Multicultural Vida

Let’s Save Doc McStuffins!

Doc McStuffins is my favorite Disney Jr. show. My son loves it too. For him, it’s wonderful that a doctor can save toys and make them feel better. But I know it is about so much more.

So when I read today that Disney Junior has still not renewed Doc McStuffins, I can’t help it but I’m worried. Worried that little girls will lose a role model that isn’t a princess. Worried that little boys won’t be able to see a girl as a doctor on screen. Because boys need to see that. They need to see that girls can be doctors too, and protagonists in cartoons, not just a guy’s sidekick.

Doc McStuffins shatters many stereotypes. Doc McStuffins shows little girls (ALL little girls) that they CAN aspire to be doctors. It’s a show about a girl doctor… and what’s even better.. A Black girl doctor. A Black girl doctor who lives in a home with her parents in a nice community. It gives young girls of color ideas that they can BE like Doc, make a difference, be the main protagonist, not the sidekick.

Doc McStuffins reduces kids’ fears about doctors— Doc has the power to normalize the idea of going to the doctor. Doc does a great job of explaining why toys must go to the doctor for checkups, why they must take care of themselves, why they need to rest. I’ve used an episode of Doc McStuffins to talk to my son about sleeping and the need to rest his body. In the show, one of the toys, a doll named Susie, (in Spanish, Susie Sonrisa) couldn’t shut her eyes which meant that she couldn’t go to sleep. Well that just made Susie a cranky awful doll who is mean to her friends. I use that episode often when my son doesn’t want to rest, or sleep at night. I explain that just like Susie, he will be tired and cranky and that will make him be mean to others.


Doc McStuffins allows girls to aspire to be doctors instead of princesses.
That’s powerful. It’s real. It’s possible.

Black girls everywhere can see a girl like themselves on television. A girl doctor who saves toys! It’s magical, yet it’s something that can be POSSIBLE!

We need Doc and there is no reason why Disney Junior shouldn’t renew it. Today more children of color are being born than ever before, and as the show has broad appeal, it does not only appeal to Black children. The show’s creator, Chris Nee explained to the NYTimes in 2014, “The kids who are of color see her as an African-American girl, and that’s really big for them,” said Chris Nee, the creator of Doc McStuffins. “And I think a lot of other kids don’t see her color, and that’s wonderful as well.”

The NYTimes reported in 2014 that Doc McStuffins had “crossover” appeal and made $500 million in merchandise sales. Clearly, people love Doc.

Please let Disney Junior know that Doc NEEDs to be renewed!

Here’s my little one’s petition. He simply doesn’t understand why they want to cancel it… neither do I.

featured pic credit: DisneyABC Flickr

Diana Limongi
Diana a mom, activist, nonprofit professional, podcaster and writer from Queens, NY. She writes about motherhood, activism, raising my multilingual kids, culture and travel. She and her multicultural family live in Queens, NY.

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