Your body is a temple (of doom)

The media have been tossing around this story about a study that found a correlation between the idealized or hyperidealized bodies of videogame characters and body image in gamers. It’s one of those O RLY? conclusions that is the result of almost every social psychology experiment: Gamers who played games featuring hot-bodied characters of their own gender had poorer body self-esteem, even after a mere 15 minutes of gaming.

It’s not the conclusion, per se, I take issue with; like I said, the goal of social psych experiments is, in essence, to scientifically validate obviousness. What bothers me is the fact that this scientifically un-rigorous “study” was published in an actual journal (which has, if I may revert to 13 years old, the best name ever) and is getting press attention.
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A lady’s touch

Well, I’ve weaseled my way into this venture on two (flimsy?) credentials. I’ll let this IM fragment speak for itself:

(1:05:30 PM) megan: you should let me in on this site
(1:06:02 PM) megan: because I’m awesome, and every VG blog needs a lady’s touch

My name is Megan, folks, and I’m your “lady’s touch.” While I’ll be in on the pre-reviews, I’d really like to be thought of as a color commentator. Think John Madden, only more attractive and with fewer EA franchises to my name.