This is “Point/Counterpoint in the Blogosphere…” where we take a look at what has YOU talking. Twice a week, I’ll be showcasing two related discussion points about a particular topic, to help you keep up with some of the hot topics in comic fandom.
Recently, an essay regarding the Body Mass Index with regards to Marvel characters was linked here on Newsarama. Though it’s unconventional to use something already linked at Newsarama as a Point, I think it’s worth reading again especially in tandem with the Counterpoint.
Point
Karen Healey’s BMI Conclusions
Counterpoint
Katherine of Whereof One Can Speak points out the problems inherent in analyzing off of Handbook stats especially with regards to artists’ portrayals:
Excerpt:
All of these female characters’ BMIs could be increased by 3 according to the Handbook stats, and nothing in the actual comics would change: they’d still be drawn to look like anorexic teenagers or blow-up dolls if the wrong artist got hold of them, and their storylines would still be just as bad as they were before.
Katherine continues with an example of an unusual reverse sort of situation wherein a character that should be dangerously skinny is actually drawn as too plump.
Karen and Katherine’s entries are both incredibly interesting and definitely worth reading when considering body image as portrayed in comics.
November 18th, 2006 at 11:40 am
A link to the counterpoint would have been greatly appreciated.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
It’s been fixed.
November 18th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Oh, crap! Sorry about that! How embarrassing!
November 19th, 2006 at 9:52 am
As it stands, I think the BMI is suspect anyway. I’d have to be borderline anorexic to make it into the normal category, and I believe it doesn’t take into account the endomorph body type. There’s a similar Web MD article from last year talking about NFL players. Of course, the study it’s based on is from a letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association, not an actual article, so that’s a bit telling.