“[Barbara] has so much extra weight that no diet can help her,” reads the description of a new game in the iTunes store marketed at kids as young as 9. “In our clinic, she can go through a surgery called liposuction that will make her slim and beautiful. We’ll need to make small cuts on problem areas and suck out the extra fat. Will you operate [on] her, doctor?”
The game’s description on Google Play isn’t much better.
“Barbara likes to eat a lot of burgers and chocolates and once she found that she looks ugly. She can’t make it up with situation any additional second. And today [the] plastic surgeon is going to make operation (sic) on her body and face in order to return cute Barbara’s look. She is afraid of all of this.”
Known as “Plastic Surgery for Barbara,” and “Plastic Surgery & Plastic Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for Barbie Version,” on both platforms, the game has been marketed to those nine and older since it contains “infrequent/mild realistic violence.”
Google Play’s marketplace says the game has been installed between 500,000 and 1 million times so far, despite the fact it essentially equates being thin with beauty, and makes clear that the only way to fix a weight problem is surgery.
Fuming with disgust for a game that could potentially lead to serious physical and mental health issues such as eating disorders for children — especially young girls — parents, feminists and women’s health advocates have taken to social media sites to fight against the game they say glamorizes plastic surgery.
Led by groups such as the Everyday Sexism Project, people from all over the world have taken to Twitter to encourage the public to not only boycott the game, but encourage iTunes and Google Play to remove it from their marketplaces.
“This is disgusting,” one person tweeted. “Can’t believe young kids are given this tripe.”
Another person added: “This is shocking and should be removed. What kind of message is it sending to young girls?”
Alice Evans also tweeted, “Friends of my daughters are already worrying about weight at 5. They don’t need this.”
In a post on the Cult of Mac website, Rob LeFebvre wrote that he wouldn’t let his kids play this game, which “has kids cutting into the girl’s sides and face with a scalpel and sucking out the fat from those areas,” before stitching up the wounds.
“Once Barbara is bandaged and recovered, children can then dress the thinner ‘after’ Barbara up in a host of pretty clothes. Because, obviously only thin women can have nice clothing.”
Talking to the U.K. version of the Huffington Post, Tamsin Kelly, editor of Parentdish.co.uk said, “When I first saw this I thought it was so revolting it had to be a spoof. Who on earth would think little girls would want to play plastic surgery?
“Parents of children aged nine-plus would be horrified to think their children knew anything about plastic surgery and about making judgements based on bodies and looks.”
But for many like LeFebvre, concerns go beyond the mere existence of this game. He said he doesn’t want his kids playing any other game that reinforces stereotypical gender roles.
“Girls care for children and focus on their looks, these apps say. None of them say that girls need to learn math and science, as well as how to watch toddlers and apply makeup. None of these apps focus on a girl’s need to learn right from wrong, or practice a musical instrument, or read a book once in a while.”
He also said that while it’s appalling that this app exists in the first place, what’s even more concerning is that the app highlights how “we all are trained to treat women as objects.
“If you want your kids to live in a less misogynist world, I’d say skip the apps about the shame of being overweight and introduce them to games that help them become better people, empathize with others, and maybe, just maybe, skip treating being overweight as a horrific condition requiring surgery.”
On Tuesday, a Google representative said the company doesn’t comment on individual apps, “but we will remove those that breach our guidelines.”
Google did ultimately announce it opted to remove the version of the game known as “Plastic Surgery & Plastic Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for Barbie Version,” but the game is still available under the “Plastic Surgery for Barbara” name.