Modern Art Analysis - Counterculture and the #HawkeyeInitiative

Growing up in the West, the likelihood that you’re gonna find a comic book fan is pretty high, and even more likely, you’re gonna find a MARVEL (or DC) fan. Comic books are one of those things that are just generally beloved and are considered to be the backbone of the pop culture we know. Along with that, it spawned iconic male heroes like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and Iron Man— we know these names and know they’re meant to be the sickest guys around, and every poster, comic book cover, and movie is meant to bolster that coolness. These heroes are dynamic, they’re strong, and in some way, shape, or form, they bolster ideal masculinity.

But with that in mind, what of the comic book ladies? Well… If you’ve ever seen the way comic books love to portray women, you would know that whether it is a villain, hero, or just a random woman. They’re often given the most backbreaking and spine-twisting poses. This is all a tactic done by artists to show off the most integral, most important parts of their character… Which is the boobs and butt, of course. And no matter HOW impossible the pose, somehow you’ll get them in the perfect shape to show off both.

But eventually, as a groundbreaking moment for comic book fans involved in online fandom culture, one Tumblr user would start an initiative that would turn the whole trope on its head, and thus, The Hawkeye Initiative, but before we can dive in, lets talk about how comic book women are portrayed, who Hawkeye even is, and of course, what started the initiative to begin with.

So with that, let’s jump right in.

Made by Tumblr user hoursago

COMIC BOOK LADIES

So, when we think about male heroes (and villains) in comics, I’m sure we have a similar idea of how they’re portrayed. Strong, heroic, muscular. Superheroes follow this thing called “rule of cool”, which, for reference, is basically the concept that anything goes, as long as it looks cool. But not all superheroes are made equally. When it comes to women, the most common thing you’ll see is something more along the lines of “Rule of sexy”. ANYTHING goes, as long as it looks sexy.

And because of this, female superheroes get some… Less than ideal portrayals. One famous example is the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman variant, whose 2014 cover ended up looking like this.

When you remove the text, not only is the pose incredibly uncomfortable, but it also really highlights her backside. It does nothing to enhance the cover or even show her doing anything cool, and while you think it’s just the heroes, it's the villains.

Annnd the love interests.

And you can definitely argue that they're just covers. And that in the actual comic, it's not that bad. And you would definitely think! Especially when you think about comic book fighting scenes and how messy and tense it can get, that maybe the focus would be away from their bodies and more on the scene. But nope!

No matter what, you can count on comic books to portray women as constantly sexy, constantly arching their back in a way that breaks their spine, perky breasts, and a plumpness to die for, whether they’re fighting crime, committing crime, or simply just trying to exist. The sexualization of women is rampant in comic books, and while they can get cool covers like these.

Women almost always get the short end of the stick when it comes to their male counterparts. Now, while I’m sure there is someone out there arguing that guys get sexualized in comics too! And yes, men definitely do get sexualized in media, and they do get sexualized in comic books. But the difference between a woman sexualized in a comic versus a man is the intent and standard we hold for women versus men.

When men are sexualized, whether it be the muscular bodies, the tight clothes, or shirtlessness, for the most part, their masculinity is never infringed upon; they are sexy as a male ideal, the musculature of their bodies is meant to showcase how strong and capable they are, and looking good is a bonus.

Comic book women are sexualized, just to be sexualized. We don’t get to see the musculature of their bodies (in fact, they really do get muscles).

Showing us the curves of their butt and chest (usually at the same time, by the way) tells us nothing but to gawk at the characters. Especially when put into compromising poses. If artists don’t go out of their way to portray male characters as sexy all the time, you need to ask about the intent behind the rampant sexualization of women.

So with that rant and a half out of the way, this brings us to the role-flipper— The Hawkeye Initiative.

WHO'S HAWKEYE AND WHAT IS HE INITIATING?

To get us all on the same page, Hawkeye, like the rest of the names mentioned, is a comic book character. He's from the MARVEL comic universe, and while he doesn't get as much movie attention, like many superheroes, he is a pretty beloved character with a relatively niche fanbase. Key parts about him are his skills as an archer and his confident showboating nature.

And about 13 years ago, Tumblr users Hoursago and Gingerhaze would make history, with Hoursago's reinterpretation of a Hawkeye and Black Widow comic with their poses reversed, and Gingerhaze's post simply being How to fix every Strong Female Character pose in superhero comics: replace the character with Hawkeye doing the same thing.

