If you’re a young person or a parent today, chances are you’re familiar with Nickelodeon’s likable cartoon, Dora the Explorer. She’s spunky, bold, fun, independent, and assertive. She and her monkey companion Boots embark on adventures using the tools that they have in their backpack. A bit of rudimentary Spanish is thrown into the mix here and there (si, se puede!). Seems harmless, right? But there’s something that’s just around the corner that simply has to compel a person familiar with the show to shake his head.
No, Mr. Buchanan, the problem is not that this show is too centered around Hispanics.
Here’s Dora. This is how she’s looked since the show began:
Here’s Dora, as she’s going to appear after her sexy new makeover (words that should never be affiliated with a children’s cartoon):
The shadow is all that’s been revealed, but it gives you a pretty good sense of what’s to come.
In the words of Michele & Lexie, writing at the Baltimore Examiner, who take note of the contrast between the current version of Dora with the slutty Bratz dolls, who have a “passion for fashion”:
There aren’t a lot of spunky, non-sexualized girl dolls and tv characters. Instead, preschoolers are bombarded with characters like Bratz and Barbie, two very adult characters. On top of that, Disney offers very gender-stereotyped Princesses like Sleeping Beauty and Ariel the mermaid, who use their smarts primarily to land a man and their happily ever after.
So when I find a little girl character who is smart, curious, spunky and NORMAL looking, trust me, I cling to her. Dora the Explorer is that girl. She solve mysteries by using her brain and her tools. She fearlessly explores the jungle and the rest of her world, learning new things along the way. And most important of all, she looks like a little girl, with a little pot belly and no curves. That is how little girls look. Is it so much to ask that a cartoon character of a little girl actually looks like a little girl?
This makeover for Dora comes hot on the heels of Strawberry Shortcake’s makeover:
The cartoon mouse Angelina Ballerina has also been given a slimmed-down look for a new generation of young girls.
There’s something utterly repulsive about sexing up cartoons marketed toward little girls. It’s difficult enough to raise a girl with a healthy body image with the Katy Perrys and Britney Spearses of the world sexualizing the concept of what it means to be feminine. Must we corrupt things further by injecting that same concept into something meant for children?
One of the only pitfalls of the free market is that sometimes people don’t need what they think they want. I’d never advocate regulation, of course, but what I do advocate is heightened awareness amongst parents, and, more importantly, speaking out against this sort of crap. Tropicana recently responded to complaints about its orange juice carton’s makeover by changing it back. If you have a daughter (or son!) who enjoys Dora the Explorer, you can contact Viacom, the company that owns Nickelodeon, at this page.
—
Alex Knepper can be contacted at apkkib@aol.com
March 9th, 2009 at 7:10 am
The next-to-last paragraph is incomplete.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Oops! Will fix momentarily.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:37 am
wholeheartedly agree but only a twisted person would disagree.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:38 am
My son is a Sponge Bob man, but he likes Dora and Diego, too. This change is creepy.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:40 am
Side note: Funny how this one article prompts Google Ads to run cutesy toy commercials.
I agree with your general sentiment, and the conclusion that the problem lies within the authority of parents rather than government action.
In a pessimistic mood, I’d say that this ongoing trend towards “sexualization” of young girls is another symptom that our society has become so wealthy that it can take its own future for granted. Marketing and entertainment are, in my view, lagging indicators of broader trends. In this case, it’s the ongoing sentiment that self-fulfillment is the most significant goal for anyone.
It would be interesting to look into the history of toys to see what they tell about our evolving standards and mores. My grandmother’s depression–era toys were homemade rag dolls. The girls’ toys my mother grew up with in the ’50s fostered maternal nurturing skills. And now it’s about keeping up physical style and appearance.
Wonder if a long, deep recession and the end of a consumption-driven economy will change toy preferences.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Heh. No sooner had I refreshed the page that Google Ads posts a commercial against eating disorders…
March 9th, 2009 at 7:57 am
“Side note: Funny how this one article prompts Google Ads to run cutesy toy commercials.” Good point MarkG. Not being an Hispanic, I do not pay as much attention as perhaps I should to Dora, my daughter is interested in enough other things. Good friends of ours have an Hispanic daughter and we often give her Dora stuff for her Birthday and Christmas. I guess we should look for something else.
March 9th, 2009 at 8:36 am
I’ve only seen Dora once or twice- my little brother’s are more Diego fans- but is it really relevant to the show that she’s a Hispanic? Anyway, I obviously agree with Alex. The sexualization of young girls is shocking and strange. A month ago, I saw this movie Push, with Dakota Fanning. It was set in like, I dunno, Japan in Autumn. Yet she walked around in a shockingly small skirt the entire movie. No one else in the film was dressed remotely like that. In fact, the other female lead, Camilla Belle, who’s like 22, was dressed in a tasteful, almost frumpy long white dress. Even when she was taken over by Djimon Hounsou and turned into a sexy-bot, she was more tastefully attired then Dakota Fanning’s character.
