Current mood:	Obsessed
Entry tags:	at least they're not reading twilight, games, hair (not the musical), i haz a hitler, let's discuss our hair care regimens, surprisingly we are not oversharing

New management takes over fashion game, pulls death spiral.
Some background first: MissBimbo is, to quote the website "a virtual dress-up game for fashion girls". It's been around since 2007, and is a spin-off of a french website. It got some media attention when it first opened, because some of the content was deemed inappropraite for young girls - in order to pass level 12, your bimbo has to get a facelift as well as a boob job. If you google "Miss Bimbo, a lot of articles come up on the first page about it. For the record, even though it seems to be aimed as tween girls, a lot of the active users are older (I don't want to say the majority because I don't have actual data on that, but in my experience it's pretty close).

So, around mid-September, MissBimbo came under new management. Kind of. As far as I can tell, two of the original founding member split off and started their own company and decided to take the website in a new direction. From the September 23rd most post:

Miss Bimbo was always an anti establishment, non politically correct entity.

So we are going to cherish our roots and create a non conformist fun place to hang out for people who think Barbie, Stardoll and Farmville are boring!

Miss Bimbo is seen as anti establishment so we are going to embrace it and stop worrying about political correctness, media opinion and corporate nonsense. Long live the Bimbo

Basically, from the information given in that post and others, this means bumping the registration age up to 13 and a "a gradual shift to a more liberal and adult site and community in terms of themes, language and humour". That's okay, right? The mods promise that there will be new clothes and themes and fun things like that, and everyone's happy.

Until Thursday, when people log in and see this (NSFW - if you don't want to click it is... well, it's a cartoon doll with a giant comical black mess of pubic hair).

Previously, bimbos (when naked) looked basically like Barbies, no nipples, smooth crotch area. A few months ago, they added a bra and panties, which pissed people off. As can be expected, though, no one is happy about this.

The reactions generally fall under one of these categories:
1. Pubes are disgusting and unnatural and unhygenic
2. My daughter/niece/little sister watches me play this game and I don't want to explain to her what pubes are.
3. TMI this is how I maintain my pubes and everyone else should do it too.
4. At least give us the option of changing our pubes to match our hair color/wax it into the design of our choosing.
5. Why don't our bimbos have nipples/leg hair/arm hair/periods?

A few things point to this clearly being a troll move by the mods. First, when you save a picture through the site, the pubes disappear. Second, the reasons given for the change are completely over the top. I mean, removing the bush for only users with a Brazilian IP address? The reactions to this mainly seem to be people accusing the mods of racism and a lot of "WELL I AM FROM FRANCE/HUNGARY/CANADA/THE UK AND EVERYONE HERE INCLUDING MY GRANDMOTHER SHAVES THEIR VAGINAS". (And, of course, it wouldn't be a proper wank without someone threatening to sue.)

Also, there's already a rock that bush fashion contest (full disclosure, I entered this contest. The theme of my doll is "just returned from Burning Man" because I wanted an excuse to label the outfit as "burning bush") as well as a draw a bimbo bush one. It gives me hope that there are at least other people who think the whole situation is as hilarious as I do.

And now. a collection of random quotes that I thought represented this wank accurately, if you don't want to go through all 100 threads I linked.

I will not support something that I myself won't do. I do not believe that having your beaver hair stick out of your swim suit has anything to do with fashion. It has to do with a lack of respect for yourself and those around you. NO ONE ELSE wants to know how furry you are. This is NOT a good idea. If it is a must I would prefer to pay 5000 BD to have it surgically removed at the clinic then while I am there I can go see them psychologist about how much this affected me."

p.s. VERY IMPORTANT: do you want us to be more indipendent by fashion and men? well. maybe you could make our WORK salary more cospicuous than the money that our boys give us! this is chauvinism! not the pubic hair.. -.-

they are bimbos! they always look good...and always clean!!!!! men do not date beaver girls or any type of beaver! unless they suffer from a twisted mental disorder! these suposse to be about fashion not beavers!!!!

This is so ridiculous. I don't even look like this in real life because it's so gross, I shave it Hitler-style. And I surely don't want this feature in this site. Make it optional at least.

(I chose this one because the poster's name was CherylTweedy and it amused me to think of the real Cheryl Cole being on MB and talking about her pubes.)

1) Imposing a campaign participation on all of us is plain communist.
2) Membership ban based on gender is discrimination and cyber-bullying.

(I should mention that among other changes, the "Boys Lounge" section of the forums, which was a space for male players to congregate and talk was marked as closing soon [along with a few other sections] and it briefly had a message about male members being banned, but that was changed soon after.)

I think its unfair and if it offends ppl (which it does) then it should be stopped and i find the motto tasteless, offensive, and racist

On this new change here is my personal opinion. I am a Southern Free-Will Baptist Christian and to tell u the truth I believe u should have a choice but also God Has given this to u. I don't like it and I know my fiance doesn't. So that is why I wax all the time.

in my culture (america) we shave!!!!!!!!! i dont know ANY female who doesnt! my sisters, myself, my mom, hell my grandma! all of them do! its BECOME part of our culture! we dont all live in france where its full on natural.... not here.with this bush little boys will get on the site and.. well. i dont think i need to finish that sentence. its nasty.......

Step 1: A bush for the bimboStep 2: Bimbo bleeds for a week

Step 3: The himbos run away and want nothing to do with the bimbos

Pubes are really serious business, you guys! I have absolutely no idea where this whole situation is headed or if the admins are actually pulling a death spiral or if they are just the enormous trolls I think they are, but it has honestly been the highlight of my weekend, and I had to share. I am hoping for a new announcement tomorrow that either clears everything up OR causes even more drama. I will be happy either way.

