Here is the opening paragraph of a new press release:
Mattel, Inc. (NYSE:MAT) and Nickelodeon/Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP), announced today that Dora the Explorer™ is growing up! The companies have introduced a whole new way to look at Dora for girls five years and up. This groundbreaking initiative, featuring fashion dolls and accessories, is a completely new brand extension that empowers girls to influence and change the lives of Dora and her new friends. It’s innovative, diverse, wholesome, bi-lingual and entertaining.
“A whole new way to look at Dora” and “a completely new brand extension” both translate to “more things for us to sell,” of course. And my heart sinks to hear of plucky little Dora being turned into a “brand extension” “featuring fashion dolls and accessories.” So Dora is going to turn into Barbie now, all about what she wears and has instead of what she does and what she learns?
Judy Berman wrote on Salon’s Broadsheet that this makes the new middle schooler Dora “with a whole new fashionable look” sound like she’s becoming a Gossip Girl.
(S)tarting this fall, for the not-terribly-recession-conscious price of $59.99, your five year old will also be able to buy an older, doll version of the character. Though Mattel and Nick are waiting a few months to reveal exactly what she’ll look like, a bizarre silhouette accompanying the press release shows that, at the very least, Dora will have long hair and be decked out in a short skirt or dress and a pair of flats.
Berman does not think this will go over very well with kids. “You can put a skirt on Dora and cinch her waist, but by the time kids reach kindergarten, they may well think of Dora as ‘baby stuff.’” But the authors of Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers’ Schemes
What happened? FIRST it was Dora’s Magic Talking Kitchen, THEN Dora Princess, THEN Dora Babysitter in her cousin’s show, NOW DORA TWEEN.
Alas, we saw the signs. The cute flower lip gloss, the pinkified look, the sudden separation of Dora and Diego shows…What next? Dora the Cheerleader? Dora the fashionista with stylish purse and stilettos? Dora the Pop Star with Hoppin’ Dance Club and “Juice” Bar? We can expect it all, because that’s what passes as “tween” in the toy department these days….
We know that if the original Dora grew up, she wouldn’t be a fashion icon or a shopaholic. She’d develop her map reading skills and imagine the places she could go. She’d capitalize on those problem solving skills to design new ways to bring fresh water to communities in need around the world. Maybe she’d become a world class runner or follow her love of animals and become a wildlife preservationist or biologist. We’ll never know because the only way a girl can grow up in tween town, is to narrow that symphony of choices to one note. It’s such a sell out of Dora, of all girls.
It’s a sell-out of Dora and of her fans, another example of popular culture promoting the idea that any girl over age 5 doesn’t care about anything but how she looks.
posted March 9, 2009 at 11:45 am
Corporate America’s message to young girls: Growing up means sexing up and dumbing down. Great. The only thing sadder than this is the knowledge that some idiot parents buy right into that attitude.
posted March 9, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Oh so Dora’s getting a little tarted up. Good for her! I grew up playing with stuffed animals and it didn’t turn me into a furry, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about.
posted March 9, 2009 at 5:02 pm
From the “bizarre silhouette” mentioned, I don’t think they’ve tarted up Dora. Since when does long hair and a skirt a couple inches above the knee = a tart?
posted March 12, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Why cant doras growing up refer to her expanding her mind instead of her undergarments. Lets see Dora learning other languages, discovering new cultures or exploring ancient egypt, moving to paris, going around the world to address poverty and hunger, making new friends.Become a vetranarian, opening an animal hospital. There are lots of money making ideas in those ideas for mattel and nick. PLEASE just not Dora too. my daughter grew up with her, and is in “that” part of her life that Dora is about to discover. What a poor example this sets for young girls to make them sooo worried about thier appearance at such young ages.
posted March 18, 2009 at 10:01 am
As much as we don’t want to let it happen our childern DO grow up. “Tweens” don’t want to play with a Dora Doll. From the silouette I saw, yes, she has a mini dress on but she also has knee length leggings under it…..Besides, what is wrong with creating a “good” roll model for our girls as they grow up. They could be following the likes of Brittany Spears and Christina Aguilara……Dora currently instills the values of diversity and learning, who’s to say the “tween” version won’t as well!
posted March 18, 2009 at 10:39 am
The “new” Dora is not at all what all of the frumpy moms of America who did not make the cheerleading squad when they were younger are making her out to be. Stop Villanizing “pretty” girls! Just because she is older with long hair does not mean that she is going to be a groupie/prostitute! Shes going to be living in the city and going to school going on new adventures, I’m sure it will probably still be educational, its aimed at 5-8 year olds. Plus—THE OLD DORA IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!!! Girls need to be taught that they dont have to pick and choose between being smart and fashionable or intelligent. There are a ton of girls who cheer and graduate at the tops of their classes and go on to be scientist and world leaders. Being overweight, acne-ridden, awkwardly-shapped, short, frizzy-headed, introverted, interested in science and math, straight a student, etc. does not mean that you are a better person than a girl who has long blonde hair, is a pageant contender, or who likes to wear dresses. When are we going to stop the war? We need to stop trying to make people feel better about themselves or find validation by putting others down.
