Not since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb has man relied so heavily on a reporter's descriptive powers. Luckily, CNN's Carol Costello is gifted with the art of painting with words, and she was one of the chosen few allowed to see a doll so far only viewed in enigmatic silhouette.

The tweenage dora is about twelve inches high, she does have long brown hair with bangs and a headband, she is thin, she is tastefully and fashionably dressed. I would not say she's sexy...but she is attractive, she's a cute doll, but she's not wearing a little miniskirt or anything like that, and her hair is not as flowing as it was in that silhouette.

"So she's not going to be wearing a skirt?" asks Costello's colleague. "She's wearing shorts?"

"Well, she's wearing a tunic with leggings and platform heels."

And The Mothers wait.

'Boy Crazy' Dora? [CNN]
Dora Grows Up-Stops Exploring, Starts Shopping [Babble]
Dora The Explorer No More? [Washington Post]

Earlier: Doll Makeovers Are Not Child's Play

Anita contends that gender differences — like freaking toy preferences — might be hard wired into our brains because by 18 months old, girls tend to choose "girl" toys over "boy" ones. Well, gosh, you'd think a shrink would give just a smidge more credit to the idea that, by 18 months, a child's seen enough television and the behaviors of the other children and adults around them to have picked up on the practically-universal subliminal messages about which toys they are supposed to like?

The only things that Anita cites are things like infant boys preference for groups of faces over individual ones, the fact that newborn girls seemingly imitate better than boys and respond more to voices (which, ahem, more than explains them learning to talk earlier than boys on the average — though I was personally late in this regard), and the fact that by 6 month of age, boys' stress levels were higher than girls' even if their external responses were the same. Actually, that last one seems to indicate that the whole stereotype that men are taught to keep their emotions inside is learned somewhat earlier, not that it's genetic, but whatever.

Anyway, Michelle McEwan thinks the whole thing is obnoxious, poorly sourced and pretty sexist. I tend to agree. I really have to go look into that "nurture over nature" tattoo for my forehead one of these days.

Actual Headline [Shakesville]
Boys Will Be Boys, Girls Will Be Girls From Birth [CNN]
Photo via Agilmente