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26 Mar 2008
An online game aimed at young girls has sparked outrage among parents for encouraging children to have plastic surgery and take diet pills.
The Miss Bimbo game is aimed at nine to 16 year-olds and gives players a virtual avatar that competes against other players to "become the most famous, beautiful, sought after bimbo across the globe".
Players compete in beauty contests and send text messages to the site to earn currency in the game, which is then used to pay for lingerie, diet pills, breast enhancement and facelifts.
Groups working with vulnerable children have expressed serious misgivings about the game.
"This is as lethal as pro-anorexia websites," Dee Dawson, medical director at Rhodes Farm Clinic, which treats girls aged from eight to 18 who suffer eating disorders, told The Times.
"A lot of children will get caught up with the extremely damaging and appalling messages."
Nearly 250,000 players have registered on the Miss Bimbo site in the UK, and 1.2 million youngsters play the game in France where it originated.
"I would not want my daughter playing a game like this," said one concerned parent. "It sends out all the wrong messages about what it takes to get ahead. I would rather my daughter learned that brains are more important than looks."
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Do you agree?
challenge of another site
I suggest that you direct your children to sites like www.runwayvixens.com where dressing up dolls is fun without this extremes. I personally signed as a member just to ensure thta it was safe for my children and now I have more fun there than they do. There are a lot of parenst on there that enjoy the game with their children. I personally enjoy being able to share an experience with my daughters.
Posted by: Marea 24 Nov 2008
yok
sevgili miss bimbo nolur beni kabul et
Posted by: ilayda 11 Jun 2008
this is fabulous!!
i totally understand why the producers have created this. it helps people realise their responsibilities and help them look after a human!
Posted by: sophie ray 04 Jun 2008
go get a life people
i am completely with this person named twitchitt u people should act like parents and control your kids actions and i love this game all you frigging prople who think this game is bad they can go get a life bacause people like me dont care we love this game and we will keep on playing it.on ur faces you fun suckers.and jasmine wake up no one can rape you through a computer.u idiot
Posted by: mashal 29 Mar 2008
Your Over Reacting
My mum said I can go on it as long as I dont turn out like the person I made up. Im a goth in real life, I only joined to have a laugh and mess around. By putting on the news youve just made it popular I joined because of these reports and I found them funny
Posted by: Sophi 28 Mar 2008
15 Years Old
I'm 15 and I've got an account and I don't find it the slightest influencing. Personally, I find it irritating that peopleare more concerned about Penny's spelling then the fact she's on it. I think it says more about the people are starving themselves then it does about the game.
Posted by: Jasmine 28 Mar 2008
all the media are doing are giving the site more publicity
i think i read somewhere the size had 200,00 members well when i joined on the day it hit the news it was 228,00 so theres prove already that the media are promoting it. i am 18 years old and joined to see what the fuss is. i think it has been blown out of proportion i do see this as a bit of fun. it is very american, boob jobs and lipo arent such a big deal in the uk where as americans are 'barbie dolls'. i dont think the game would case children to be skinny but if parents do think the game is harmful they should be watching what they children are doing. the game does actually make you sent a email to you parents asking if you can join. all people are ranting on about is the boob jobs and lip. they dont mention the lifeskills gained from this game i.e getting a job based on your I.Q i.e teaching children the brainer you are the better job you get. No one mentions the fact that you have to play the likes of soduko to get higher i.q. i do think the game is abit of fun.
Posted by: gemma M age 18 - 28 Mar 2008
parents
if girls are supervise so they can make a proper game out of it it should be okay. other wise girls are being made to grow up too guickly
Posted by: Jeanette 27 Mar 2008
Discracefull
I may be thin, but this game sends out the worst message you possibly send! This will incourage many a child to model theirselfs into their virtual players, which will end with damaging results.
Posted by: Zara 27 Mar 2008
Ridiculous
You people are utterly ridiculous. This game is not aimed towards young children. If you don't want your children playing a game like Miss Bimbo, then be a proper bloody parent and control what your child does on the computer. Block the site. It's not that hard. This site is a total parody, and is fun for those of us that have a SENSE OF HUMOR. Get a life people... find something better to do with your time than write complaint letters all day long. The site requires you to feed your doll, so that it won't get anorexia and die. The ideal body weight is over 125 lbs, with a 5'6" height. Are you telling me that's anorexic?? I happen to be 112 lbs and 5'6", and I eat at least 3 meals a day plus snacks, have always had this body type, and consider myself very healthy. Grow some brains people. I guess in this day and age, ideal body weight for a woman of 5'6" is considered the obese McDonalds look now, isn't it?! You allow your children to idolize overweight stars like Raven Simone and Queen Latifah, and discourage them from understanding what a HEALTHY WEIGHT is. Go eat seven Big Macs and write some more complaint letters, you fools.
