twenty-three

i don't know how many of you have come across dora: she's a short wearing, map reading, compass using, bilingual explorer and she is one of the best characters on children's television. in a tv world populated by sexualised, superficial female characters, concerned with make up, hair and boys, dora is a breath of fresh air.

or rather, she was. you see, the people who created dora don't actually own her; no, she was sold to mattel, who plan to rebrand her somewhat. there dora is, smiling happily up from the mattel website, wearing... wearing a pretty, fairylike turquoisey dress, of course. it's an 'aDORAble' new look, kids (we should hate mattel for this wordplay if nothing else). dora seems to have become a barbie figure: each doll has her own 'fashion', from dancer to 'birthday wish', of which precious few seem to convey any of the brilliant kickass doraness that made her so, so refreshing.

i don't know how much of a difference this will make, but head over to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Dora_Makeover/ and sign their petition; and even if dora continues to transform into this typical, small-minded character, at least some kind of protest will reach the company.