thelilbear wrote:
I was interested in the gender trends here, so I did a little impromptu survey of this thread. First, let me say there was a lot more girls than boys responding, so
take from it what you will.I also did not include those who did not have a gender listed, or those who responded to a post that wasn't necessarily about the game (like the debate about whether soda is bad for you or not).
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Basically, this was my count and the results:
27 Girls total
25 found it offensive (roughly 93%)
2 did not find it offensive (roughly 7 %)
7 Boys total
3 found it offensive (roughly 43%)
4 did not find it offensive (roughly 57%)
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I find it interesting that even though there were more girls who responded, there was still a greater number of boys (2 girls vs 4 boys) who did not find it offensive. As unscientific as this may be, I think it shows that weight issues still pertain mostly to women, and society buts much more pressure on women to be thin. Therefore when we see something like this, we are much more likely to take offense. I think many of us realize how weight issues affected us growing up, so we are quick to defend the younger generation who might be more susceptible to this type of advertising.
Along those lines, the fact that more women were moved to respond to this topic can also prove that this weight is a more sensitive subject to women.
Too bad we're not in the reneissance days, when being voluptuous meant you were healthy
Again, a disclaimer: This is just an impromptu survey, please do not attack me on it's validity! i know it is not scientific!!
I can't believe there's more guys that don't see the offensiveness in the game than those that do. Sure you can say guys don't understand, but I'd always figured that people (girls and guys) that play Neopets would be, generally, understanding people, since Neopets is that kind of an environment. But I suppose I'm working off of stereotypes here and that's not very good.
It's great that they changed the game. It does show that Neopets is listening to the players and it shows that they've got some ethical values in em. ^_^
I don't recall who mentioned the media and how they're supporting this huge craze of skinnyness, but I just wanted to make a small comment on that. I think that the media DOES support such craziness (anorexia and all that) but realize that there are people making a stand. I mean, Oprah is a great example, I believe, and she seems to be very influential in young women's lives (from what I've observed in my friends). Comedians like Ralfie May (definitely mispelled that) and Mo'Nique are big and very much proud of it. Even a show that I LOVE, America's Next Top Model, disapproves of anorexia and bulimia. Janice Dickinson might not (as much), but she doesn't really count since she's so crazily fake that she's irrelevant at this point (I still love her though). Even in magazines, I remember when Mary Kate (or Ashley, I can't remember) was anorexic and all the magazines basically said she had a problem. I *suppose* that's a good thing...you know, making it sound like a problem (which it is) as opposed to saying, "You go, Mary kate!"
Ok, so those don't really apply to Neopets since those are mostly things that involve girls in their teens or so, but I won't go into kid shows or kid media...because they're not very helpful to my argument. I know one show from Disney Channel (Thats So Raven) has talked about weight issues and that and it's good to see that the Disney Channel supports all sizes! ^_^ But yeah...not going into little kids' shows.
And that's my opinion. I was going to mention Project Runway since I saw thelilbear's signature and I think that guy is from Project Runway, but I don't know much about the show or the fashion industry to talk about that. Modeling industry, I know more about. And hey, there are plus size models so don't diss the modeling industry yet.
BUT OTHER THAN THAT, yay, the game has been changed. Kudos to Neopets. Though I'm wondering. Isn't it Neopets that decides how the game will be? So...if that's the case, how on earth did they even come up with this idea and why was it approved?
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Set by that genius, WIS. THANK YOU WIS!!!!!