Dora's Drama and Cajones
By now you have most certainly heard about the train wreck that is Dora the Latina Whore and her makeover. I definitely heard about it because apparently if you make it publicly known that you hate the big-mouthed brat, lots of people will send you information about her. Which is FANTASTIC!
For reals.
If it weren't for awesome peeps and their mad emailing skills, I would have totally missed all the hoopla. It seems that the very second the vague silhouette of the "Tween Dora" showed up, people got their panties in a wad. The blogosphere quickly filled with rants and complaints and even a petition demanding that Mattel leave Dora alone.
Every second of it made me laugh. And wonder.
Why all the concern?
Y'know, there was a time when I actually *whispers* kind of liked Dora. She started out as an independent little gender-bending kid who didn't care if her clothes matched, if people stared at her for talking to a monkey, or if her adventures were a bit silly. Then she slowly morphed into something a bit more "girlie." Her eyes magically sprung longer lashes, she started doing princess stuff, and her wardrobe took a decidedly girlie turn.
I wasn't a fan of the minor revisions.
And so, I ended the Reign of Dora in our house. I banned her merchandise. I deleted her from the DVR. I gave her a big ol' shove and *poof* she was gone.
At first, Alexis was very unhappy with me. We're talking about Category 5 tantrums because there was no Latina Whore to play on the TV.
My response? "That's nice." I'm the parent, and I decide when a character's ability to annoy me has outweighed that character's ability to be a productive member of society. Considering I paid a lot of money for a piece of paper that says I speak Spanish, I know I'm the one who should be teaching my kid a little Spanish. Not some ridiculous TV character.
So, I don't really get all the uproar over Dora "growing up." If you don't like her new look, don't let her into your house. And if a kid gets mad about it? Grow some cajones, yo.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Reader Comments (30)
*cheers* I'm with you. I could give a rats ass if they age her to tween. My girls enjoy the show, I don't have to pay attention to it. If they outgrow it (and they will) I don't have to point them in the direction of tweenie if I don't want. We ended the reign of Backyardigans (singing the song and hearing dirty lyrics made me realize they'd been around too long)...we can end Dora's too (and halfway have...by their own choice).
I don't understand the hoopla and uproar over it. Who cares?
But if everyone did that, WHAT WOULD THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT??!
They would DIE without the ability to complain about SOMETHING!!
As long as they let little Dora live I don't care.
And I'm not buying that you decided you don't like Dora due to her growing some eyelashes and getting a little girlie considering the princessification, tutu wearing, n'at going on up there with yinzers. But you are allowed to hate her just because :)
I hate her less than many other options and she allows me 25 minutes of coffee and computer time without "Whatcha doin' mommy?" every 2.4 seconds. Plus Sabrina thinks it is cool that she is from Guatemala and Dora is from Guatemala.
The Backyardigans sing dirty lyrics? I wanna hear it!
Dora is something the Howler can't quite let go of...yet. She's 7.
Did the backyardigans really sing a song with dirty lyrics?? I think they're great and so do my kids, please tell me that's not true.
I SO almost sent you the pic of the new dora! LOL I guess I should have known you would have gotten it from EVERYONE already!
A=en Sister!
I'm not happy with the Dora change but here's the crazy thing I can do about it: Not let my kid watch it.
Crazy right?
Why don't the other parents get that? You don't like it? DONT EFFING LET YOUR KID WATCH IT.
/sanctimoniousrant
I hear ya! It's not like we are forced to watch her so what's the big deal. Plus it sounded to me like tween Dora isn't replacing little Dora. It's just a way to keep the tween interested and make money off of an older age group. I try to keep Dora to a minimum around here. I bust it out when I really need 30 minutes. ;-)
Speak it! I have that convo a lot with parents I work with. They complain about the violent video games their kids play and bug them to buy, and I'm always thinking, Duh, they can't have anything you don't allow them to have. The problem is that the kids are so used to getting whatever they want, that to take a stand would mean a big fight and they don't want to put in the energy. A topic I'm passionate about, obviously!
@Anonymous--I think Sarah is saying that her kids modified the lyrics a bit. I can't find any blog posts or review sites complaining about Backyardigans, and I'm sure there would be LOTS of that if there was something to worry about.
I agree. For that reason we don't watch The Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies, SpongeBob or any number of other shows. They drive me insane, and my sanity cannot be driven anywhere in it's current condition.
@Burgh Baby- Oh thank goodness! Thank you so much!! Love your blog :)
bravo!! (brava?)
no one says that being the parent is easy. but if you are the parent when they're little, you have a fighting chance when they're big.
Does this means she'll eventually evolve into one of the Bratz, and will be exploring stores for low-rider pants and trashy tops?