Posted by: twitchitt 27 Mar 2008
You People
AND ONE MORE THING. You run around crying about these few horrible inappropriate sites that little girls are being exposed to... instead of just BLOCKING THE SITE under parental controls... yet completely ignore the millions and MILLIONS of porno sites your little boys are visiting on a regular basis, that you don't even know about. GET SOME PERSPECTIVE PEOPLE. And to whomever said MissBimbo was created by some "pervert" is completely wrong, it is run by a team of both men and women, and the artist who creates the dolls and clothing is a woman. But nice try anyway.
Posted by: twitchitt 27 Mar 2008
Appauling
I am 12 and not extremely skinny. Whatever this site thinks about itself, they are at the end of the day just sick and perverted.Any loonatic could go on there and get a young girls email. pretend to be a yound boy. Arange to meet up and then rape them. This is socity today.
Posted by: Jasmine 27 Mar 2008
miss bimbo rocks
i have been on this website and to be honest dont know what all the fuss is about its just girls having fun , i have four children and would be more than happy with my daughter playing this game , at least i know where she is ! i mean really what would you rather these girls do drug deal on the streets ! ANOREXIA and BULIMIA are diseases ! last i heard so was cancer and you dont get that from a website or magazine . just one more point to make when my parents said to me as a teenager DONT do this or DONT do that the first thing i did was rebel , perhaps some parents should chill out , technology is not a bad thing TRY IT , go on the website its FUN !
Posted by: BOBBY CRAWFORD 27 Mar 2008
There are options
I realize it isn?t in good form to ?advertise? your site in comments you leave, but in this case I feel justified ? apologies all around BUT? There are options to Miss Bimbo. There are great, age-appropriate sites for preteen girls. Check out beaconstreetgirls.com This is positive media with strong role models for preteen girls. Girls post (safely, all monitored) comments on things like: Are we too old for Halloween? What?s the appropriate age for wearing makeup? They discuss friendship and social issues, even cyber-bullying and Internet gossip. Yes, the site has fashion content and dress-up games, puzzles and quizzes, but it is all stuff that any reasonable parent is going to be OK with. Meanwhile, I have been seeing the Miss Bimbo story everywhere ? sad that it is so hard to get that same visibility for a site that does girls some good.
Posted by: Bobbie 26 Mar 2008
WHAT
to be honest with you i think you are al taking this to far i am 16 and i joined the game the other day it just abit of fun it dosent mean anything and the game is so slow to load any way you dont have chance to get into it. i think you are all jelouse you didnt have anything like this in your own time.
Posted by: penny 26 Mar 2008
Outrage
I think this is truly appalling. I dont know how anyone can take a subject this serious and turn into a game. It really does send out the wrong messages in a world where everyone is worried about looks and being the "most pretty".
Posted by: Andrew Jennings 26 Mar 2008
Well done
Don't you reporters realise all this 'outrage' is just giving this website more publicity than ever?
Posted by: Chris Greenwood 26 Mar 2008
Miss Bimbo
I think Penny aged 16 should stop playing this game and concentrate on her spelling and grammar which is appauling for her age.
Posted by: shelly 26 Mar 2008
miss bimbo is appawling
i am just 11 years old and i think the idea of making children go to any and every lengths to be the skinniest,most beautiul and popular is SICK!!!!!!!! i am 6.5 stone(91lbs)and one of the most: skinny girls in my class the smartest girl in my class and THE most popular at my school and that's the way i like it!!
Posted by: rebecca smyth 26 Mar 2008
Whats the problem?
People this age play on runescape and club penguin and aren't tempted to kill dragons and chickens, waddle like penguins or make chocolate pizzas
Posted by: jess jef 26 Mar 2008
wow
this is crazy. You know the person that invented this is some pervert with absolutely nothing better to do than try and talk to young girls...
Posted by: dsaf 26 Mar 2008
16 year old player
All I can say to this 16 year old player is that you need to work more on your education than worrying about these games. Your spelling leaves much to be desired and the fact is no one is worried about things from the past they are worried about young childrens health.
Posted by: fatherof7 26 Mar 2008
Giggle
This is funny. But what the hell isn't this what we wanted in American society? We started the BOOB jobs and the Lipo suction and all the glamour and glitz to be prettier or slimmer or healthier.
Posted by: No Name 26 Mar 2008
Oh Dear.
This is the state of Britain today. What a mess.
Posted by: Jonobl 26 Mar 2008
This is stupid
Ok, first off, if parents are so concerned about their young children being affected by this website then pay more attention to what your child is doing on the computer. Monitor what they do on the computer. Secondly, all this publicity is just making more people sigh up on the website, myself included. I am 21 and I don't see any real harm in this game. Again, if you feel it is affecting your children, pay attention to what they are doing. Don't allow the opportunity to get onto the website. You can block it on your internet or set restriction. All this crap is stupid! The more coverage this website gets, the more hits will follow. This is causing the game server to back up therefore making the people who have already been apart of this website angry. When will people learn that it's not the websites fault that your children are looking at it, It's your fault. You let kids get on the internet with little or no monitoring. This website is for people 18 and older. It says so on the homepage. You would know that if you actually watched what you children where looking at.
Posted by: Leigh Ann 26 Mar 2008