Dear Ms. Price,

Thank you for wirting the following: "...I want to ask you all to do something personal: Take a moment, close your eyes and imagine the first time you ... played a videogame. For me it was in fourth grade...."

I had just finished reading your previous article (Work sucks", or some similarly edifying title) and, for various reasons, my first reaction was to wonder how old you are.

Now, I've got a pretty good handle on the answer to that question....which certainly serves to answer a lot of other questions regarding the stuff Broadsheet puts out (so to speak).

thank you,

David Terry

www.davidterryart.com

(919) 416-0261

Ad that appeared next to this article:

"10 Skinny Rules: I lost 9 lbs. in 11 days, just by following these 10 simple rules."

And did you mean to 'ford' rather than 'forge' a river?

Anyone else remember Jill of the Jungle?

How do the poor unfortunate creatures who write for this column get up in the morning? Every day they rail and shriek and curl into a foetal ball of despair over the most pathetic, insignificant non-issues. OH NOES SOMEONE HAS A WEBSITE I DONT LIKE! Good God, could you idiots grow up and gain some sort of sense of perspective? Stop crying and gnashing your teeth in anguish over EVERY damn stupid thing. Your pathetic baitability does a disservice to thinking women.

If I were a family member or friend of a girl who had an ED and found out that they were regularly playing this game I would not consider it a "non issue."

Marketing anything to girls as young as age nine that reinforces ideas relating to body image is a serious health issue. I'm rarely of the mind that we should "think of the children," but come on, 9 year olds don't really get snarky irony.

If you were the parent of a nine-year-old with an eating disorder who was playing this game and blah-de-blah-de-blah. Grow up and take some goddam responsibility for yourself and quit whinging about stupid and trivial websites.

but no one bought it...

When Paris Hilton competes in the "Whore-Off."

As much as I hate responding and fueling this non-issue, it might be more cause for concern if the goal wasn't to become "Miss Bimbo." I want to believe, that most girls, of any age, get upset when others call them bimbos....When the "Miss Spectacular" or some variation thereof comes out where the goal is to release your sex tape, get divorced three times, each time marrying a wealthier man or woman, with a similar or identical framework as "Miss Bimbo," even then, it would only be incrementally more relevant to feminists.

On some level, isn't feminism about accountability, pro-action and a modicum of common sense? Or is it really about pointing the fingers at others? Offering criticism, not solutions? Parental responsibilities, education, do any of these things factor into the incidence of eating disorders in the U.S and elsewhere? Nope! It's the fault of video games, blogs run by anorexics, and glossy fashion magazines.

On the unintended consequences tip, do the women of broadsheet understand that by posting and thinking they're addressing these non-issues, that they're actually perpetuating the proliferation of that which pisses them off?

Misery loves company eh?

specifically. Of course a parent should exercise control over what their children do online. But some don't, some kids aren't even in the care of parents. Some parents do not really understand how the internet works enough to monitor their kids. From the standpoint of the child - who has no control over whether or not their parents are responsible, and, by definition of being a child, is not yet mature enough to make responsible decisions - it really doesn't matter.

I said family member or loved one, and as such I really wouldn't have the ability to exercise that level of control over the girls life. Would I be pissed at the parents if they were negligent? Of course! But just because the parents were negligent does not change the fact that someone is making a game that targets nine year olds and passes on seriously messed up body image ideas.

It doesn't have to be either or, it can be both.

The main thrust here, is that unlike other video game controversies, the game in this case is targeting children specifically, and is intentionally promoting a warped view of the female body.

than this tedious, endless drivel about "body image"? Your lack of self-esteem is not my problem. Grow up, take responsibility, think for yourself, and stop whining and crying about stupid trivia.

Parental responsibilities, education, do any of these things factor into the incidence of eating disorders in the U.S and elsewhere? Nope! It's the fault of video games, blogs run by anorexics, and glossy fashion magazines.

What you say sounds so common sense, but in my experience, it is not as relevant as you may believe. Of the women I have known with ED's (which is only a few) the parents were generally responsible parents, and the women themselves were well educated and usually on an intellectual level new that the behavior they were engaging in was destructive.

ED's are psychological issues and as such have very little behind them that is "rational." There is no common behavior or irresponsibility of a parent. And when considering the vast amount of changes that a child undergoes between the ages of 9 and 16, it would be almost impossible for a parent to really know what weight gain and loss and appetite issues stem from natural hormonal changes and which stem from an ED until at least about 10 pounds are lost, at which point the girl may already be in the throws of the ED and breaking the cycle will probably take a level of work and commitment akin to helping a drug addict enter long term recovery.

-Given this intensive preparation phase-

About when it gets important or just really appropriate to get laid?

[or maybe they've not bothered, or if they have

how many "dollars" it takes to buy some of that action.]

Just wondering, naturally.