Trick #10. Body Images.

  This blog is in response to http://www.johnriviello.com/bodyimage/dolls.html so that you have an idea of what I'm going to be discussing.  Feel free to add any comments below.

  While the issue of body image may still persist, I don't think its nearly as prevalent as it used to be.  When growing up, nobody I ever knew wanted to be like Barbie or Batman.  The images on the website are just simply part of our past.  My generation, all the boys and some girls in my grades knew that Batman, and all other superheroes for that matter were just that, fiction.  We never aspired to look like them.  I never heard any girls talking about how they wanted to look like Barbie growing up.  No guys ever compared their girlfriends to Barbie's body and wished they were more similar.  We realized they were looking like that for our entertainment.

   While on the website, Batman's measurements were made out to be impressive and almost impossible to achieve, you would have to realize what he does every day.  He would have 0-5% body fat solely because all he does in the comics is fight crime (massive cardio right there) and lift weights.  You have to be in shape to do what he does.  I used to get a kick out of people trying to argue the way males look in comic books or video games.  Always the perfect build, no fat, ripped pecs.  But the same people never took into consideration the lifestyles they must have lead.  You think gladiators in the ancient Roman arenas had noticeable amounts of fat?  If they did, they didn't live long.  Look at the gladiators of today, the fighters of UFC.  Very lean and muscular.  While not my favorite fighter, Frank Mir is a perfect example here.  He has extremely low body weight for a guy who weighs in at around 260 lbs. for a guy who clocks in at 6'3.  Here's something to look at.

   So on Batman's case, now we understand why he looks the way he does.  Story wise, that's how he is in the comics.  Figurine wise, it speaks to our inner nerd when we were growing up.  We want the big and strong heroes.  In Barbie's case, as I said earlier, no girl I ever knew growing up referenced themselves to her.   I've had plenty of female friends who aren't happy with the way they look, but not to that degree.  So as for that extreme case of body image, I do not believe still exists.  But it definitely does on some level.  Now I'm going to go back and play that Flash Player movie again.  It's quite comical, and frankly, that model is in fact pretty hot prior to her being "Barbified."