Kevin Bolk's Bootylicious 'Avengers' Movie Poster Takes On Superhero Sexism (PHOTO)

It's been a good five months since professional cartoonist Kevin Bolk drew a parody of an early movie poster for "The Avengers" in which he reversed the poses of male and female characters.

But the poster, dubbed "Avengers Booty-Assemble," is now going viral as users have a laugh over the sexed-up male characters, who are redrawn in butt-intensive poses usually reserved for depictions of female superheros.

Bolk told the Daily Dot that he was inspired to draw the poster in response to ongoing dialogue about the extent to which male and female superheroes are objectified.

According to Bolk in the Daily Dot:

I often hear the counterargument that 'Oh, well, men are objectified just as much as women because they are muscular and wear tights.' But that idea ignores that A) these characters aren't contorting to constantly show off their elaborately rendered sexy parts (as the ‘Avengers booty’ piece demonstrates) and B) they are meant to appeal to a male power fantasy, not necessarily to arouse women.

Check out Bolk's poster below alongside the original:

As Comics Alliance points out, the practice of gender-bending superhoes is nothing new, with artists often reversing the gender of characters or creating derivative female characters of male superheros "as a way to get perspective on how differently comics (and our culture) treats the different sexes and/or create fan art that slightly disturbs people."

And Archie Comics announced last month that an August issue of Archie will feature a storyline in which the three main characters -- Archie, Betty and Veronica -- undergo a gender swap after "grumbling over how the other half has it easier."

Check out Comics Alliance for more on gender swapping in comics.

Comments

[irrenmann]

04:23 PM on 04/13/2013

"I often hear the counterargument that 'Oh, well, men are objectified just as much as women because they are muscular and wear tights.' But that idea ignores that A) these characters aren't contorting to constantly show off their elaborately rendered sexy parts (as the ‘Avengers booty’ piece demonstrates) and B) they are meant to appeal to a male power fantasy, not necessarily to arouse women."

A stupid comment, since it presupposes that men and women have the same "sexy parts" and are judged on them in the same way, and this is not remotely true.

[JerryNYC]

08:44 AM on 03/28/2013

Scarlett has a nice butt. It's part of why she's popular as an actress and part of why The Avengers movie was so popular. Same gpes fpr Anne Hathaway's costume in Dark Knight Rises. Men like to look at women. It's not cultural, it's evolution and genetics. I suggest everyone accept it and move on.

[Maceo Brown]

07:54 AM on 03/28/2013

All guys have biceps the size of my torso? Or did I miss the "great guy" who's sensitive and a good friend in these posters. Hollywood objectifies ALL its stars.

[Lulo]

08:19 AM on 03/28/2013

I had no idea Marvel Comics had been a part of the "Hollywood" thing since 1961.

[Maceo Brown]

07:44 AM on 04/01/2013

Any idea there was a popular phrase 'sex sells'? This article targeted movie posters, but 'Hollywood' is also shorthand for star culture--i.e. anything selling an image.

[h3ll0meganx]

01:24 PM on 04/12/2013

"According to Bolk in the Daily Dot:

I often hear the counterargument that 'Oh, well, men are objectified just as much as women because they are muscular and wear tights.' But that idea ignores that A) these characters aren't contorting to constantly show off their elaborately rendered sexy parts (as the ‘Avengers booty’ piece demonstrates) and B) they are meant to appeal to a male power fantasy, not necessarily to arouse women."

But I guess don't read anything and make your uneducated opinions first.

[Kristen Rose]

04:34 PM on 05/13/2012

The anatomy is terrible in the second picture. Parody fail.

[Amy Mist]

04:19 AM on 05/16/2012

I think you missed the joke.

[BlackJAC]

07:56 PM on 03/27/2013

It was a poorly done joke.  I once saw a gag bit on how in medieval fantasy stuff the women don't wear full armor like the men do, and it worked way better than this.

[CSOTUS]

07:56 AM on 03/28/2013

Pretty sure thats the point...

[Andrea Hofer]

10:12 PM on 05/11/2012

I didn't realize poses could have a gender.

[Crissa Kentavr]

05:01 PM on 01/18/2013

Apparently they do.

[RowanVT]

11:57 PM on 01/18/2013

They very frequently do. It's very common to see a 'boobs'n'butt' pose being done by women drawn for covers, despite the fact that it's either actively painful to get into that position (able to see both butt cheeks AND both boobs) or outright impossible if you still have a functional spine. You almost never see men in a pose like that. Men are posed aggressively. Women are posed sexily. Men look they're attacking. Women look like they are about to fall on their faces after breaking their spines.

[Cleave4Congress]

08:10 PM on 05/11/2012

They did a fairly good job with that poster.

[aerynsunx]

03:44 PM on 05/11/2012

Clearly this guy doesn't know how this woman feels about the Mighty Thor. I have no trouble objectifying his body. None at all.

[Cleave4Congress]

08:11 PM on 05/11/2012

My wife would agree with you on that as well as on Cpt. America

[mkhajdin]

09:36 AM on 10/27/2012

Har har har. Way to trivialize the concept of objectification.

[legaleagle4]

01:12 PM on 05/11/2012

Has anyone whining actually SEEN the movie? No spoilers, but Black Widow plays quite possibly the most pivotal role in stopping the bad guy. Stop complaining.

[Impulse360]

06:37 AM on 04/12/2013

If by "playing a pivotal role in stopping the bad guy" you mean being teammates with The Hulk, then yeah.

[legaleagle4]

11:55 AM on 04/12/2013

I actually mean "being the one to catch a scooter up to help Selvig destroy the portal", but you keep going. 

[Zillur Rahman]

11:35 AM on 05/11/2012

Woman is the greatest creation of God. If the woman invention herself then it will be Big Bang.

[JohnMHammer]

11:22 AM on 05/11/2012

Give the poses on the original poster a break. Black Widow/Scarlett J is facing that way because one of them has to cover their rear.

[Lunasumerin Kirasai]

11:43 AM on 05/11/2012

Well then she should be looking in the other direction.

[Betty Anne Benes]

12:56 PM on 05/11/2012

Yeah, like their "hawk-eyed" sniper with a ranged weapon, who could pick off baddies approaching from behind long before they ever got there - but then, dang it all, Black Widow would have to be in the front, aggressively taking the lead on any opponents who might slip past The Hulk.