Body Image?

As she first appeared.

I had the opportunity recently to re-read a lot of the original Spider-Girl series. Now, that in it's self was rather gratifying, validating me that this was, in fact, a great series. But while I was doing some reading, a friend of mine was taking some interest and asking questions and making comments. Now, some context. I rarely read comics around others and I enjoy the odd occasion when I get to address genuine questions, rather than mockery. So, anyway, my friend pointed out that May, as Spider-Girl, is really rather skinny. This got me thinking, really thinking. So, is there a rationale behind this that can be justified? And also; is this depiction of a young woman's body in comics a good one for young readers, especially girls?
 

 Okay, I should narrow this one down. The issue referred to by my friend, specifically issue #65, is penciled by Ron Frenz. Now, I love Mr Frenz. His art is adaptable, clear, old-school and fun. Looking over the series as a whole, starting with the original What If ?! #105, I decided Mr Frenz clearly isn't trying to depict May as anything other than a typical teenage girl. May is depicted as slim but athletic, by both Ron and Pat Olliffe (who penciled Spider-Girl from #1 through to the mid-fifties, give or take a fill-in now and then by Ron). Pat's depiction of May notably changed from his early issues, with May physically appearing taller and leaner as time went on.

                                                                                                                             

Pat Olliffe's take on May throughout his run.

Fill-in issues by Ron show an attempt to mimic Pat's style, where ever possible, not wanting to break the tone of the book. As I said, Ron is a professional and very talented. In the middle the Season of the Serpent six-parter we have a sort of handing-over of the penciling duties to Ron. Frenz' slowly let his style come through, eventually arriving at the slightly cartoon-y take on May's world we see in the aforementioned issue #65. I'll be honest, at first, I found this take jarring, but it soon grew on me.

Cartoon-y but Cool: Ron Frenz takes the reins.

 This, then is the explanation for May's skinny look. Changing over time again, Ron's ever-evolving pencils would give us a more muscular Mayday, with a slight change in the cut of the costumes lines, and a change to the look of the masks eyes, giving us a more grown-up or mature look. I really appreciated this new take as it seemed reasonable that May would have the body of a gymnast, in much the same way I prefer Spider-Man depicted. It makes sense a bouncing ball of spider-powered energy would have an athletic body, rather than one of a body-builder.

A more mature Mayday by Ron Frenz.

So, Mayday has been depicted in an ever changing way, not always photo-realistic, not always consistent, but always growing. The big question then; is this a good thing? Does a cartoon-y but still skinny May offer any young readers a positive message, or does she reinforce the negative body-image ideal of thin young women? Honestly, I look on this series with rose-tinted glasses sometimes, but this topic did deserve serious examination. I can't reasonably ignore this possible criticism to my favorite series and character.

 May is a positive role-model for young readers, she's a strong female character who doesn't use sex appeal as a selling-point. May plays basketball, she thinks for herself and often tries to avoid violence, preferring to find another way whenever possible. She makes mistakes, fights with her parents and let's her friends down, but always tries to make amends. While the rest of the world seems hung up on body image, here is someone who wants to be defined by her actions, not her cheek bones or waist line. I'm not saying May isn't sensitive to that type of thing, just that she knows better than to take it seriously or let it change her.

Thoughts?

 So, in the end, I think society in general puts far to much emphasis (either positive or negative) on how a person (especially a young woman) looks when there is a much richer, unique person underneath it all.

Until Spider-Girl wears bikini armor, I remain

frogoat