+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
More

Parents have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Doc McStuffins toys. Here's why they're glad.

Thank you, Doc McStuffins! Seriously.

For a whole lot of little kids, Doc McStuffins is a role model.

Photo by Wilton Taylor/Flickr.

For those of you out of the loop, "Doc McStuffins" is a Disney Junior program that features a 6-year-old girl as the titular "Doc" whose mom is a doctor and whose dad is a stay-at-home parent.

Doc McStuffins wants to follow in her mom's footsteps and be a doctor when she grows up, so she's getting her practice by taking care of her dolls and stuffed animals, which come to life when she's alone with them. You know, as toys do.

What makes Doc McStuffins stand out for many is the fact that she's black.

For parents who are working hard to instill a strong self-esteem and a sense of pride in their black daughters, Doc McStuffins is particularly important.

I'm a white (adoptive) parent of a black daughter, and I was overjoyed when Doc McStuffins came out. My daughter loved it, and I loved that she was able to relate to a character who looked like her. It's also important for kids of all colors to see diversity in media so that diversity becomes the norm for everyone.

Recently Jamilah Lemieux shared photos of her daughter, who is a Doc McStuffins fan, on Twitter and encouraged others to share pictures of their kids with the hashtag #thankyouDocMcStuffins.


After retweeting a New York Times article from July 2014 that noted sales of $500 million in the preceding year and sharing a photo of her daughter with a cart full of Doc McStuffins toys, Lemieux decided to start the hashtag.



"I love Doc McStuffins!" Lemieux, who is a writer, the senior digital editor for Ebony, and a feminist, told Upworthy. "We covered the launch of the show at EBONY.com a few years ago and I am so happy to see what a huge phenomenon it has become."

Diverse representation in media matters.

I asked Lemieux about diversity in media and toys and she told me that it's important to her because "as a parent, it is a real struggle to find toys and TV shows/movies that look like my daughter, but it is incredibly important to see herself reflected as the norm in media. I work hard to surround her with diverse and positive images of her culture in order to bolster her self-esteem and racial self-identity."

Here are some of the responses Lemieux received on Twitter:

(Get ready for some more super-cute kids!)



And when it comes to diverse representation, "Doc McStuffins" is multi-dimensional.

"Doc McStuffins is a real feminist show!" Lemieux told Upworthy. "Her mother is a doctor, her dad seems to be a stay-at-home parent, at least part time. Doc has diverse interests, particularly in STEM. The show teaches character values, while also presenting science careers as attainable to children of all genders."



Pop Culture

Brendan Fraser showed up at a screening of 'The Mummy' completely decked out in costume

The audience went wild.

The Prince Charles Cinema/Youtube

Brendan Fraser dressed as Rick O'Connell.

Brendan Fraser might be making the greatest career comeback ever, racking up accolades and award nominations for his dramatic, transformative role in “The Whale." But the OG Fraser fans (the ones who watch “Doom Patrol” solely to hear his voice and proudly pronounce his last name as Fray-zure, for this is the proper pronunciation) have known of his remarkable talent since the 90s, when he embodied the ultimate charming, dashing—and slightly goofball—Hollywood action lead.

Let us not forget his arguably most well known and beloved 90s character—Rick O’Connell from the “Mummy” franchise. Between his quippy one-liners, Indiana Jones-like adventuring skills and fabulous hair, what’s not to like?

During a double feature of “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns” in London, moviegoers got the ultimate surprise when who should walk in but Brendan Fraser himself, completely decked out in Rick O’Connell attire. The brown leather jacket. The scarf. Everything.

Keep ReadingShow less
celebrity
Joy

A woman treats her miniature pig like a toddler and it even 'talks' with electronic buttons

Merlin will tap buttons that say “eat,” “outside” and “ice cream.”

Photo by Ben Mater on Unsplash

A woman treats her pig like a toddler and the internet can't get enough.

Pigs are cute. Well, piglets are cute, but they usually don't stay those tiny little snorting things very long. That is unless you get a mini pig and name it something majestic like Merlin. (I would've gone with Hamlet McBacon, but no one asked me.)

Mina Alali, a TikTok user from California, has been going viral on the internet for her relationship with Merlin, her miniature pig. Of course, there are plenty of folks out there with pigs—mini pigs, medium pigs, pigs that weigh hundreds of pounds and live in a barn with a spider named Charlotte. But not everyone carries their pig around on adventures like it's their child.

