Girl Power

When Keilana was a preschooler I had my first exposure to the Power Rangers. Since we did not have cable, the same video got played incessantly. At first, the frenetic action and obnoxious characters drove me nuts. And that Rita voice? Unbearable. But Keilana was hooked and when Keilana decided/decides she is going to fixate on something, the smart thing is just to leave her to her own devices. Surprisingly, the Power Rangers began to grow on me and I liked that the girl Rangers kicked as much hiney as the boys, wearing the same costume with sensible shoes for fighting evil rather than some cleavage-bearing, stiletto heels get-up. I discovered this was the case, at least in the early imported episodes, because the original Japanese version had all male Rangers (yes, even the pink and yellow ones) so the action sequences preserved to lower costs were all performed by men, but that didn’t matter to me in the long run. I wanted Keilana to feel empowered and she got the Power Rangers go-ahead. Skirts were added when the show started making money here, but the shoes were still flat, the goods still covered and the action still equal, so the Power Rangers were mother-approved. Scarlett is far behind the Power Rangers craze, but she has Dora the Explorer. I like Dora--she’s plucky, persistent, and bi-lingual. In Emily Sollinger’s Crystal Kingdom Adventures, Dora brings color back to the realm while wearing shorts and tennies. We’ve come a long way, baby!

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Crystal-Kingdom-Adventures/Victoria-Miller/Dora-The-Explorer/9781416984986

http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Emily-Sollinger/22760555