, and even from her own PoV she says that she was ready for hot coals and other torture and even looking forward to it. This was the dilemma posed to Cadsuane, who needed information from her. Cadsuane also found herself wondering about how similar she is to Semirhage.

Therefore, when Cadsuane figured out that losing her status as a legendary Aes Sedai was the worst nightmare she could experience, she applied it to Semirhage, who is extremely proud of her evil reputation. Therefore humiliation broke this legendary Forsaken. It even reduced her to tears.

It's therefore illogical to say that it would be offensive to see Moridin in pigtails. It's not about Cadsuane or Robert Jordan finding ways to humiliate the Shadow. It's about people trying to find ways to break the unbreakable. Rand had the same problem with Graendal - he couldn't find out how to destroy a sneaky woman who was more intelligent than him, and so he commited a mass atrocity.

This is why I am convinced Demandred is next - because where there is a source of intense hatred, it is easy to bait. Moghedien will once again be lured by revenge against Nynaeve and Cyndane against Rand. All the Forsaken have weaknesses, and that was Semirhage's.