Have you seen this doll?
It's the new Dora Links doll. It's aimed at older girls.... like 6-10.
I've been seeing the commercials a lot latley, (since Nick Jr is on pretty much all the time at our house... *sigh*) ANYWAY.....
I'm a little disturbed/upset/irritated by this doll. She's designed to connect to the internet via your computer. You can interact with her in this virutal world. Okay, that's cool. You can make her hair grow longer via the webite, again... cool. You can even change the color or her necklace using the website. Again... pretty cool. You can also change her eye color.....from brown to blue. HUH?!!!!!
This is where I got off the "cool" train and hopped on the "concerned mom" train.
Now, Dora is hispanic, and pretty much ALL the hispanics I know have brown eyes. WHY in the world would Mattel create a hispanic doll that can change her eye color from brown to blue?! If I was hispanic (and I'm not... I'm pretty much as white as they come.) I would be soooooo insulted by this doll!! I'm white and I'm insulted by this doll. My kids all have brown eyes (curtosey of my hubby). What kind of message are we sending our girls when we give them a doll who can change her eye color from brown to blue?!
To me... it's like they are saying..."Gee.... we know Dora's is Mexican and all... but ya know... brown eyes are just so... *not* pretty. Let's let her have blue eyes instead. Blue eyes are so much prettier."
With all the 'self esteem' issues young girls have these days, with size 0 models in all the magazines, and blonde pop-princesses on TV.... do they really need someone telling them they aren't "pretty enough" unless they have blue eyes?!
Now, this isn't an issue of "brown eyes are better than blue" or vice versa..... it's a matter of being proud of who you are!!! If Dora was a white girl from California, do you think the Dora Links doll would be able to change her blue eyes and blonde hair to brown?? I don't think she would. (or maybe she would.... but then it would be sending the message to girls with blue eyes that they aren't pretty enough unless they have bown eyes.... ya follow me??)
To me.... Mattel is saying "Brown eyes aren't pretty enough, so we made her to have the ability to change them to blue. Because blue eyes are so much more appealing."
What is wrong with just letting Dora keep her brown eyes? She is afterall.... HISPANIC (or did Mattel forget that when Dora grew up all of sudden???).... people of hispanice decent generally have brown eyes. Why does Mattel feel the need to change her???
I guess the thing that really bugs me is that they are marketing it as "give her a new look/disguise." So why not purple eyes??
Why blue!?
Are you not good enough unless you have blue eyes? And why the need to change her eye color at all?! People can't change their eye color IRL. (unless they get colored contacts....but are you gonna get colored contacts for your 6 year old so they can be like Dora Links??) If they want her to be able to "change her look", then give her some dark glasses, or a mask, or a green wig. Something outrageous, like a real costume.
I don't mean to ramble and beat an issue to death. It's late and I'm tired, and it's hard to convey things over the internet sometimes. I've just been seeing this commercial sooo much latley and it bugs me everytime I see it.
Needless to say, I will be contacting the lovely people at Mattel in the morning to express my distaste with this new Dora doll. (I would have emailed, but couldn't find one...)
I really hope that other moms/dads/grandparents will pick up on how "un-cool" this feature is and avoid purchasing this doll. I just think... in this day and age... the last thing our young girls need is yet ANOTHER thing in the media telling them they aren't good enough the way they are......
