Earlier: New Game Encourages Young Girls To Embrace Their Inner "Bimbo"

Parents are understandably up in arms over the game, which, after a launch last month, has, at the time of this writing, 204,714 "registered Bimbos." Bill Hibbard, a member of the parents' rights group ParentKind, tells the Guardian, "It is one thing if a child recognises it as a silly and stupid game. 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."

Miss Bimbo, at first glance, is free for registrants, but when players run out of virtual bimbo money, they are given the option to buy Bimbo text messages which cost £1.50 ($2.99) per message and give players extra dollars to spend on their Bimbos. A French man has already sued Miss Bimbo's Gallic sister site after his daughter ran up a text message bill of over £100 ($199).

As for the creators of Miss Bimbo, well, the game's 23-year-old creator Nicolas Jacquart tells the Times of London, "The game is structured in such a way that it simply mirrors real life in a tongue-in-cheek way. It is not a bad influence for young children. They learn to take care of their bimbos." He continues: "The missions and goals for the bimbos are morally sound and teach children about the real world. 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.The breast operations are just one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to have them." Maybe we should teach Jacquart a lesson through the patented Jezebel justice system. Perhaps some time cleaning bed pans on an eating disorder ward would do the trick?

Alarm As Dolls Get Breast Implants In 'Miss Bimbo' Game [CNN]
Internet Miss Bimbo Game For Girls Attacked By Parents [Guardian]
Miss Bimbo Website Promotes Extreme Diets And Surgery To 9-Year-Olds [Times of London]

The researchers say that such behavior is influenced by rap videos and that the "glamorized depictions of alcohol use often portrayed in conjunction with sexual imagery and portrayals of drug use are often depicted as normal." Well, for some of us, it is. Especially when you're a teenager interested in experimentation. I don't necessarily believe such behavior — which the researchers labeled as "risky" — is always so bad. The study concluded that there is a "need for greater awareness and education about the risks associated with this media exposure. Maybe people need to stop worrying about sheltering girls and instead focus on teaching boys to start respecting them.

Sexy Rap Videos Suspected To Be Damaging To Young Girls [Reuters, via Feministing]

I have an almost 10 year old who has been eyeing those push-up bras. Somehow the matching bra/undie and panties set will no longer do in her mind. I have caught her in the mirror squeezing her "buds" together commenting that they are growing. We are definitely in scary territory.

Yoffe responds:

Every little girl who is developing is going to have excited/scared/thrilled reactions to what's happening. My objection is when the stores say, "Here's a push-up wonderbra for those breast buds of yours!

What is the right age to let my daughter start wearing thongs? She wants them now and she's 13. Does anyone else have this problem?

Why would a 13 year old want a thong? Does she want it to be seen in her low-rise jeans? I don't know what the right age for thongs is, but I'd say 13 isn't it.

Lastly, there was this:

u r such a deiscarise [ed: disgrace?] to girls maybe some girls like push up bras and want to grow up faster so y dont u get a life

Another mother who buys this stuff for her daughter.

Dresed Down [Slate]
Earlier: Young Girls Today: Tramps In Training?

The dialogue is mostly from moms who identify with Yoffe's plaint, saying that these days, young girls look like "tramps in training." But other posters suggest that the moms need to relax. Says one poster, "For what it's worth, I am anecdotal evidence that these shopping choices do not lead to tweenhood delinquency, promiscuity, and death."

It's a tough call. We don't have kids, but we did go to school in the 80s — in miniskirts so short we joked that they were belts; leopard print dresses that were actually vintage slips, and, uh, spandex shorts. And we turned out okay! (It helped that we were shopping with a Mom who'd worn many a micro-mini in her day.) Then again, kiddie thongs and Baby Phat duds hadn't been invented yet. Still, the other day we saw a saucy, lollipop-sucking teenager in a tiny skirt and a skin-tight red "You Know You Wish You Could Date Me" T-shirt, and we thought to ourselves, Hell yeah! Wear that crap now, while you can.

T.I.T. Wear [Slate]
Related: Lolita's Closet [Slate]

"We're pushing children into being sexual beings much younger than they are ready," she said. "I find it sickening to see a 12-year-old girl with a pouty look on her face advertising sexy clothing. We're talking about children at the age of nine worrying whether they look sexy or not, and bras being targeted at four- to six-year-olds."

Claire Quirk, a 15-year-old model (pictured) was dropped from ads promoting Melbourne Fashion Week after the city council decided she was too young. What do you think they'd do if they found out about Bethany Conheeny or Sasha Bennington?
Push To Outlaw Sexy Child Ads [Sydney Morning Herald]
Earlier: Baby Babe: Jordan Spawns A CopyKitten
Little Lolitas: The UK's Narcissistic Pre-Teens

Meet The Pre-Teen Beauty Addicts [DailyMail]
Earlier: Baby Babe: Jordan Spawns A CopyKitten

• POINT Jesus Christ: Is nothing sacred anymore? Call me old-fashioned (or just the spawn of a '70s-era women's libber), but the years between 1st and 4rd grades are a time when little girls should be running around, skinning their knees and learning swear words; after all, they've got an entire lifetime in which to learn to be sex objects! But seriously, for those who believe that dolls are just child's play with negligible effects on ideals of beauty and self-worth, think again. This shit is so depressing it makes me never want to have kids.
• COUNTERPOINT As a reporter who used to have to cover Mattel's unending struggle with what is known in the toy industry as "age compression" — in layman's terms, the reason girls' dolls look like anorexic, coke-addicted whores — I just see this as a pathetic attempt to make the Barbie brand relevant in the eyes of the Bratz demographic, which by six years old is already probably giving blow jobs anyway. But as a former kid, my thoughts are: Makeup is really, really cool. I mean, It makes you look sooooooo much prettier!

• Porn is everywhere, and, not surprisingly, it's largely to blame for the rise in female exhibitionism and self-objectification (think MySpace, celebrity vagina shots, Paris Hilton). [CNN]
  
• Black women with breast cancer have much lower survival rates than white women with the disease. [USAToday]
  
• Fathers who take off their shirts before holding their babies apparently bond with them more. What's next, nursing? [Telegraph]
  
• The terms "size zero" and "muffin top" have officially entered the lexicon. [Telegraph]
  
• Palestinian, female TV anchors are being threatened with death unless they cover up while on camera. [Telegraph]
  
• MeMe Roth, who famously called American Idol winner Jordin Sparks fat, is getting death threats now. [MSNBC]

Unemployment Check: This Video Contains All The Reasons Why Our Society Is Doomed [BestWeekEver]