Alali's videos of her sweet interactions with her little pig have gotten a lot of people wanting their own piggy, but training Merlin wasn't always easy. According to Yahoo Finance, the 25-year-old told SWNS that she has wanted a pig her whole life and finding Merlin was a "dream come true," but she wasn't expecting how challenging it would be to train him. If you've never been around pigs, then you may not know that they squeal—a lot—and unless you're living on an actual farm, that could be a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
merlin the pig
Joy

Hilarious social media challenge has women ditching dating apps to find love at Home Depot

"Do you have an aisle specifically where single men are?"

via MeganLouise271/TikTok and Joleene_D/TikTok

Women are looking for love at Home Depot.

Even though people have endless options to find love these days, whether in real life or online, finding the perfect person still isn’t easy. In fact, according to Pew Research, 55% of women believe dating is harder today than it was 10 years ago. So it’s understandable that some are considering ditching the apps to meet people in real life.

Studies show that for people looking for a serious relationship, real life may be the better option.

According to Newsweek, a study by Illinois State University sociology professor Susan Sprecher found that young people who first met face to face were 25% more likely to report feelings of closeness than those who initially met online. Aditi Paul, a communications professor at Pace University in New York, found that people who first met in real life lasted four times longer than those who met online.

Keep ReadingShow less
relationships
Democracy

More than seven thousand people shared their best ideas to stop mass shootings. Here are the best.

Everyone agrees mass shootings need to end. But what can really be done?

via Wikimedia Commons

A makeshift memorial after the 2019 El Paso mass shooting.

As of January 24, 2023, at least 69 people have been killed in 39 mass shootings across the United States . The deadliest shooting happened on January 21 in Monterey Park, California, when a 72-year-old man shot 20 people, killing 11. On January 23, a 66-year-old man killed 7 people and injured another in a shooting in Half Moon Bay, California.

It’s hard to see these stories in the news every few weeks—or days—and not get desensitized, especially when lawmakers have made it clear that they will not do anything substantive to curb the availability of assault weapons in the U.S.

After the assault weapons ban, which had been in effect for 10 years, lapsed in 2004, the number of mass shootings tripled.

Keep ReadingShow less
mass shootings
Pop Culture

People rally behind a 12-year-old actress who was 'humiliated' with a 'Razzie' nomination

The parody awards show has now enforced an age limit rule to its nominations.

Blumhouse

Ryan Kiera Armstrong in the 2022 film 'Firestarter'

Since the early 80s, the Golden Raspberry Awards, aka the "Razzies," has offered a lighthearted alternative to the Oscars, which, though prestigious, can sometimes dip into the pretentious. During the parody ceremony, trophies are awarded to the year’s worst films and performances as a way to "own your bad," so the motto goes.

However, this year people found the Razzies a little more than harmless fun when 12-year-old actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong was nominated for "Worst Actress" for her performance in the 2022 film "Firestarter." She was 11 when the movie was filmed.

Sadly, this is not the first time a child has received a Razzie nom. Armstrong joins the ranks of Jake Lloyd, who played young Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace," as well as Macaulay Culkin, who was nominated three times.

Armstrong's nomination resulted in a flood of comments from both industry professionals and fans who felt the action was cruel and wanted to show their support for the young actress.

Keep ReadingShow less
celebrity
Pets

A rescue dog was finally reunited with her puppies after she refused to leave the corner of a room

Happy tails all around.

www.youtube.com

Surrendered mama dog reunited with puppies after she refused to leave the corner.

People surrender animals to Humane Societies for all kinds of reasons, but many do it because they don't feel like they can properly care for their animals anymore. It could be that they have to move to a home that doesn't allow pets or they lost a job, making caring for an animal difficult.

Two small dogs were surrendered to Marin Humane Society in Novato, California and the female had recently given birth to puppies. It's not clear if the previous owners felt like they couldn't care for both the older dogs and the puppies so they just kept the puppies, or if something else prompted the drop-off.

Either way, this mama dog was in distress after being left at the shelter without her babies. She refused to leave the corner of the large kennel and just looked so sad. The employees felt for the sweet mama dog and decided to do some detective work to see if they could figure out where the puppies were located.

Keep ReadingShow less
humane society