So why was Dakota Fanning dressed that way? The filmmakers were trying to make her seem broken or whatever, but why should a 12 year old girl become broken in that sort of way? Why couldn’t she just really or unemotional? And if you’re going to give a 12 year old a backstory that’s led her to wear clothes that some 20 year old’s would be uncomfortable wearing, don’t you have an obligation to like delve into the WHY of it?
March 9th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Wee-oo! Wee-oo! Grammar police! Grammar police!
No apostrophes in plurals.
20 year old’s = X
20 year olds = O
Apostrophes are used in:
Possessives: The 20-year-old’s dress is very nice.
Contractions: The 20-year-old’s dress is what I’m referring to — and it’s very nice.
Apostrophes are not used in:
Plurals = The 20-year-olds have very nice dresses, I hear.
March 9th, 2009 at 8:41 am
OK, I guess that’s not grammar. I should say apostrophe police. But no one uses that, dammit. Colloquial speech!
March 9th, 2009 at 8:47 am
I mean punctuation police! Aye.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:05 am
8 – its relevant in the sense that she sometimes speaks Spanish on the show. I only saw the show one time with my niece, and it was years ago, but the only issue I had with it was that the songs were overly simplistic even for a children’s show. Some sample lyrics I remember to this day “I’m the map, I’m the map, I’m the map, I’m the map”(repeated ad nauseum, no other lyrics) and “Backpack-backpack, backpack-backpack” also repeated with no other lyrics. I got the impression that a kid over 3 would either get irritated with the show or possibly lose IQ points in the process of watching. Just a personal take. Hopefully they’ve put a little more effort into it at this point.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Alex,
Do you honestly think I don’t know the rules of basic punctuation? I’m occasionally mildly fuzzy on the whole comma/colon/semi-colon thing- though I muddle my way through well enough- but I understand perfectly well the difference between possessives, plurals, and contractions. But, I simply don’t care. If my writing career hinges on my ability to flawlessly place apostrophes in their appropriate places, then I suspect I wasn’t a very good writer in the first place.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I honestly wasn’t sure. I don’t say that to be rude; I just wasn’t sure. I see apostrophes in plurals in most of your articles. -shrug-
GetReal, the map song rules!
March 9th, 2009 at 9:26 am
14 – Alex, the fact that I still remember it defines it as “the ultimate suffering.”
March 9th, 2009 at 9:27 am
To clarify, I have nothing against Hispanics. It is not in my top three languages or is it one of my wife’s top 3 languages. We teach our children English first and they speak with a better American accent than I. We do teach our children a bit of other languages, but we just have not really exposed them to Spanish. Perhaps that is wrong of us, but one does not really need to speak Spanish to survive in Ohio. We would certainly support our children if they wanted to learn Spanish, but their interest in Dora and learning Spanish is limited.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I don’t mean to sound exasperated, but I just don’t understand the purpose of the grammar police. Either you’re legitimately trying to educate the other person or you’re trying to assert your own superior knowledge. The former would be a reasonable objective if you were making esoteric grammar corrections, instead of this stuff that anyone would have known had they bothered to think about it. And if you have some kind of anal problem with misplaced apostrophes, well, this is your thread- you can very well edit my post without trying to give me punctuation. End diatribe. Back, nice Matt.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:31 am
I do have an anal problem with misplaced apostrophes, dammit, and I’m the first to admit it!
Ohio Joe, are you Hispanic?
GetReal, you mean the ultimate privilege. The Map Song was written by God himself.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Alex,
You see apostrophes in most of my articles, because I never had things like that drummed into my head. So perfect punctuation doesn’t always come instinctively. But, I understand the rules of punctuation, I could repeat them, and I could discern mistakes if I was asked to search for them specifically (as in the writing section of the SAT, for instance). Though, my mind doesn’t naturally work that way. When I read something ordinarily, I distinguish between possessives and plurals, not from apostrophes or a lack thereof, but from context. You could write an entire post, that purposely botched every single plural/possessive distinction, and I wouldn’t notice- unless of course, you asked me to edit for grammar and punctuation mistakes, in which case I’d identify all of them. It’s just a quirk of mine.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:38 am
“Ohio Joe, are you Hispanic?”
