Thursday, May 31, 2007

REPLY TO MARLO MEEKINS

About six months ago Marlo wrote in to say that she'd identified definite differences in the male and female face. Well of course there must be differences but did she get them right? None of my anatomy books mentioned it so I had to postpone comment. Well thanks to an old, German anatomy book from the 1920s I think I'm finally ready to make an answer.


Marlo said that men have sloping foreheads more frequently than women. Compare what the book calls normal foreheads on the two subjects above. I'd say her belief is confirmed!


Marlo also said that men have deeper-set eyes. Compare the two sets of eyes immediately above. Once again, Marlo's belief is confirmed!



She also claimed that men were more likely to have downward-facing noses. Hmmm...I'd say suspicion confirmed!


Marlo also said that men were more likely to have weak chins than women. Unfortunately I don't have pictures that address this so for the time being I'll have to mark this one unconfirmed!
It's off-topic but I couldn't resist scanning a few extra pictures showing different kinds of male chin. Here (above and below) are both bold and weak examples.





Here's (above) a "Swingblade" chin.




Good Grief! I don't know what these eyes (above and below) are supposed to show but they certainly look psychopathic!



Sheeesh! If someone ever stares at you like this (above) turn the other way and run!



This book is terrific! It's even better than Everard's, though it wasn't intended for artists and isn't as comprehensive. It really demonstrates that there's another , more fun way to present human anatomy.









17 comments:

  1. So what's the book called?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, man! I'm at work! What if someone walks by my desk and catches me looking at pictures of naked noses? Sheesh, that's all I'd need!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:04 AM

    Those Nutty Germans! So what have they been up to since the 1920s?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Do you mean "Slingblade?"

    Also, men tend to have thinner lips and it seems women have that bigger upper eye lid too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The first and last pair of eyes are definately creepy. There's a theory that says the more white you can see around the iris, the more likely a person is to commmit a violent act. The idea is that stress causes the muscles above the eye to contract and the eyeball to roll up into the socket.

    Sort of off topic, but this reminds me of another theory. An acting teacher** told me that when we look at a person's face, we scan from the left to right. Consequently people tend to show how they want their personality to be perceived on the right side of their face (or the left from the viewer's perspective), and their real personality on the left side.

    So what you can do is take somebody's picture, get a piece of paper and cover one side of the face, then the other, and see what different feelings are aroused.

    Curiously, this seems to work very well with politicians and serial killers.

    Try these pictures, it's really neat!

    GEORGE
    JOHN
    AL
    TED
    CHUCKLES

    **The Great Ed HookS, lampooned by Eddie This Post

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nate: Fascinating, but maybe the muscles on one side are just more "dead" than the other and that's what accounts for the difference. thanks for the links!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous3:13 PM

    I am an animator, all I need to know is that girls have eyelashes.

    Reg Kehoe

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4:36 PM

    That one picture ("swingblade")just looks like an underbite.

    One reason men look like they have sloping foreheads compared to women (in general) is because men have a thicker orbital bone than women.

    It also has a lot to do with (and depends on)the natural shape of the face....

    A "diamond" face is wider at the cheekbones than at the forehead.

    A "round" face is also wider at the cheekbones but has a curved chin and brow.

    A "square" face is about as wide at the cheeks as it is long.

    A "rectangular" face square jawed and has an angular forehead.

    An "oblong" face has the same proportions as the rectangular face, but the chin and brow are curved and rounded, not angular.

    A "triangle" shaped face has a wide brow, slightly narrower cheekbones, and a narrow chin.

    Then we have the "oval" shaped face which is evenly proportioned.

    Everyone fits into one of these categories....men and women. You could easily make a pictorial logic-frame representing each type.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous4:53 PM

    Sort of off topic, but this reminds me of another theory. An acting teacher** told me that when we look at a person's face, we scan from the left to right. Consequently people tend to show how they want their personality to be perceived on the right side of their face (or the left from the viewer's perspective), and their real personality on the left side.

    That just has to do with the right side of your brain controlling the left side of your body...and the left side of your brain controlling the right side of your body.

    The left side of brain is reasoning side. The right side of brain is the emotional/artistic side.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Brian: Holy Cow! You're really knowledgable about this stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  11. i think they taught me all tha tin my 10s grade art class. way behind the curve eddie.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Somebody needs to make a book called "Fun Anatomy". It's really a lot more of a blast than any book's willing to admit.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous9:47 PM

    You just happened to touch on some areas I've always been interested in, Eddie. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous3:36 PM

    High testosterone in men produces prominent brow ridges more lateral growth of cheeks, jaw & chin & a generally longer lower face. A receding jaw indicates that the subject is a cartoonist. Someone needs to broaden her social circle.

    Guys also have longer torsos in relation to their legs.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Pappy: Longer torsos!? Yeah, that sounds right.

    ReplyDelete
  16. hey cool!

    i never said men are more likely to have weak chins, but dorks and cartoonists are!

    the brow and genitals are the main differences! haha thanks eddie!!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Marlo: Glad you liked it! Sorry the answer took 6 months!

    Benjamin: I can't remember where I put the book! I'll post the name when I find it!

    ReplyDelete