With young girls in our house, Dora the Explorer has been a favorite for awhile now. In fact, I can give you detailed instructions in how to carve and decorate a giant frosted Dora head out of cake, complete with M&M eyes, a fruit leather mouth and a chocolate cowlick. Look out Martha Stewart, you’ve got nothing on me.
Needless to say, Dora has always been a welcome figure in our home, with her lessons on friendship and family, and her teaching of Spanish counting and colors. When I’d heard rumors that Mattel and Nickelodeon were going to be launching a more mature, teenage Dora, I was a little disappointed. Dora is a 7 year old girl that my 2 and 4 year olds love. Why take this beloved character and age her before my girls (and their mom) are ready?
That disappointment has come to fruition: Dora Links is here.
Dora Links features “an older Dora who lives in a rich online world with her new friends and attends school in the big city” and works by plugging the Dora Links doll into a computer, whereby girls can access an interactive online world. The doll retails for $59.99 at Target and other retailers, and is deemed appropriate for ages 5 and up.
Unfortunately, the doll looks more like the infamous (and banned in my household) Bratz dolls: oversized eyes, tiny body, plenty of jewelry and makeup, though it does seem to be applied with a lighter hand. The online world has Dora and her friends hanging out at the beach, undoubtedly working on their tans, and of course, the mall. I don’t want to know what Dora’s doing at the mall.
It’s fine if Mattel and Nickelodeon want to market a new product to preteens, and even better if they want it to be a bilingual and less trampy version of a Bratz doll. The problem is, it’s Dora. My four year old is going to see the teen Dora, with her diamond studs, long lashes and empire waisted dress and find her more attractive than the squatty kid in the pink t-shirt with the purple backpack. I’m not ready for my daughter to give up on the younger Dora, who talks to a map and plays with a monkey, and to want to befriend a Dora that surfs and plans parties. I don’t want my little girl to grow up that fast, and frankly, I don’t want Dora to either.
