Games get a hard enough time being taken seriously without rubbish like this being produced. It’s a ‘virtual fashion game’ aimed at 9-14 year old girls in which the aim is to “become the hottest, coolest most famous bimbo ever”. An ambition indeed. This is what The Guardian has to say about it.
Apparently this game is meant to be satirical, but I’m not sure how sophisticated my appreciation of postmodern irony was at nine years old. Aside from the fact that this game promotes negative female stereotypes and provides an endorsement of a superficial, image-obsessed, celebrity-is-paramount culture, surely it should be possible to develop a game for girls that isn’t about shopping, cooking, dressing up, dolls or ponies? And isn’t pink.
I wonder how many women were actually involved in developing this game?
Thanks to Katie for sending me these links.