No, I am not, which is why in part, Spanish is not one of my better languages and perhap why my interest in Dora is limited.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:39 am
18 – that song is pure Old Testament-style wrath of God. I’m surprised people don’t turn into pillars of salt when they hear it.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:41 am
19 – That writing section! Man! I hated the essay portion. I’m so accustomed to writing on the computer and having just 20 minutes to write something by hand was torture. Without the backspace, I’m simply lost. Too many thoughts zooming through my head at once.
20 – Ooh, so you know a lot of languages? Neat! Which ones?
March 9th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I would add to this a particular series of ads that run during shows like Sponge Bob. It is kids singing current Top 40 hits, and the ads involve pre-pubescent girls gyrating around singing about eternal love and romance.
It’s sick.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:43 am
I would like to propose the map song be commissioned as the official theme song of Rush’s red states map, in honor of Alex.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am
I do not claim to be a linguistic expert for one thing, but with respect, I would rather not talk too much publicly about my ethnic background. I have no problem admitting that I am not a native born American, but at least for now, I would like to leave it at that for the most part.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Ohio JOE,
So are you multilingual, then?
March 9th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Alex,
It’s been 4 years since I took the test, but I seem to recall some sort of rule where you could go back to the essay after you finished the multiple choice. Or something like that. Because I remember knocking out the MC in like 10 minutes, and spending about an hour on the essay.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:51 am
It would be extreme to say that I am mulitilingual, though I had had exposure to several languages, but I would prefer to go too much further, I know it be be weird for somebody who likes to post on-line to want to keep his specific ethnicity private, but I with respect, I would like to keep a few things private.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Is Dora Mexican? What kind of Latino is she suppose to be?
March 9th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Alex,
I was surprised to read this piece without reference to the other controversy in the news surrounding the premature sexualization of children.
At 50 years old, Barbie gets tattoos — and a megastore in China
Toy maker Mattel hopes an update will help the classic doll appeal to new generations at home and abroad.
http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/admark/la-fi-tattoobarbie6-2009mar06,0,239373.story
Video: Tattoo Barbie
http://www.latimes.com/video/?slug=la-fi-tattoobarbie6-2009mar06-vid
Tattoo Barbie: This is just wrong!
http://blogs.tampabay.com/moms/2009/03/hey-barbie-wher.html
Barbie® Totally Stylin’ Tattoos™
http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/catalog/productbrd.aspx?sku=N4758
Dora the Explorer going skank, Moms fear
‘Boy crazy’ Dora?
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2009/03/06/am.costello.dora.teen.doll.cnn
The Sexualization of Children and Adolescents Epidemic
http://www.tellinitlikeitis.net/2009/03/the-sexualization-of-children-and-adolescents-epidemic.html
March 9th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Parents do have the unlimate veto on what our children watch, wear, play with, read.
We don’t allow our daughters of any age to wear sleevless, tummyshirts, anything with a suggestive saying or picture on it. We monitor the music, the books and magazines that come into our home. Our children are not allowed to date until 16, and not allowed to steady date until they are in college and not living under my home. We have curfews, standards and morals. We live them too. We don’t watch R rated shows. We monitor the TV and EVERYONE, adults included, gets 1 hour a week of network TV. My sons (6, 6 and 7) open doors for women and girls. They don’t wear anything that could be affliflated with any gangs or suggestive. They talk to us about what is going on in their lives and we are not too involved with our own to ignore all our children. It’s not worth the big time career to watch my family go down the tubes.
My theory – and it’s been proven over and over by other’s, If you don’t want you kids to absorb this type of culture, then don’t buy it, don’t watch it, don’t permit it. And also, tell your children WHY. If it does not sell, it will go away.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:55 am
And we are also multi-lingual in our home. Spanish and English are first languages of my husband and some of the children. We also speak French and German in our home. I don’t have an issue with the spanish used in Dora at all. I do have an issue is she becomes too racy in looks and speech.
March 9th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I’ve thought Strawberry Shortcake was an fugly character design since the 80s. I much prefer the newer design myself. AS for Dora, I’ve long assumed she was designed specifically for politically correct purposes.
You can create an appealing animated character without turning them into sex dolls. For that age, focusing on cuteness would be the best bet. Something along the lines of Cardcaptor Sakura.
http://img.webring.com/r/c/ccsakuraenfranca/logo
March 9th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Diverging from other criticism, I’ll applaud Knickers for attentive, responsible parenting.
But this might be going just a tad too far:
Keeping the kids locked in the cellar is not a fashion in need of revival.
March 9th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
not allowed to steady date until they are … not living under my home.
cuckoo! you’re missing out on a major parenting/teaching opportunity there.
March 9th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
The problem is that nowdays, most parents accept teen sexuality as normal. Knickers has 8 adopted children, who most likely are all victims of irresponsible sex.
