Hawksian woman

In film theory, a "Hawksian woman" (first identified by Naomi Wise) is a tough talking female character archetype popularized in movies by film director Howard Hawks using actresses such as Katharine Hepburn, Ann Dvorak, Rosalind Russell and Angie Dickinson. The best known Hawksian woman is probably Lauren Bacall, who played the type iconically opposite Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not" and "The Big Sleep."

The Hawksian woman is up-front in speaking her mind and keeping up with her male counterparts in witty banter as well as taking action to get what she wants personally as well as sexually, and could in many ways be seen as a post-feminist before the fact. Despite his preference for this kind of woman, Hawks never considered himself a feminist and simply stated that he thought these women were lively and interesting both in films and in life. Hawks discussed his preference for this kind of woman in some detail with Joseph McBride, taking up a full chapter of "Hawks on Hawks" (1982).
John Carpenter, an avowed Hawks fan, includes Hawksian women in most of his movies, from "Assault on Precinct 13" through his most recent "Ghosts of Mars." Examples of Hawksian women in Carpenter's films include the characters played by Karen Allen in "Starman" and Adrienne Barbeau in "The Fog" and "Escape from New York."