Dora’s Dirty Secrets of the Global Industry

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In this essay, I will explore how the Mexican women are exploited in the global industrial economy. I’ll take a look at how Dora the explorer is an English-Spanish youngster who solves problems with the tools in her backpack and with the help of other characters that largely exploited by the toy industry. The global market is not only for the source of making the companies money but also responsible for the unfair treatment of women in general. There have been a burst of these maquiladoras(factories) popping up all over in less industrialized countries because it’s cheaper to mass produce these toys/products at a fraction of the price after NAFTA was signed in 1992. In many instances inequality is visible in these young women’s lives from when they begin to work as teenagers in what appears to be a booming industry of the maquiladoras(factories). It also gives an excellent view of the inequality that the women face who work in the maquiladoras (factories) in Mexico. Producing toys in these countries bring its share of problems too, such as recalls in toys containing lead paint.

Lois Leveen begins her article by giving an excellent description of whom and what Dora the Explorer and the other characters do to help her solve problems. It is a made for television kids program but behind the scenes will focus on giving an insight into the global industrial exploitation of the toy market and women. Since Dora was created she is adored by many children, Leveen states “Ultimately, Dora is the product of a global television market and serves the transnational capital interest of Viacom, which own Nickelodeon, and Mattel, whose subsidiary Fisher-Price makes Dora toys that are sold worldwide. As the Campaign for a Commercial-Free C...

... middle of paper ...

... in the maquiladoras of Mexico that in order to help these women who work in these conditions we must look closely at the impact and turmoil that has been created by the Global Industry and NAFTA.

Works Cited

Dominguez Edme, Icaza Rosalba, Quintero Cirila, Lopwz Silvia and Stenman Asa (2010)

‘Women Workers in the Mawuiladoras and the Debate on Global Labor Standards’,

Feminist Economics, 16:4, 185-209.

Iglesias Prieto, Norma. 1997. Beautiful flowers of the maquiladora: Life histories of women

workers in Tijuana. Austin: University of Texas. (75).

Leveen Lois, 2008. Factory Girl: Dora the Explorer and the Dirty Secrets of the Global

Industrial Economy. Bitch Magazine. **http://bitchmagazine.org/article/factorygirl

Wilson, Tamar Diana. 2002. Forms of Male Domination and Female Subordination:

Homeworkers versus Maquiladora Workers in Mexico. 56-72.

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