So don’t tell her how to parent them. I also hope that my children under 18 don’t end up in a serious relationship too early. So far, none have, and I couldnt be more thrilled. It’s much better to stick to group dates and wholesome public activities than regret it later.
March 9th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
As I was reading this post, I thought the whole way through that I was reading one of Gamecock’s post, and then I got to the end and saw “Alex Knepper.”
It blew my mind.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Uh-oh, Josiah!
Was it the heavy number of pictures?
March 9th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Yeah, the heavy number of pictures, the super-short paragraphs, and the socially conservative, culture-warrior motif.
However, I have to say, the coherent thesis and lack of sentence fragments had me impressed until I saw your signature at the end.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Well, my wive and I raised four children to adulthood. We had the hard and fast rule of no dating until 16. Guess what? Every single one of our children thanks us for it.
Our oldest son has always been quite good looking. He had girls asking him out at twelve! He was more than happy to tell them, “I’m sorry but my mean old parents won’t let me date until I’m sixteen.” It took a great deal of pressure off of him and his siblings. They could relax and enjoy their adolescent years without the pressures of the dating scene.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
((corrected))
Well, my wife and I raised four children to adulthood. We had the hard and fast rule of no dating until 16. Guess what? Every single one of our children thanks us for it.
Our oldest son has always been quite good looking. He had girls asking him out at twelve! He was more than happy to tell them, “I’m sorry but my mean old parents won’t let me date until I’m sixteen.” It took a great deal of pressure off of him and his siblings. They could relax and enjoy their adolescent years without the pressures of the dating scene.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:40 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: http://urbzen.com/2009/03/06/dora-the-exploiter/
March 9th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Mark,
at 16, children (and they ARE still children) are not emotionally ready to have a full time boyfriend/girlfriend. At 14, they are not ready to date at all. I want my children to not be tied down to a relationship, until they are emotionally ready for it. At 16, they are not ready, and should view dating as fun, and not looking for a spouse. Studies also show that if a child has standards they can look to at home, chances are, you won’t end up with a grandchild before a marriage.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
And also, blaming the parents takes the pressure right off! I agree. My daughters are all head-turners. They are asked out all the time, but give the same answer your son did. Her Parents won’t allow it. Pressure off.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Freds fighter… college age and / or not living in my home. That’s what it should have read. Heck, if the culture of your family is to date and be in serious relationships in the teen years, that’s fine. Not my kids. In the area I live in, the standards we as a family have set, are the same standards of many of the families that live around here. So my kids are not the oddities some might think they are.
Thanks Martha. My kids are products of teen sex, of drugs and of abuse and neglect. My kids are awesome kids!
March 9th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Romney had an interesting ad talking about this sort of thing (dirty water, etc) but it didn’t really catch on.
Society so often descends to the lowest common denominator. Sex sells, unfortunately.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Aw Mark…. The cellar is a nice, quiet, dark and dank place. My boys beg to go there to hunt spiders. ewwwweeeH! I have one son who calls himself the family spider hunter!
I meant, under my roof, in my home…. Sorry!
March 9th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
“One of the only pitfalls of the free market is that sometimes people don’t need what they think they want. I’d never advocate regulation, of course, but what I do advocate is heightened awareness amongst parents, and, more importantly, speaking out against this sort of crap.”
Interesting, I think that summarizes what Mormons would believe. For example: By one interpretation, Mormons might consider abortions morally wrong, one could still be a good Mormon while being pro-choice; because they personally wouldn’t do it, but wouldn’t prevent others from engaging in it as long as it didn’t affect them. The same goes for lots of other things, e.g. gay rights, or in this case, media portrayal of women.
Part of the reason they go to Church is to learn what things may be harmful to them and their families, to learn how to make wise choices despite others around them that may not be making wise choices. It is to take part in a community that can learn together what boundaries should be set in their personal lives and decisions.
Alex, you highlight what may be a good example of a consumption boundary.
March 9th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Emtee.
The same is true for ANY religion, not just LDS. (I just happen to be LDS).
March 9th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
This is one of those test market things that I will believe when I see, but
not before.
March 9th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
As the father of a 13-year-old daughter I have strong feelings about this subject. Kudos to Alex for posting it. Catherine, my daughter, wants to be an engineer, and has been in all-accelerated classes since the 1st grade. She’s a great kid so far. My one BIG concern is that the culture will corrupt her during her teen-age years. It won’t be easy to fight the faux concept of cool.
March 9th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
It’s really sad that our girls are constantly bombarded with the pressure to look sexy. All these young girls out there, taking raunchy pics of themselves and sending them all over the place via cell and internet is just more proof that the women’s movement went horribly awry somewhere along the way. Women are portrayed as sex objects now more than ever. We’re getting nowhere fast.