![]() ![]() In stark contrast to the fluffy "virtual pets" which became a fad on the internet a few years ago, the Bimbo's needs are not for food, shelter and exercise. ![]() She is a teenage mannequin, a "Bimbo" - complete with bunny-girl ears, pouting lips, blank expression and pneumatic breasts. The technology itself may be curse enough for many of today's families - including my own, in which battles with my eight-year-old son over how much time he spends on the computer are now an almost daily event.īut in the case of Miss Bimbo, there is an added toxic twist in the sheer, crashing vacuity of the character the nation's daughtersĪre being encouraged to nurture. The more you play, the higher you climb up a ladder of skills.Īcademic research suggests that it's this setting of simple tasks that hooks in young minds, and accounts for the fact that once children are engrossed in a particular computer game, they never want to quit. The girl who chooses to play on this website is invited to adopt a character and provide for her care by performing online tasks to earn "virtual" money to spend on her charge. Like so many virtual worlds designed to draw in the young, Miss Bimbo calls on the child's instinct to nurture. ![]() With a cursory glance at the rules of the "game", parents of today's computer-obsessed youngsters will quickly understand its insidious appeal. Since its UK launch a month ago, the website has attracted more than 200,000 visitors. Miss Bimbo is an online game designed for girls as young as nine, where players are invited to meet the demands of a voracious, virtual teenager whose needs include binge eating and fasting - and plastic surgery. No wonder, then, that the advent of a "Miss Bimbo" website has provoked such an outpouring of parental outrage and anxiety. In times when young men might be called upon to go to war and women were the guardians of hearth and home, we gave our sons tin soldiers, and our daughters baby dolls. It matters, too, because the games and toys we hand our children are important expressions of our collective values and expectations. Child's play? The Miss Bimbo website is causing controvers圜hild's play matters because it is a rehearsal for adult life. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |