OMG, girls in trouble!

Brainy Gamer’s Michael Abbott says we should be less worried about how violent first person shooters will affect our sons and more worried about how games for girls will affect our daughters:

Most video games for girls send a steady flow of narrow images and self-limiting notions about how to succeed in today’s culture. They reinforce all the worn-out essentialist tropes: be beautiful, be fashionable, be popular. If parents want to worry about the messages kids receive from video games, they should pay more attention to these. The “dangerous” M-rated games that provoke all the parental hand-wringing are intended for adults. A game like Drama Queens (Majesco) is targeted and marketed directly to young teenage girls.

I’ll let Majesco’s marketing speak for itself:

• Chelsi stole my boyfriend but Hayden is totally crushing on me – must be because of the little black dress I bought after landing a promotion at Fashion Boutique. Step aside, ladies! Play a fierce cat fight to see who is the most popular queen diva.
• Play in four environments from the shopping mall to the fashion runway.
• Show up to three friends that you’re most popular in two multiplayer modes.
• Juggle boyfriends, best friends, and promotions. In order to win, you must become the most popular girl around.