Parent groups in the UK have condemned a new Internet game in which girls as young as nine are encouraged to "buy" their virtual dolls breast operations and facelifts.
The aim of the Miss Bimbo beauty contest game, which was launched in Britain last month, is to become the "hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo in the whole world," and contestants who compete against each other are told to "stop at nothing," even "meds or plastic surgery," to ensure their dolls win.
Children are given a naked virtual character to look after. They compete against other players to earn "bimbo" dollars so they can dress her in sexy outfits and take her clubbing. They are given missions, including securing plastic surgery at the game's clinic to give their dolls bigger breasts, and they have to keep her at her target weight with diet pills.
Although it is free to play, when the contestants run out of virtual cash they have to send text messages costing ?1.50 (US$3) each or use PayPal to top up their accounts.
Bill Hibberd, of parents' rights group Parentkind, said the game sends a dangerous message to young girls.
"It is one thing if a child recognizes it as a silly and stupid game," he said. "But the danger is that a nine-year-old fails to appreciate the irony and sees the bimbo as a cool role model. Then the game becomes a hazard and a menace."
"Children's innocence should be protected as far as possible. It depends on the background and mindset of the child, but the danger is that after playing the game some will then aspire to have breast operations and take diet pills," Hibberd said.
He added that the game also posed a financial danger for parents if they did not keep an eye on the text messages that were sent.
In France, where Miss Bimbo's sister Web site was condemned by dietitians and parents when it began last year, one parent threatened the creators with legal action after his daughter ran up a ?100 mobile bill sending text messages without his knowledge.
The British version already has nearly 200,000 players, most of whom are girls aged between nine and 16. There are 1.2 million players in France.
One parent said the Web site's creators were irresponsible. Nick Williams, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, said he was appalled when he saw his daughters Katie, nine, and Sarah, 14, playing the game.
"I noticed them looking at possible breast operations and facelifts for their bimbos at the game's plastic surgery clinic," said Williams, a 42-year-old accountant.
"Katie is far too young for that kind of thing and it is irresponsible of the site's creators to be leading young girls astray. They are easily influenced at that age as to what is cool," he said.
The creators of Miss Bimbo insist it is "harmless fun."
"It is not a bad influence for young children. They learn to take care of their bimbos. The missions and goals are morally sound and teach children about the real world," said Nicolas Jacquart, the 23-year-old Web designer from Tooting, south London who created the site.
"If they eat too much chocolate in the game, it is bad for their bimbos' bodies and their happiness levels compared to if they eat fruit and vegetables, which reinforces positive healthy eating messages," he said.
"If they are having problems with boyfriends or at work, the bimbos can talk through them with a psychiatrist," Jacquart said.
"The breast operations are just one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to have them, just reflecting real life," he said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats