(originally posted 03/09 at wordpress)
by Talia Jae Potter
I am just floored by this. I have two little girls, ages 3 and 6, and they LOVE Dora. She is a strong, independent, educating, little girl on tv. It's a great role model for a preschool girls. She is dredging through jungles, swimming, climbing, outside-- not city life or social material BS. But that is all about to change....
Now she will be transformed into a tween Dora who lives in the city, shops, goes to middle school, and has a social click.... Dear god. Why?? Well, I know why. It's about marketing, getting the largest group of viewers possible, and tweens are the target audience these days. Not to mention they spend the most money on merchandise out of any age group, maybe only rivaling teenagers.
So now you can interact with Dora online, buy her the latest fashion accessories, and make "important social decisions" for her at school and in the city. I am so disturbed by this. It is turning into just another stereotypical female role model that matches barbie, bratz and all the other oppressive children's dolls out there in the market. I am saddened by this change and would like to encourage anyone who feels the same to write to Viacom and Nickelodeon and let them know your thoughts. I will be.
You can read the press release
here. It's really, really disturbing.
To write Viacom, click
here.
For information on how to write Nickelodeon, click
here.