I seriously don't know how you parents handle all of that stuff. I was with my 2 oldest nephews for a week (back when they were young), and had enough Little Bear and Blue's Clues to last me a life time. It scarred me so much that I swear I'll eventually make my own twisted version of each in comic form ....
So true! Parents want to blame "the media, the media, the media" for all the problems today, but us parents control what our kids watch, or at least we should.
I LOVE bubble pictures and that is a great one!
I agree! If you don't like it, don't buy it! That's how they loose!
I like Dora. I'm actually offended by Diego! Boys just simply weren't allowed to like a girl character and that makes me mad! My mom would say, "Dora's for girls." NO. Dora's not for girls. Now she pushes Diego. I push back with Dora stuff.
Who made this "girl stuff, boy stuff" rule? Why can't they figure it out themselves?
I agree! If you don't like it, don't buy it! That's how they loose!
I like Dora. I'm actually offended by Diego! Boys just simply weren't allowed to like a girl character and that makes me mad! My mom would say, "Dora's for girls." NO. Dora's not for girls. Now she pushes Diego. I push back with Dora stuff.
Who made this "girl stuff, boy stuff" rule? Why can't they figure it out themselves?
@Kelly--A-freakin-men. I do think kids come pre-programmed with some gender role stuff (i.e. Alexis was born loving dolls and playing with her kitchen--she certainly didn't learn it from me!). We certainly don't need all kinds of outside influence telling kids what is "for a boy" and "for a girl." It drives me NUTS when Alexis tells me that something isn't for girls or vice versa.
I totally agree with this post. I always found Dora annoying - maybe this unpopular change will end her reign. Could they do the same thing to Barney?
While I do agree with you, and I certainly don't allow things that annoy me or I dislike on principle into the house.
However, I am pissed off because of the larger issue of marketing and the limiting options that are out there. Our kids are inundated with over-sexualized images of what a "girl" should be. Dora was against the grain, appealing to girls and boys because of her sense of adventure and fun. Now? She's just another one of those dolls on the shelf/shows on TV that I will have to pass over in my search for what I consider appropriate.
And I grew up LOVING Barbie with a passion, so I'm not saying that they are all evil and you can't balance it out. I'm just saying the marketing to girls (and boys) is too narrow and sucks.
Well said
I have a whole new level of admiration for you. :)
I know this is a very cliche thing to say but "Amen Sister!"
You're smart. Everyone should listen to you.
On a completely unrelated note... I was in Burlington Coat Factory today (buying Alex's Christening outfit) and OMG they have "matchy-matchy" girls' easter dresses with matching dolls' dresses. I thought of you and Alexis' "matchy-matchy"-ness.
I know we've already had this discussion, but I swear the old episodes of Dora are so great. And the new girlified ones? *shudder*
I totally disagree with you here. I'm sorry, you know I love you, but this is where I draw the line.
Little Man's decided that his new favorite show is the Osbournes Reloaded.
Because I left him in front of American Idol last night while putting his baby brother to bed, and the Osbournes came on before I had a chance to come back downstairs since Tiny Man was all "yo, bitch, let's party in my crib instead of sleeping".
And I'm not going to take the blame for leaving my preschooler unattended with the tv as his babysitter, no sirree. I totally blame the evil empire of FOX for it.
This is their way of getting back at me for posting about how much I think Bill O'Reilly is the scum of the Earth, I know it's personal, they can't fool me.
The complaint for me is a marketing one, unless they're planning on doing something much more wholesome, and making her a better role model than Bratz and the like, which I sincerely hope they do. Problem is, my older daughters are beyond Dora and have been for some time. I don't see them reverting back, either, especially my teenager. And my younger daughter, who's 2, isn't going to understand what happened to her Dora, and probably won't be able to relate to her anymore. Which will be just fine for me, when she does watch TV that's what she watches, along with Diego, so we'll just watch reruns, no big deal, and buy used toys. Oh well. Bigger badder things out there. Mattel's loss. Mattel will lose in both the older and younger market, I think. The only people they might be able to capture by the new Dora are completely new-to-Dora peeps, and those who are just about to get too old for her. That's about it.
You know, Mattel could've just come up with another relative of hers, like they did with Diego, to appeal to the older audience, instead of changing Dora herself.
All in all, while I'm not particularly pleased, considering how fascinated my 2-year-old is, I'm just not freaking out just yet, wither, because I have a feeling she will be a wholesome role model for older children, and that the silhouette is probably being taken out of proportion. I may end up eating my words, but we'll see.
that was supposed to say "either", not "wither" *sigh* Need to go infuse more coffee, apparently.