New Dora

Dora the Explorer is a popular kids character on Nickelodeon. She is a small, somewhat plump little girl, but very cute little cartoon character. Well, just recently Nickelodeon and Viacom banned together and revamped the beloved character. Her new image will depute in October. Dora is a 10-year-old skinny a beautiful looking cartoon character.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the new change. While I think that it is a good marketing idea to have Dora grow older and appeal to the older kids, I think that it takes away from the authenticity of the character. Before she did not look perfect and have perfect features. It was 'realistic' for a cartoon character. Now she looks flawless, much like a Barbie doll...which is not by mistake, Mattel designed the new character. I just think that we are sending the wrong message to our kids. We live in a society that is all about looking the best, being the skinniest, and beautiful. By changing Dora's image, we are feeding into those stereotypes and encouraging our kids to continue to think in that mindset. You'd think with all the stereotypical beautiful Barbie dolls, dress-up make-up, and commercials that a simple kids cartoon could steer kids into a different direction, but I guess that's not the case