posted March 18, 2009 at 11:56 am
This is a disgrace! You mean to tell me that they’ve turned a simple television show into what they call a role model for “tweens”? When did cartoons become role models? Are you kidding me? Dora, to me, is simply a show to teach preschoolers how to follow directions, memorize order, and the introduction of a new language! When did looks come into play?
How come they can’t leave shows like this to be remembered by as “innocent”.
Little girls don’t need a cartoon to relate to them because at age 5-8 they should be able to distinguish between the real world and make-believe! Come on people, open your eyes! Who’s in control here? A girl’s role model should be her mother not some cartoon, Pop princesses, and any other irresponsible boob that the media flashes across a t.v. screen.
I don’t get it; they want to push little girls to grow up but they want them to play with dolls that look like whores and watch a preschooler grow into a hoochie and lose all of her smarts for the sake of being able to relate to an older following?
posted March 18, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I grew up watching Sesame Street in the 70′s. I had 2 children in the 90′s who also grew up watching. Now I have a 3 year old, she LOVES it! Big Bird, Bert & Ernie, Elmo etc are all STILL 5 year olds! They never aged, yet children still watch every day! No reason to change Dora. She needs to stick to the toddler & small children genre like all of the others. When my youngest gets older she can move from Dora to Barbie or others just like myself. Don’t mess with a good thing, other shows do spin-offs, why not make Dora’s cousin or something? Leave the purple & orange alone! Leave her hair short, keep her 5 years old! Stupid to change her. My daughter won’t be watching, she’ll stick to the timeless videos of young Dora.
posted March 18, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Get on with the times, it’s only logical for characters to change to appeal to the new generation. It is not the dolls fault that parents let their kids dress and act inappropriately.
posted March 18, 2009 at 3:21 pm
DONT AGREE
posted March 18, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Although I don’t think the Dora’s makeover is going to make her appeal to older children…
Why the stink over her being “glammed up”, especially when classic Dora is still available?
Smart and pretty are not mutually exclusive. Give me a break.
I have a Master’s degree and I make my own living. I care about the environment, do volunteer work and donate blood.
I like shopping and wearing makeup, heels and dresses. I get my hair and toenails done on a regular basis. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look pretty. Unless the new Dora doll has a pull string to make her say “Math is hard!” and “I don’t like to work!” then there is nothing wrong with it!
posted March 18, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Girls are influenced by enuf wen there young. to be, dress, act, and look a certian way. it makes me sad thet there starting it younger and younger. theres enuf issues young girls have to deal with so i dont agree with what there doing not just with this eather. and i wouldnt want my 5 year old in high heels.
posted March 18, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I think the new Dora looks pretty. There is nothing wrong with this doll. I’m a college educated, business owner, and love to fix myself up. I also want my girls to take pride in the way they look.
posted March 18, 2009 at 8:41 pm
I think it is pretty harmless since the kids are already overdosed with sex and violence on tv. On the other hand, should we really send the kind of message to young girls that it is okay to look like a streetwalker? I live in a small city and the girls are just plain piggish in how they dress. Do we really need more reminders to tweens to act like whores?
posted March 18, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Nothing much surprises me anymore but complaining and protesting about Dora?!?!? come on!! Get a life…find a habby…do something worth while.
If you don’t like it…DON’T WATCH IT!
posted July 26, 2009 at 9:37 pm
I am a child and personily i can’t wit till the show and game comes out i probably have an outfit like that so to all the moms tripin over this plz stop the maddness u know your kids gonna grow up some day and also i have seen way worse on a cartoon!!!
posted September 7, 2009 at 7:52 pm
“Dora the cheerleader?”Are they kidding me? I stumbled across this article while doing research for a paper I’m writing for my (honors) Marketing class in high school and I was shocked by what some of these parents are saying. I just wanted to let all of you know that think you’re protecting your children against stereotypes that I’m on my school’s cheerleading squad and I have a 4.5 GPA, am tied for first in my class, am on my school’s golf team, show choir, and swim team, am co-editor of my school’s newspaper as well as yearbook, and I’m vice president of my school’s student advisory board. So explain to me again, how is being a cheerleader affecting me negatively? Because last time I checked, my squad has been asked by multiple elementary schools in the area to volunteer to work with their students because, and I quote, we are “such great role models for the kids.”