I know I shouldn't be surprised, but honestly I am. Even after all these years of anti-trafficking/anti-exploitation advocacy I am sometimes surprised that fellow human beings are so lacking in decency, in common sense, and yes, even morality, that they invent things like this revolting game targeting young girls while intentionally embedding hypersexuality and racist stereotypes; and then have the audacity to call it all fun and harmless!
Just in case you are drawn into Chris Evans' "we're just letting kids make choices" hogwash, remember that pre-teen girls' minds are not fully developed. They do not have the cognitive capacity to analyze all that's going on in "the game." It is wrong to send such strong messages to children and then expect them to realize it's supposedly "satire."
Abolition!
Lisa
http://www.my-minx.com/
http://jezebel.com/5457525/my-minx-enraging-parents-lampooning-celebrity-culture http://tildabattersby.livejournal.com/12005.html
My Minx adopt an "orphan accessory" game - poking fun or just offensive? Posted by [info]tildabattersby *
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 at 04:50 pm
A new online game aimed at pre-teen girls encourages players to buy orphans as “virtual fashion accessories”, administer contraceptives, and select from a range of character statuses including “preggers”, “horny” and “looking for rumpy pumpy”.The My Minx game, developed by British firm Blighty Arts, requires players to choose highly sexualised features for their “minx” alter egos (including breast and waist size) and clothe them in revealing outfits and lingerie.
Once a “minx” has been created players can choose their “orphan accessories” from a virtual orphanage populated by children based on so-called “celebrity orphans” including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children Pax, Maddox and Zahara.
The orphans’ characteristics are racially stereotyped: Cambodian Maddox is said to be fan of eating cockroaches while Ethiopian Zahara’s favourite food is “guinea pig”; and Monglian Jamiyan, modelled on Ewan McGregor’s daughter, apparently enjoys eating rats.
Players can go binge drinking, clubbing, pull men and then decide whether or not to take the morning after pill – and with players as young as seven-years old it is understandable that parent groups including Parentkind have expressed disapproval.
Blighty Arts claims on its website to “create artistic well researched and engaging on-line entertainment [with] a guiding set of principles that drive our business and influence our actions.”
The company’s director Chris Evans told The Telegraph: "It is nonsense to suggest our game is a bad influence on young …We should let them grow up making their own decisions about the games they play. The game teaches children about the world while poking fun at celebrity adoptions.”
Once a “minx” has been created players can choose their “orphan accessories” from a virtual orphanage populated by children based on so-called “celebrity orphans” including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children Pax, Maddox and Zahara.
The orphans’ characteristics are racially stereotyped: Cambodian Maddox is said to be fan of eating cockroaches while Ethiopian Zahara’s favourite food is “guinea pig”; and Monglian Jamiyan, modelled on Ewan McGregor’s daughter, apparently enjoys eating rats.
Players can go binge drinking, clubbing, pull men and then decide whether or not to take the morning after pill – and with players as young as seven-years old it is understandable that parent groups including Parentkind have expressed disapproval.
Blighty Arts claims on its website to “create artistic well researched and engaging on-line entertainment [with] a guiding set of principles that drive our business and influence our actions.”
The company’s director Chris Evans told The Telegraph: "It is nonsense to suggest our game is a bad influence on young …We should let them grow up making their own decisions about the games they play. The game teaches children about the world while poking fun at celebrity adoptions.”
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