Winx Season 3: A Forgotten Revelation About Aisha’s Childhood
In “At the Last Moment” (Winx season 3, episode 19), Aisha revealed something surprising about her childhood. While the Winx and the Specialists were resting after the girls’ first Windrider lessons, Timmy, of all people, complimented Aisha. (Seriously, how often do those two talk to each other?) Note: I watched the RAI English dub, so he called her “Layla”, of course.
TIMMY: Hey, congratulations, Aisha! You’re already very good!
AISHA: And for someone who, as a child, only played with dolls!
D-Dolls? Aisha, the “rough-and-tumble girl”, played with dolls?! Impossible! ?
Okay, it’s not that shocking, but it contradicts the Winx fandom’s image of her. Dolls are stereotypically girly. Why would someone as unconventional as Aisha play with them?
Well, why not? Yes, she loves sports, and she’s a force to be reckoned with. But contrary to popular belief, she’s not against everything traditionally feminine.
Maybe her parents didn’t let her play with anything but dolls. That happens in real life. But for an example of her own choices, look at her first civilian outfit. She’s wearing a mini skirt! A cargo mini skirt, but a mini skirt.
Where did the Winx fandom get this idea that Aisha is the anti-girly girl? I think they just want her to be. Because she breaks some feminine stereotypes, they want her to break all of them. She must either be girly or a “tomboy”. One or the other.
But why does she have to choose? Can’t she be tough, confident, energetic, and athletic, but still have some girly interests? Or to quote her moodboard from the Winx Club website in season six:
Don’t you think a girl can have both a wild heart and a flowing dress?
Yes, she can. A girl should be allowed to do whatever she wants and express herself any way she wants. That’s what Aisha really stands for.
Well, when it comes to how the “tomboy” and “girly girl” were being defined, I would say that there is still a long way for fans (some, not all) to know that a woman isn’t exclusively a tomboy or a girly girl. Masculine traits and feminine traits were not mutually exclusive. In fact, using the WinX club as examples, everyone had a mixture of tomboy and girly girl traits.
Bloom: She is the woman who takes charge of the group and was known to be hot tempered ( not her one of her defining traits, but still). She is also stubborn and impulsive. But, she is also a caring, kind and is dependent on Sky( emotionally).
Stella: She’s the classic princess (personality-wise, somewhat, I would say.), loves fashion, shopping and beauty. She is also vain (somewhat) and loves attention. She also hates getting dirty. But, she can be domineering towards Brandon and can put on a fight in battle. She is also the well-known ” class clown ” of the group as she tends to crack jokes and do funny stuff.
Flora: Her personality fits most of the stereotype of femininity ( kind, caring, gentle, motherly, elegant and nurturing). She is the personification of love( seen as how she treats all living things with kindness). She dresses in a more traditionally feminine manner as compared to the other women of the WinX club. But, she is not too dependent on Helia and knows how to enjoy her life even without him by his side ( She is considered as the most sensitive and loves romance). She also has a hidden aggressive side and can speak out her mind if she wants to. She is also the wise one of the group ( can be also interpret as being rational too). She also doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty too. ( I think)
Tecna: Her appearance (short hair, tend to wear pants most of the time even in her transformations), interests( computer games, technology and making new inventions) and personality ( logical, rational, analytical) gives the impression that she is a tomboy. But, she does wear skirts, can be warm and is not quite athletic. Also, she had shown that she wanted to be loved as being a person rather than for her preferences in technology ( as shown ah when she felt that Timmy is bonding with her through technology, she felt somewhat tired as she desired a relationship with emotional connection).
Musa: The woman famed for being the tomboy of the group in the earlier seasons. She is sarcastic and loves to make jokes. She tends to wear comfortable clothes and is also well-known of the group to have a temper. She is also known to be alone when she is sad. She is also goal-oriented. She also put up a tough front. But, she is vulnerable and does show some indication that she wanted to be loved. Her transformations usually have her in skirts (despite being the tomboy of the group.)
Aisha: Another member of the WinX club known for being a tomboy (the rough and tumble one, I would say) among the fans. She is athletic, agile and jump into the face of danger straightaway (sometimes). She is competitive as well and is confident and sometimes known to be impatient. But, she is motherly (two of her companions are babies, don’t forget.), loves dancing, and is sensitive ( She could be the second most sensitive, after Flora or perhaps even more than Flora). She also wears skirts in her transformations. (The one in pants is Tecna.)
So, there you have it. Yes, among the Winx, there are clear indications as to who are the more feminine and the more tomboyish ones. But, do remember that they are not ” complete tomboy or complete girly girl”.
Disclaimer: I am writing each of the Winx’s masculine traits and feminine traits based on what I read and think how the society interpret ” masculine” and ” feminine” traits. If it’s offensive, sorry about that.
Yes to all of this. I couldn’t agree more. The fandom focus way too much on Aisha’s “masculine” traits and pigeonholes her as a tomboy. They do the same sort of thing to the other Winx, like you said: Flora’s girly, Musa’s a tomboy, etc.
