The story on Procter & Gamble’s Beinggirl.com just keeps getting worse.

First of all, I found out the reason the story about the article that promotes eating-disordered behavior to young girls got to Kate Harding in the first place was because a reader’s daughter had received the P & G-sponsored pamphlet in school. The pamplet directs the girls to the website.

So not only does P & G get the luxury of a captive audience, they can then guide the girls to more advertising — and to destructive misinformation.

The discussions that the girls are having in the comment sections are just heartbreaking. Many talk of wanting to lose weight (even in discussions on other topics) or about how they have tried purging or stopped eating altogether. They ask each other questions and give each other advice.

Shouldn’t there be an adult or health professional monitoring these discussions to offer help or to direct the girls to resources?

And why are the girls allowed to post their email addresses? 

The rest of the site is not unlike the fourth-grade pamphlet we received in school from the makers of Kotex: parts seem to be written thirty years ago. From Shaving 101:

Shaving isn’t what it used to be. You have things your mom never did, like multi-blade razors that help prevent nicks and cuts. And shave gels that leave you silky smooth and soft.

And from Cosmetically yours:

It wasn’t long ago that being blond was brassy, only a certain kind of woman would dare to paint her fingernails, and your mom would spit into her cake mascara.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly didn’t have to spit into my mascara, and I never saw my mother do it, either. 

There’s also a hair care product selector. See how easy it is to choose a product based on, um, what you need?

Long Term Relationship Collection
Body Envy Collection
Drama Clean Collection
Set Me Up Collection

Beinggirl.com may be a source of some good information for young girls, but how do you know where your daughter will end up on the site? 

And the fact that the offending article is still on the site today is just plain irresponsible.

Pass this information along to every single teacher and parent you know. P & G should not be allowed to promote eating-disordered behaviors to a captive group of girls in our public schools.

And contact P & G through beinggirl.com and ask them to take the article down. It’s the very least they can do.

Anastasia at YPulse has an interview with Michael Levine, executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, about digital media and kids. It’s not all bad, he says, and for now, I am inclined to believe him. Can’t wait to see the results of their research.  

Taking a short break from blogging — be back next week.

Evidently our beloved Webkinz were not making quite enough money for Ganz executives.

According to Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Ganz has “quietly” decided to accept advertisements in the virtual Webkinz World. The site has included ads for Bee Movie and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

This is A Sad Day in our home.

I had welcomed Ganz’s buy-the-stuffed-toy scheme because Webkinz World was such a welcome relief from the creepy ad-ridden virtual world of, say, Neopets. (The Golden Arches in Neopia? I don’t think so.)

Webkinz were easy save an allowance for and and a simple solution for relatives looking for a gift. And my girls LOVED them.

Today’s New York Times says reports that Webkinz World had been quite successful:

Other companies, like Mattel and Russ Berrie, have copied the approach. Traffic on Webkinz’s site grew by more than 800 percent over the last year, totaling 7.29 million unique visitors in October, according to Nielsen Online. Its closest competitor, Club Penguin from Disney, had 3.88 million visitors in that period. 

The Times also said that after trying to contact Ganz for comment “on Wednesday, the “Chipmunks” movie ad disappeared from the page.” 

Weird, because as you can see from my screenshot (or maybe you can’t, trust me on this one) the ads were still appearing around 9:45 p.m. (Central) last night.

In any case, we’ll be having a Webkinz-free Christmas here. But I won’t be the heavy. My girls will have to take their whining directly to Ganz.

You can too.