Scientists from the Forensic Reconstruction Division at the College of the Albemarle’s Manteo campus have rocked the trucking world with research published in Science Today about the popular “Mudflap Girl.” The Mudflap Girl has been a de rigueur adornment for commercial drivers and rednecks with lift kits since her introduction in the 1970’s by Bill Zenda in Long Beach, California. For decades, the hourglass silhouette of the buxom lady has been the metric by which all silhouette women have been judged. If the COA scientists’ work withstands rigorous peer review, that may all change. Lead researcher Dr. Leta Leroe explains:
“We used forensic reconstruction and a specially modified MRI to detect subtle shading in the original artwork. The imaging gave us perspective lines invisible to the human eye along the torso and left arm.”
These lines revealed to the team that the female model posing for the silhouette was, in fact, posing with her left hand on her hip. The shape, in relief, gave the impression of a gravity-defying, well-endowed woman in a mood of deep reflection.
“I had seen this woman on the back of mudflaps for decades,” said Dr. Leroe. “And I was always puzzled by the fact that she clearly had two legs, two feet, but only one arm and this grotesquely disproportional thorax to an otherwise pleasantly proportioned physique. Now we know.”
Not everyone is happy with the COA team’s research results. Ben Alexander of Southern Shores, the owner of a 1999 jacked up Ford F150 was particularly enraged. His truck has mudflaps featuring Mudflap Girl on the front, rear and spare tires.
“I’ve spent years keeping my girls clean, literally hours every day wiping every inch of them down until they gleam. Now I’ve never actually touched a real woman, but I think I can tell a boob from an elbow and them’s no elbows!”