In response to this blog’s inaugural post, generally those defending Texas state Senator Wendy Davis have not tried to deny the radical improvement in her appearance as she aged over more than two decades — a transformation so extreme that even liberal commentators have suggested it might be the product of witchcraft.

For example, Tommy Christopher of liberal-leaning Mediaite, observes that Wendy Davis “has hottened herself up so much, the distractingly hot results have defied science,” yielding “impossible hotness.” Noted progressive commentator Amanda Marcotte, writing at Slate — well-positioned to comment on Davis, as she hails from Texas — admits that the “shocking photo evidence” on this blog shows Davis is a “charade.” Marcotte candidly speculates about “what kind of witchcraft” yielded these results. Reinforcing this “is she a witch?” theme, Katie McDonough writing at Salon not only asks whether Davis is “a witch who doesn’t age?,” but asks: “Did her witch magic contribute to her filibustering abilities, thus violating Texas Legislature rules?” (Commenter Lynn Lee Novak goes even further, exclaiming: “she must be the Devil in disguise!”)

Unable to deny the transformation undergone by Davis, her defenders have relied mainly on the assertion that there’s nothing unusual about a professional woman undergoing such a dramatic positive change in appearance despite two decades of aging.

According to Tommy Christopher of Mediaite, “every woman” now looks “hotter than her 1991 yearbook photo.” The Houston Chronicle largely concurs: “Pretty much everyone looked worse in the 90s, especially if they had bad 90s hair.” Commenter Derek insists Davis is “A NORMAL WOMAN JUST LIKE ANY OTHER.” Commenter Allen adds: “a LOT of women look better as they age. You’ve never been to a reunion and seen how all the beauty queens went sharply downhill while many of the plain looking girls are now hotties?” For example, commenter Suzi Bernert: ” I look better than my high school picture now at 61 years old and have not done a thing other than change my hairstyle.”

Writers on well-respected websites who have reviewed this blog have lauded its methodical approach. For example, the Austin Chronicle acknowledges our “journalist acumen” and “carefully vetted research,” and the Houston Chronicle praises our “very scientific research.”

As it happens, the frequent assertions that there’s nothing unusual about the radical transformation undergone by Senator Davis present what we, in the realm of science, call a “falsifiable hypothesis.” If it is indeed common for normal professional women to morph themselves into fake blonde “Human Barbie Dolls,” then a scientific survey of the women who graduated with Senator Wendy Davis in the Harvard Law School class of 1993 should turn up numerous examples of other “Human Barbie Dolls.”

The scientific analysis involved requires only that one compare the photos of these women in the 1993 yearbook to photos of these women available on the internet today.

Over the last few days, the team of bloggers behind “The Real Wendy Davis” has gone through this comparison process for all 151 female graduates of the Harvard Law School class of 1993 whose photos were included in the yearbook (pages 82-114). We can therefore state with confidence that Senator Davis is the only member of her class who has taken such radical steps to change her appearance.

Normal professional women, as illustrated by the vast majority of yearbook photos, maintain basically the same appearance, with the principal changes consistent with the normal aging process. A small minority of the women have become markedly less attractive with age (as is equally true of a small minority of the men; this blog does not single out any particular gender for special scrutiny). No one became substantially more attractive in the two decades following graduation — that is, no one besides Senator Davis.

Below are six examples of the vast majority of Senator Davis’s classmates, depicting normal aging among Senator Davis’s contemporaries. We have omitted their names, to ensure this post does not turn up in searches for information about them (we certainly do not want them negatively affected by being linked to Senator Davis; henceforth comments will be moderated, to ensure no comments naming any of them can appear). Click on any photo for a larger image.

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There is just one female member of the class of 1993 who somehow morphed into what at least some may consider a fake blonde “Human Barbie Doll”:

SENATOR WENDY DAVIS

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We’ve laid out our evidence. If we somehow made an error in our scientific survey, given the tens of thousands of people who’ve been reading this blog we’re confident someone can and will point to at least one law school classmate of Senator Davis’s who has undergone a similar transformation. If no such evidence is forthcoming, then this blog will enjoy the rare distinction of having finally settled the point under discussion!

Update: For another benchmark illustrating normal aging over two decades, consult these photos of Elle Macpherson (h/t the ageless Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit)).