The name itself, says it all – Miss Bimbo. Miss Bimbo is an online fashion game aimed at girls aged from 9 to 16 years old. The Internet game encourages young girls to embrace plastic surgery and extreme dieting. The online game has been strongly criticised by healthcare professionals, parental groups, and an organisation that represents people suffering from anorexia and bulimia because the website is seen to be delivering mix messages to young girls that are easily influenced.
Miss Bimbo was established by a French entrepreneur, Nicholas Jacquart. The game allows girls to create their “bimbo” and compete among other “bimbos” to be “the coolest, richest and most famous bimbo in the world”. Although the game has been condemned by many, Jacquart admits that the game is made to teach children about the real world and it is simply just for fun.
Link to theory: Graphics must bridge cultural boundaries
In an Asian culture, Miss Bimbo would be considered as a controversial issue because the imagery used are raunchy. According to Shriver (1997, p. 373), “visual messages need to be revised depending on the local culture”. It is obvious that Miss Bimbo is created in a Western context and that it would not be acceptable in an Asian custom.
Shriver (1997) adds that readers may form different interpretation or meaning about a document that might be in contrast to the meaning document designer’s hope for. In relation to the online game, Miss Bimbo, Nicholas Jacquart may find the game in sheer of fun, however others may think otherwise. Specifically, parents may find this website influential to young teen girls because it instils the idea of a “perfect” girl.
My opinion
The idea of establishing a game whereby girls compete to outdo each other in terms of physical appearance is just wrong. Though, the game is made for the sake of virtual entertainment, teenage girls that are aged between 9 to 16 years old are easily swayed by such things. Shriver (2007, p. 367) says that the interpretations of documents are through “knowledge, experience, feelings and social awareness”. When girls play the game they might interpret it the wrong way and tend to feel insecure about themselves. Hence, I feel that the game structure should be changed to suit other culture differences.
Additional Reading
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States in 1999 did a survey on girls’ struggling with body appearance. Finding shows that “19% of participants described concerns about "image and appearance," sometimes related to media ideals, as the most important issue/struggle facing girls, 7% named low self-esteem, and 5% named concerns about weight and staying thin”.
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States 1999, ‘Report Examines Girls' Struggles With Sexuality, Peer Pressure, and Body Image’, TheBody.com, viewed on 10 November 2008, http://www.thebody.com/content/art2349.html
Schriver, K.A. 1997, Chapter 6 in Dynamics in document design.
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