Are video games marketed to girls more potentially harmful than the spectacles of violence aimed at boys?
Judy Berman Jul. 14, 2009 | I confess: As a child, I loved girlie toys. The centerpiece of my bedroom, packed as it was with Barbie dolls and stuffed animals, was a tot-sized plastic kitchenette. And I remember making frequent use of a fashion-design art kit while a chemistry set languished in the closet. Perhaps worst of all, I owned an elaborate board game called “Mall Madness.” Why am I so bothered, then, by the raft of forthcoming video games geared toward girls? All designed for the Nintendo DS, a portable system that has become popular with the female demographic (and can be purchased in an attractive baby pink casing), the games appeal to the saddest stereotypes about girls. “The Clique: Diss and Make Up” invites players to claw their way through the middle-school social structure and gain membership to the coveted Pretty Committee, while “My Boyfriend” entangles tweens in “the love story of your dreams,” complete with an exercise regimen designed to land that man… er, boy. Am
