Hawk Tuah Girl, explained by straight dudes
Whether or not you’ve heard of the viral heroine says a lot about your proximity to the bro internet.
It’s the idea that stuff on the internet and on social media can feel so inevitable and inescapable to you and not even register as a blip to a different audience. As small as the internet seems to be and as seemingly connected as we are, it’s hard to know these days how big a thing really is. Whether it’s Hawk Tuah Girl, Oilers Girl, or a “let’s work it out on the remix” joke, the relative size of a meme is harder to perceive because of how divided our different internets are. It seems like algorithms and “For You” pages have gotten so good at catering to specific individuals, that the result is a lack of perspective.
What this all means for the actual woman behind the meme remains to be seen.
Perhaps Hawk Tuah Girl will soar even higher, get even more famous. According to the New York Post, she has already sold some $65,000 worth of Hawk Tuah Girl merchandise, and there are rumors that she’s signing with a Hollywood agency. Unlike so many main characters of the internet, Hawk Tuah Girl seems primed to monetize her attention.
But as she becomes more recognizable, her audience changes too.
Seeing her popularity and the opportunity to be weird, social media clout grifters are attempting to turn Hawk Tuah Girl into a right-wing martyr. And groans and side eyes have already begun, new haters declaring that Hawk Tuah Girl isn’t that funny now that they actually know what Hawk Tuah is all about.
The bigger her celebrity, the less Hawk Tuah Girl exclusively belongs to the straight guy internet bubble. The rise, triumph, and seeming denouement of this hero have happened in about a week. Next week we might not be talking about her at all, and perhaps we will have found a new main character with a new bit. But for now, when she asks, “You get me?”, well, a lot of people really, really do.