Dora for President

Dora the Explorer is about the coolest person at Casa Chaos.  She is almost as cool as Daddy on rare occasion.  My daughter, Sinclair is yet to turn two and she idolizes the cartoon adventurer who is constantly on a mission to help others while doing good deeds. Face it, Dora is cool because she is independent, interactive and bilingual.  Actually, she was like most latch-key kids I knew growing up in South Texas.  She is a resourceful, precocious kid and encourages her viewers to be confidant just like her.  Sinclair has learned and constantly uses most of her basic Spanish from watching her cartoon idol.  John asked me how long Dora had been around, so I did a little search to find the answer.  According to Nickelodeon she has been around since 2000.   I do not appreciate the Wikipedia entry on Dora very much.  They make a big issue of her supposed tomboy tendencies and lacking any "feminine qualities."  I nearly fell off my chair reading this. PLEASE! First of all, Dora is a cartoon created for toddlers/pre-schoolers, how complex and gendered of a personality is she supposed to have???  Secondly, who is this Wikipedia author to say what does and does not constitute femininity???  

For the record, I can back a gooseneck trailer for miles and I still own enough Jimmy Choo's to outfit most of Dora's female relatives at their Quinceanera.    I find the statement irritating "Dora is somewhat tomboy-ish, not letting her status as a girl (if any disadvantages to that) hinder her progress and/or helping others."  I guess the author is referring to her status as a GIRL??? How myopic is this?? Obviously, this author does not have toddlers.  

OK, I do not want to turn this into a long rant about Wikipedia entry on Dora, so let me get back to how cool Dora is.  She has a talking monkey named "Boots" for a best friend.  Did I mention the talking magical backpack??? To my 2 year old - this is the equivalent to a Crocodile Birkin with superhero powers!  The talking backpack is pretty genius in terms of marketing.  You could probably give a purple backpack to any Dora obsessed kid and they could imagine and have fun, but give them a backpack with Dora's image and they are over the moon!