Yesterday, Mattel and Nickelodeon revealed the newly re-designed "tween" (ugh) Dora the Explorer (here she is on the left; see the original Dora below). Earlier in the month, a silhouette of the adventurer was released, causing quite an uproar raised among parents about the transformation. Concerns were raised about the change in Dora's hair (long and flowing, rather than a sensible bowl cut) to her body (the original being quite appropriate for a 5-year old child; the "tween-ified" version being possibly too skinny) to her clothes (the silhouette making it appear that she was wearing a mini skirt, which is just absurd for someone solving mysteries full-time).
Now that the actual image has been released, minds can be set at rest that Dora hasn't been turned into a total sexpot. But this new version is still troubling. The femme-ed up Dora looks and sounds like a cross between Carrie Bradshaw and a Bratz doll. According to the Mattel press release, Dora's grown up, moved to the city and acquired a whole new fashionable look. She'll have four new friends (buh-bye, Boots!) to solve mysteries with (OMG! Will their names be Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha? And, um...Louise--you know, Jennifer Hudson giving the SATC movie a little bit of flavour). Plus, as Dodai at Jezebel notes, it sure looks like she's gotten her hands on some mascara and lip gloss, even though Mattel claims she's not wearing any makeup.
The point is, the femme-ed up Dora is watered down, down to the point of same old, same old. It's true that the marketing folks didn't lighten her skin colour (phew!), but they sure made her a lot more vanilla. She's not a character young girls can identify with as an adventurer and problem solver; now she's just one more figure in popular culture through which girls absorb messages about the importance of beauty before all else.
And as a total aside, have we not all learned our lesson by now from the Fug Girls about wearing goddamn leggings?
My daughter is still far too young to know who Dora the Explorer is (the child is still at the stage where she doesn't even realize it's her own reflection she's looking at in the mirror). But every time I despaired about the possibilities for her to grow up with diverse, non-sexist toys, I knew Dora would be waiting for her. By the time my kid has enough hand-eye coordination to manipulate a doll, we'll be well past the current incarnation and on to Dora the Pole Dancer, I'm sure.
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