The Hawkeye Initiative started the on Tumblr in 2012 to demonstrate how deformed, hypersexualized, and contorted women characters are in comics, books, and video games by drawing Hawkeye and other male characters in the same or similar poses/outfits. You can really see how blatant the pornography is when it's flipped.
The First photo is the original. The Second and Third are edited to reveal more skin in a sexualized fashion similar to FCs. Belly window, exposed legs/thighs, and color patterns to bring focus to his pelvic region.
Fourth and Fifth were for fun because I started experimenting with the app, but I also wanted to highlight the extra details put into female characters so they have more eyecatchers than male characters. Like if he was a girl, would his tail have an accessory? Would they make him wear a collar or bell?
Note: this isn't to say we can't have sexy, attractive, cute, or exaggerated character designs of people. This is a statement on the over objectification of women and girls in media, and how it marginalizes us.
This is great, I never heard of this!
I’m not even an anti-fanservice person, but the imbalance and complete commodification of women (and underage girls) makes me frustrated.
There was a post on an anime subreddit today that had a women asking for male fanservice. The *majority* of the comments was like Fruits Basket, Bungou Stray Dogs, Moriarty the Patriot which were not fanservicy just full of man characters! Free was one of the few that I felt qualified.
Someone asked imagine if the genders were reversed and I just couldn’t comment on that thread at all because it was sad and that comment was the last straw. Anime and games are *overwhelming* and disproportionately full of aggressive fanservice of women and minor girls! Period!
Boobies! Crotch and panty shots! ETC! Even in your average non ecchi anime. It is so normalized! In video games and TV as well.
It was completely disheartening to see that the only qualifications for male fanservice was simply being a handsome man, wow. While instead, I have to weight the scales between most shows and games if the plot is worth the complete objectification of women or other questionable content. You have to *hunt* for man fanservice and it is limited. As opposed to women/minor girls fanservice you have to put in serious effort to *filter* it out, and it almost sometimes inescapable in some genres and media.
Reminds me of this one Final Fantasy character who GamersTM cried over because he was wearing something too revealing.
https://preview.redd.it/fa8failkslid1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5dd4ec39a48388f811b70a895dd2be9b50a8fadc
For me one of the best example of this is the Batman and Catwoman reverse video. It’s hilarious and also very sad.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUWBoYwAgaE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUWBoYwAgaE)
i just realized it today watching the new jiaoqiu video. but male characters have very flat crotches. very flat. which would be fine if not for the fact how overemphasized and often unrealistic female characters’ boobs and asses are in games.
so, i think, for true equality, all male characters need overemphasized crotches and asses too. you made a great job with color in that regard in pic 3, but it needs to be bigger. just bursting out of his pants. if female characters can have buttons on their tops being at risk of bursting, then make characters can fill out their pants more. ideally, it also needs insane unrealistic jiggle physics. for example, he moves from side to side? jiggle. he fights? triple jiggle! and would be nice if their ultimates would overfocus on their crotches too, just like ultimates for many female characters focus on their breasts.
also, male characters need to change their walks. female characters’ walk is often exaggerated, with hips swaying overly wide and boobs jiggling. so i think male characters need some walks to emphasize their shoulders instead? i think taking inspo from “jojo’s bizarre adventure” would work in this case.
otherwise, great job! i haven’t heard of hawkeye initiative for quite some time. thank you for bringing in up to light again!
I think I have a good example. This is my current main character in BG3. He’s a paladin. One shot is the armor that I have him in when playing, the next comment is a shot is of an outfit mod that I have but don’t use on this character.
https://preview.redd.it/q1822pvzsmid1.jpeg?width=565&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f61478a735409fabc66a3e52c007115a2af6a91
https://preview.redd.it/g195an397rid1.jpeg?width=827&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5661b2e7d1acfc59c9a27f6051016f001df25eb0
I love the hawkeye initiative.
There are a few fan-art pics that always make me laugh when I see them. (This is Alhaitham from Genshin Impact,)
Needs more pec cleavage!
I was hoping he’d get mega thick thighs, since that’s the new(ish) trend in fanservice ladies.
I’m going to get downvoted into oblivion here but equality doesn’t necessarily produce good art. There is nothing inherently wrong with women having huge boobs and asses.
I don’t think any designs in ZZZ are hypersexualized and the discourse on this particular subreddit in regard to this topic strays often dangerously close to horseshoe-theorying into straight up misogynistic slutshaming.
A lot of games are a product designed and aimed at their target audience, that’s all there is to it. If you want hypersexualized men, there are literally an entire genre of games called Otome games which sexualizes and objectifies men. See Love and Deep Space and girls, including myself, eat those up.