From Barbie to Bimbo? A popular Web site allows girls to create and take care of doll-like characters in a virtual world. Critics argue the game is sending a bad message to girls in the real world.
Nicholas Jacquart has created a website for young girls that is hugely successful in his native France, and is now causing outrage in Britain.
Nicholas Jacquart demonstrated his website for a reporter, "This is your bimbo." "Yeah this is my bimbo."
It's called "Miss Bimbo" and in it players get their own female character to look after. Nicholas Jacquart says "I can put a t-shirt like this one. Isn't it beautiful?"
Dressing,feeding, keeping her happy are the innocent basics of the game. But to win you must do so much more. You're encouraged to choose sexy lingerie. Keep her "waif" thin, with diet pills if necessary. Make her more attractive, even with cosmetic surgery. And find a rich boyfriend to look after her.
You can also play a game called French Kiss where your lips must catch as many
boys in a nightclub as possible. This site has more than a million members in France. 200,000 in Britain. It's just good fun says it's creator.
Nicholas Jacquart says "What is the goal of the game. What are the bimbos trying to do?" "To be the most famous bimbo with the most bimbo attitude."
But others describe it as frightening and dangerous.
Dr Linda Papadopoulosm, a Psychologist, says "The message is clear and simple. A girl's value is in her looks and if you're not happy with it then fix the way you look and that's the only way you'll be happy."
Eating Disorder Expert, Dr Dee Dawson, says "It tells you that a balanced diet is a plate of vegetables which is clearly nonsense and it tells you that cereal bars make you fat. Those are not messages that we should be giving to young children."
And then there's the name.
Nicholas Jacquart was asked "How would you feel if somone called your little sister a bimbo?" "Ha ha ha. I wouldn't like." "No No I don't like. Of course no one want to be a bimbo. But it's not real life. It's a game. So why not be a bimbo on a game."
Despite some similarities in appearance Jacquart says Miss Bimbo is not modelled on any one celebrity.
Glamour Model, Taylor Rae, says "At the beginning of December I had an operation, breast enlargement, to pursue the career." Glamour model Taylor Rae lives the "Miss Bimbo" lifestyle. She lives off her looks and she's proud of it.
Rae doesn't object to the web site but believes young girls are increasingly TOO worried about their appearance.
Rae says "It can be a bad thing because they start to get addicted to it." This website has triggered a loud public debate in Britain. And the people who run Miss Bimbo admit the numbers using the site here have soared because of that debate.
