Action Movie Butt Shots: Why Must Fighting Females Assume The Same Pose?

"Avengers" director Joss Whedon is known for treating female characters on par with his male ones, but even the posters for that movie took pains to show off Scarlett Johansson's derriere.

But Whedon's movie isn't the only one. A Reddit user noticed a trend in promotional materials for action and comic book movies : Female characters are often shown in uncomfortable positions seemingly designed only to highlight spandex-covered bottoms.

While there are certainly examples to the contrary (another Reddit user cited a few in a response to the post), the depiction of females is a longstanding problem in comic book history. The Hawkeye Initiative is a blog that redraws misogynistic images of women with Hawkeye (the character Jeremy Renner played in "Thor" and "The Avengers"). There are an astounding number of comic book stills with characters in highly contorted positions that don't seem to offer anything other than a salacious view of the character. (Case in point: this Catwoman image .)

We've included some examples in the gallery below. Let us know what you think in the comments: Should studios give fairer treatment to their female stars?