Both of these would spark artists all over Tumblr, and shortly after, a blog by the name of The Hawkeye Initiative would be born, a glorious archive of nearly a decade+ of artists and cosplayers coming together to recreate these "Strong Female Character" covers and poses with Hawkeye, and occasionally other men across the superhero world.

The main purpose of the trend was not only to point out the ridiculousness of these poses, but to make fun of the common trope of "Strong Female Character" being someone who is sexy and near-exclusively for the male gaze. While the whole trend was definitely funny, I had a lot of fun researching it and could scroll for hours on that archive.

But the trend also served as a critique of the rampant sexualization of women in comics, and just how hypersexualized they all are- seemingly for no reason but being women. Especially when a lot of your target audience is younger, sending the idea that a strong female is "sexy" and deformed, while your male hero is built, strong, and taken seriously in nearly every moment, you have to question the message they're sending.

I definitely encourage you to take a scroll through, but some of the common themes of these renditions included: Drawing Hawkeye with an exaggerated bulge, leg hair, having the character quote his own discomfort, and some comments on the side to poke fun at how "efficient" women's combat gear is.

Some of my favorites from the archive include these three, which were done by punchflora, free-man12, and Pyrotyger, respectively.

  

I believe it's fascinating to see this big community of artists come together, but also to realize that this trend is a huge example of counterculture. The exaggeration of masculinity or hypersexualizing these male characters, the joke and critique on the strong female character trope, and so many of the additional comments artists made directly poke fun at these depictions of these women or parody masculinity.

And it wasn't just the artists that came together, because the movement inspired small forms of real-life activism. On a post titled Special Guest Edition: The Hawkeye Initiative IRL!, an anonymous poster had submitted their story of a prank they pulled on their CEO, directly inspired by the initiative.

To quote them directly: "I work with an all-female team of data scientists, in the gaming industry. This makes me the professional equivalent of Amelia Earhart riding the Loch Ness Monster. I love my job. Our company in particular is great. Firstly, our game (HAWKEN) is beautiful and people love it. Secondly, half of our executive branch is female. Half of them are punk rock, and all of them are badassed. Our gender awareness standards, compared to the industry at large, are top shelf. We are talking Amelia Earhart in Atlantis, at a five star resort, getting a mani-pedi from Jensen Ackles. I have it good." -K2

The anonymous poster goes on to explain their gripe with the poster that adorned the entrance to the company. Visitors and employees alike would be greeted by this half-naked woman engineer going in and coming out of the building, and their male CEO had apparently loved it.

The animosity they felt over that poster had gotten so great that, after some playful bribery, inspiration, and a common goal, they had enlisted their coworker and talented artist, Sam, to create a male version of the poster to prank their boss.

To quote them again: We are both suddenly and painfully aware that we have, in fact, just punked the CEO of our company. He is by all accounts an awesome dude. He is also a late-50s ex-army guy who happens to determine our employment futures in an at-will state. Meep." -K2

And especially to quote what their boss had to say about the whole thing: “That was a brilliant prank. You called me on exactly the bullshit I need to be called on. I put up pictures of half-naked girls around the office all the time and I never think about it. I’m taking you and Sam to lunch. And after that, we’re going to hang both prints, side by side.” -K2's Account of their CEO, Mark

Which, for reference, here are the two posters side by side, lovingly nicknamed Ruby Underboob and Brosie the Riveter:

This is not only a great example of modern art movements directly affecting life, but I find the very idea of placing a strong male character in the position of these female characters not only makes fun of the macho masculine men, but it also continues to showcase to us how ridiculous the unequal treatment is. It was more than a meme, but straight-up counter culture.

IN CONCLUSION

Overall, this movement was HUGE, and just to get you to understand how big it got, the waves of the Hawkeye Initiative caused BBC News to write an article on the very topic almost a month later.

For many people, especially comic book lovers, the initiative was not only good and fun for people to participate in, but it also brought attention to just how unserious these female comic characters are treated in comparison to their male counterparts. 

While in modern days, there has definitely been improvement, I think it's a good idea to approach the intent and thought behind sexualizing these female superheroes- are they sexy as an extension of themselves? As a form of agency? Or is it really only there to enjoy watching them? Do half these female heroes really need to fight in high heels...?

But if you ever come across a pose that definitely looks like the spine should be broken and her important organs entirely removed... Remember that giving it the ol' Hawkeye Test is a sure-fire way to confirm.

WORKS CITED

The battle against “sexist” sci-fi and fantasy book covers. (2013, January 16). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21033708

Wikipedia Contributors. (2024, November 13). The Hawkeye Initiative. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hawkeye_Initiative

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