UPDATE: The admin posted a new update today, saying that some Canadian users complained that the use of the term "beaver" was offensive, so as not to offend, they will be using the term "bush" now. Users for some reason continue to reply to him as if he is actually serious and not an enormous troll.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

	wankaholic 2011-10-16 07:31 pm UTC (link)
	Honestly, depending on how young the kid is, and how the line of questioning might go (what questions the kid might ask), I can kind of understand that. I dunno if explaining puberty to, say, a four-year-old is the best of ideas. I know parents that have done it, feeling like their kid was ready, but personally? With any of the kids that I know? I wouldn't. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ekaterinv 2011-10-16 10:13 pm UTC (link)
	Why not? It's their own body and they will be experiencing those changes. Would you hide from them the fact that they'll get taller? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

wankaholic
2011-10-16 11:20 pm UTC (link)

No, I wouldn't hide from them the fact that they'll get taller. It's more...I think of the kinds of questions that the kids I've had a hand in raising would ask, and how they would go on to broadcast their information to their peers, and I think, "this is something to tackle in a couple of years, not right now."

Your feeling on the subject may differ, obviously, it's just...personal choice? I don't see anything wrong with not explaining, is all I was trying to get at. :)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ekaterinv 2011-10-17 02:48 am UTC (link)
	If kids don't get the truth from their parents, they will get some weird made-up shit from their friends. Or they'll make up weird shit on their own. Also, hiding this from them teaches them that it's something to be ashamed of when it actually happens. Kids can understand "natural, not shameful, but private" perfectly fine so long as they're taught it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

wankaholic
2011-10-17 02:59 am UTC (link)

Fair enough. I don't exactly see it as "hiding" if you go, "It's something that happens to you when you're older, we'll talk about it more when you are a little older" and holding off until they're six or seven. I can see why you would feel that way, though, and, yeah, it's definitely problematic. I feel like there needs to be a balance struck between "telling them the whole truth, and nothing but" and "fuck no I'm not going to tell you about puberty til you're 13 and come to me crying because you fear you're going to bleed to death". Personally, I feel like that balance is struck by telling them, "It's something that happens as part of growing up. Everyone develops hair there" and leaving it at that—but, obviously, you may not feel the same way.

tl;dr, you make a really good point and I don't feel like hiding it is a good solution either, I just don't feel like full disclosure is necessarily a good thing.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	mareen 2011-10-18 06:40 pm UTC (link)
	I don't even know how one is supposed to hide the knowledge of pubic hair from their children. Only if those kids never ever NEVER see one of their parents naked. How does that even work? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	fern_on_fen 2011-10-20 11:15 pm UTC (link)
	I didn't see either of my parents naked until I was about 10. And then it was only my mother. I didn't see my dad naked until I was 20. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	erototoxin 2011-10-22 04:22 am UTC (link)
	I've never seen either of my parents naked. And for this, I am grateful (Reply to this)(Parent)

	rosehiptea 2011-10-16 10:59 pm UTC (link)
	Considering I had to explain how babies were born to my kid when she was four, I wouldn't mind talking about puberty at that age. I guess I wouldn't go around showing a four-year-old cartoon doll pubes on purpose, but asking about puberty doesn't seem like such a big deal. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

wankaholic
2011-10-16 11:23 pm UTC (link)

I don't think it's a big deal in general—healthy curiosity about your body and all that!—it's more, considering the kids that I've helped raise, and the questions they would have asked/how they would have broadcast what they learned to their peers, I don't know that I would have been comfortable discussing it with them candidly. Stating that it's something that happens "when you're growing up" and ending the discussion there would be fine; going into a detailed explanation of what all is going to happen and when to expect changes (including menstruation, breast development, etc)...I dunno that I'd feel completely comfortable introducing those topics at that young of an age, if that makes sense.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

rosehiptea
2011-10-17 12:07 am UTC (link)

I wouldn't answer questions the kid didn't ask... but not answering questions they did ask doesn't work IMO.

(For what it's worth I told my daughter she wasn't allowed to go tell her friends where babies come from. I said "people's parents like to be the ones to explain that to them," and as far as I know she understood that. Especially considering the religious community I lived in at the time, that was necessary.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	wankaholic 2011-10-17 12:49 am UTC (link)
	Ah, see, kids I know would have gone, "I can't tell my friends? Well, OK, I'll tell them, but I'll tell them it's supposed to be a secret!" ...which really never works. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sepiamagpie 2011-10-17 01:39 am UTC (link)
	I dunno. "Oh, it's hair you grow when you go through puberty. That's when you change from your larval state to being a pupae" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	wankaholic 2011-10-17 01:40 am UTC (link)
	Niiiiiiice! :) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	phosfate 2011-10-17 02:21 am UTC (link)
	If it's that upsetting, say, "She's wearing fur underwear. It's cold where she lives." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

wankaholic
2011-10-17 02:24 am UTC (link)

I don't find it upsetting so much as potentially awkward. I don't want my kid to go around broadcasting to all of their friends that OH MY GOD YOU GROW HAIR IN WEIRD PLACES TEEHEE. It's something that I've dealt with (on a different issue), and I feel like it varies from kid to kid. Some kids can be trusted not to blather about it to everyone—they get that it's not "private", per se, but that it's something that you don't talk about with everybody—and some can't. With the kids that can't, and the other kids that they were dealing with at the time, it was a personal choice not to disclose that much to them. Saying something like, "It happens to you when you're older" and killing the topic was enough. It might not have been the best way to deal with it, but it worked.

I like your suggestion, though. :)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	phosfate 2011-10-17 02:26 am UTC (link)
	Okay. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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