The absurdity of the Body Mass Index

Kate Harding — “a Chicago-based writer, editor, crazy dog person, humorless feminist, aspiring yoga teacher, recovering grad student, and blonde,” according to her blog — has ingeniously skewered the standards imposed by the Body Mass Index (BMI). What she has done is to post to Flickr a slideshow showcasing women (well mostly, anyway, there's a few men as well as a cat up there) of all sizes. Atop these photos she simply categorizes them according to the index’s calculator. The results are maddening and staggering. Have a look.

                 Laurie is "overweight."