“I don’t think there is anything wrong with the new Dora. I can’t understand how she looks “sexed up” She kind of looks like how my 7 year old looks. And most girls lengthen and thin out as they grow! She’s so much better than a lot of other dolls marketed to girls, as said above Bratz are horrible!(Lauren).”
“Like they couldn’t come up with another character for tweens!!! Like Nancy Drew never aged. Like they have to take the one thing our kids can identify with and age it? Barbie has been the same age since forever. Superheros never get old. But our Dora has to age? Unbelieveable. Is there a way to protest this? A way to get a petition to protest this ridculous thinking. And I am not even going to address the “Hot Tamale” aspect. Viewers can change how she looks!!!! What? Make her lighter? Give her blue eyes to make her respectable? Incredible. What do these companies have? A room full of people who are ordered to be racists and offensive to others. This has to stop. Now. We have money now. Has anyone told them that? We vote with our dollars (Bilingual In).”
In 2009, Mattel issued an interactive doll that would plug into the computer. The doll was a ‘tween’ Dora the Explorer. After Mattel released the silhouette of Dora’s new look. Parents were furious. The tomboy Dora had seemed to turn into a promiscuous Latina figurine. The silhouette made the doll appear to have long legs accompanied with a diminutive skirt, and long, flowy hair. The blog sites fired up with upset Latina mothers, who had feared that their once perfect idol for their children had been destroyed. The parents believed that this new Dora would have taken the place of the old toddler and preschool loving Nick Jr. character. Due to the uproar of parents, Mattel told the parents that the new Dora would be geared towards five to eight year olds age group and would not take the place of the beloved original bi-gender role Dora. In the image below, Dora’s hair, fashion choices, and body proportions have changed. This ‘tween’ Dora appears to be more feminine then her seven year old counterpart. Her singing voice has also matured as the video below portrays.
Dora the Explorer: Cultural Syncretism Controversy 