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Apple pulls Barbie plastic surgery game in wake of Twitter backlash

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By John Glenday, Reporter

January 15, 2014 | 2 min read

Apple has been forced to withdraw a children’s plastic surgery app from sale after thousands of Twitter users joined a campaign against the game.

The Plastic Surgery & Plastic Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for Barbie featured a cartoon representation of the plastic figurine and invited children to wield scalpels and syringes to perform plastic surgery on the characters face.

Targeted at children aged nine and above the premise wasn’t long in eliciting outrage from sexism campaigners courtesy of in game text such as “This unfortunate girl has so much extra weight that no diet can help her. In our clinic she can go through a surgery called liposuction that will make her slim and beautiful.”

More than 4,000 Twitter users re-tweeted a post from women’s rights group Everyday Sexism calling on Apple to ditch the app, something it duly did.

Speaking to The Times group spokesperson Laura Bates said: “It’s hugely damaging that this app sends the message to girls as young as 9 that being skinny is the holy grail, their looks are the only thing that matters and the only way to [become skinny] is plastic surgery.

"It just contributes to a culture that tells young girls that they need to change themselves to be acceptable to society.”

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