Although the blog is “Fitness and Wellness in America,” I’m actually heading across the pond for the inspiration for my first post. No, the post’s title isn’t referring to anyone in particular, but a British website that features a self-described fashion game titled “Miss Bimbo.” The game allows users to live the bimbo life by finding a “cool place to live,” buying the latest fashion, getting a job, becoming a socialite, dating “hotties,” and using ”meds or plastic surgery” to become the bimbo queen. Apparently users can even control their bimbo’s eating habits so that you can go for the waif look if that’s what it takes to win.
I came across this site via CNN, and the disturbing thing is that according to their story, Miss Bimbo is attracting young girls as the main users – no surprise, after looking at the site’s design and branding. Being a beliver in capitalism as I am, I think the site’s creators (two Englishmen) have done something creative to make money, and I give them credit for it. That’s their job. Now, parents of the world have yet another opportunity to step in and do their job. Personally, there’s no way I’d let my daughter get on that site, and if she did find her way on it, we’d be having a conversation about materialism, consumerism, body image, and self-worth – at least as much as I could get her to understand at whatever age she finds this site or similar messages on other media.
Issues such as eating disorders and over-exercising have roots in personal and familial factors, no doubt, but societal contributors can be just as influential, and this site just adds to the chorus of those who focus on things and aesthetics for happiness. This message is common enough in today’s modern societies that, sadly, hearing and seeing it isn’t particularly surprising anymore, but what bothers me about this site – although also not surprising – is the age of the target audience. The frequency of this message and the sheer variety of channels through which it’s conveyed makes parenting in the 21st century that much more difficult. I don’t expect to keep my kids in a bubble, nor do I expect companies and entrepreneurs to make my job as a parent easier – I simply note this website as yet another source of a familiar parental lament, that being that there are some conversations that seem to be necessary earlier and earlier in a child’s life. I wonder though how many parents, and adults in general, could benefit from someone sitting them down for the same conversation.
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