The Hawkeye Initiative

The Hawkeye Initiative was a satirical Tumblr blog that used Hawkeye and other male comic characters to illustrate how deformed, hyper-sexualized, and impossibly contorted women are commonly illustrated in comics, books, and video games.The Hawkeye Initiative, from their "About" page (Accessed 31 January 2021.)
==History==
The concept of replacing female superheroes in ridiculous poses with Hawkeye was first proposed by gingerhaze in a tumblr post.
The idea was then picked up by the fan artist Hoursago, who redrew the cover of an Marvel Adventure Super-Heroes comic featuring Black Widow and Hawkeye with the subjects' poses reversed. The post garnered a lot of attention quickly, getting over 16 000 notes in less than four days. Know Your Meme, The Hawkeye Initiative. (Accessed 31 January 2021) 
Shortly thereafter on December 2nd 2012, the Hawkeye Initiative blog was created by skjaldmeyja. The blog was an instant success and got over 10 000 followers in less than a day. Daily Dot Strong Female Superhero Pose meme gets a Hawkeye reboot 
Besides fanart, THI also inspired cosplays.
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Image:Hawkeyeinitiativecatwoman.png
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===The Hawkeye Test===
From the initiative the idea of the Hawkeye Test was born. The test helps determine if a female character's pose is sexist by asking if Hawkeye could do the same pose without looking stupid or silly. If he can, it is probably not sexist.
===Why Hawkeye?===
The reason for choosing Clint Barton as the face of the movement was speculated upon. One suggested it was simply due to the first image happening to portray himOh No They Didn't!The Hawkeye Initiative redraws absurd superheroine poses with Hawkeye (Accessed 31 January 2021) . Another claimed it was because Jeremy Renner, the actor who plays Hawkeye in the MCU would sometimes strike similar poses himself.Comics Beat The Hawkeye Initiative launches—and genderswapping will never be the same (Accessed 31 January 2021). A fan of the blog argued that it was due to the fact that Hawkeye was often labelled as "useless". 
==Reception==
Seeming to have struck a nerve, THI took off like lightning, gaining notice not only on tumblr but from many outside sources. A list of articles about THI can be found on their "About and FAQ" page.
The initiative was praised for its simplicity About Face The Hawkeye Initiative exposes sexism in comic book art (Accessed 31 January 2021), highlighting the different nature of how men and women are objectified in comics in an easily digestible wayMoar Powah Food for Thought: The Hawkeye Initiative (Accessed 31 January 2021). Many of the images were also reposted on websites dedicated to funny, rather than political content. Cheezburger The Hawkeye Initiative (Accessed 31 January 2021)Buzzfeed "The Hawkeye Initiative" Strikes Back Against Modern Comic Art (Accessed 31 January 2021)Uproxx Meme Watch: The Hawkeye Initiative Hilariously Addresses Sexism In Comics With Sexy Hawkeye (Accessed 31 January 2021)Upworthy Oh, So You Really Think The Female Body Works Like That? (Accessed 31 January 2021)
It also garnered attention from people in the comic book industry. Among its supporters were Gail SimoneGail Simone The Hawkeye Initiative (Accessed 31 January 2021), comic author who coined the term Women in Refrigerators, and Matt Fraction .mattfraction Have you ever heard of The Hawkeye Initiative? (Accessed 31 January 2021).mattfraction Soooooo.... I was wondering what's your opinion on... (Accessed 31 January 2021).
===Criticism===
Besides the comics fans who simply enjoyed the kind of art The Hawkeye Initiative criticisedWired How to Fix Crazy Superheroine Poses in Comics? Swap Them With Hawkeye (Accessed 31 January 2021), some sceptics argued that while it was bringing attention to an important issue, whatever political point it was trying to make was lost in the humor of the images.Nerdy Feminist, The Hawkeye Initiative - A Good Start (Accessed 31 January 2021) 
In a blog post on the subject of Mannerism, John Holbo states that the reason the criticised poses are so common might can not so simply be reduced to the artists being sexist. The reason why these images of Hawkeye are perceived as funny isn't so much because he is a man, as it is the poses being ridiculous and many of the images being crudely drawn. John Holbo Fervent and Furious: The Hawkeye Initiative As Late Mannerism (Accessed 31 January 2021) He goes on to state that The Hawkeye Initiative is focusing on the wrong part of the issue, namely that there are sexualized women in comics, rather than the lack of unsexualized female characters.
==Further Reading==
* The Hawkeye Initiative on Wikipedia
* The Hawkeye Initiative on Know Your Meme
==References==
Category: Activism
Category: Hawkeye
Category:Social Media Feature