But in real life, no one fits into a neat little category. There’s nothing wrong with someone exhibiting both “masculine” and “feminine” traits. Aisha has always been a great example of this, but again, the fandom tends to focus on her “masculine” traits.
U know when u mentioned how Aisha was pigeonholed into the ” tomboy” identity, she has another problem. There were fans who think that Nabu soften her. ( in relation to your article on Aisha’s relationships as stages of life) To me, it seemed that we have the fans who prefer her to be the stereotypical tomboy and the fans who thinks that she needs to be softer.
Isn’t she already a mix of both?
Yes, she is a mix of both. And from what I gather, you’re saying the fans’ reaction proves it. Some fans want her to be more tomboyish, and others think she’s too fierce and needs to tone it down. So clearly, she’s already somewhere in the middle!
As for Nabu (or Roy) softening her, I guess that comes from the “too fierce” crowd. But like I said in the post, it makes no sense. She’s a princess! Stereotypically, that’s as soft as it gets!
And wasn’t her backstory about her parents and servants softening her up and not letting her run free? Are those fans saying that’s a good thing — that she should give up and give in? How sad.
I talked about this in another post, but that’s one of the reasons why I don’t think Nabu and Roy fit her story. They both came from the upperclass like her, and they had the same type of demeanor as everyone else she’s been around all her life. Sure, Rainbow presented Nabu as a rebel like her, but let’s be honest: did he really act that rebellious? He rebelled against the arranged marriage because of course he would, but outside of the love story, he seemed like a normal, well-adjusted teenager (unlike Aisha).
She didn’t need someone like her. She needed someone different, not just romantically but as friends as well. Anne, the Winx, and yes, Nex, too, have added more to her life than Nabu and Roy ever could have.
I like what Rainbow did with Nex in season 8. It was the first time we saw her love interest confront her about her negative behavioral traits, so we saw genuine character growth from her. That was the point of pairing her with a guy like him.
It’s not just the pigeonhole. You would sometimes come across comments like everyone has become girlier. Last I check, it is true that their wardrobe was somewhat more feminine ( not all). But:
– All the others went crazy when Stella wants to do shopping and asked them to come with her. (not all the time, but still.)
– The others dread being Stella’s model.
– Stella is still the only one who cares her physical appearance the most.
– Not one scene shown them doing spas as a group.
– Even with boyfriends, they still focused on the mission ( even occasional relationships problem that they helped each other with, of course.)
So, I don’t understand how they have gotten girlier..
Their personality remains (along with their ” masculine” and “feminine” traits.
Another thing you may have noticed is their outfits. Bloom, Stella, and Flora typically wear dresses and skirts (“feminine”). Tecna and Musa typically wear pants or shorts (“more masculine”). Aisha wears whatever. She doesn’t seem to have a strong preference towards feminine or masculine clothing, which makes sense for her character.
Of course, it depends. Bloom, Stella, and Flora wear pants or shorts sometimes, too, and Tecna and Musa will sometimes wear dresses and skirts. Again, no Winx is completely “masculine” or “feminine”, stereotypically speaking.
Now that you mentioned it, in the outfits of the later seasons, Aisha seemed to be alternating between pants and skirts ( more pants, I think) as compared to Musa and Tecna.
Interesting though, I would think that Bloom and Stella seemed to be the one wearing slightly more pants than Flora. Then again, I just checked their outfits. ( You are right they both also wear dresses and skirts normally.) But Bloom wears slightly more pants than Stella and Flora.
Here’s something interesting: you noticed in World of WinX (I considered it as part of winx club despite being different settings), the liftguard outfits of the girls? Flora is in shorts and Aisha in skirts? ( another example how they aren’t completely masculine or feminine.)
When I looked at her outfits again, Aisha does seem to wear pants more often. But it also seems like she’s more comfortable wear skirts and dresses than Tecna and Musa are. Then again, it’s hard to judge it perfectly since some of the clothing lines put all the Winx in the same kinds of garments.
Bloom may wear pants more often than Stella and Flora because of her Earth roots. Girls wear pants more often here, whereas Solaria and Lynphea may have more traditional norms when it comes to clothing. Along those lines, Aisha wearing pants could be either because of her athletic interests or because she may be rebelling against Andros’s conventions.
I don’t remember many of the outfits from World of Winx.
Ah, interesting point of view. I would never thought Stella and Flora’s preference for skirts and dresses could be the traditional norms in their planet when it comes to clothing. Yes, to the point where you mentioned it’s hard to judge it perfectly. Some of the clothing lines have all the Winx in skirts or dresses or pants.
If that’s the case, the switch in some of the WinX outfits ( example: Flora in pants, Tecna in a dress) might have to do with being outside of their realm for quite some time. I mean they must have changed their dress style a little after being outside of their realm for quite sometime.
Another thing you may noticed even if some of the girls were put in clothes outside of their typical wear, you can tell it’s basically tailored for them.
Let’s take the season 1 party outfit for example:
Bloom : she wears a miniskirt paired with sneakers, which like you say an indication of how earth girls wear.
Stella: she paired her pants with wedge and minimal bracelet. Basically matching her fashionista status.
Flora: she paired her pants with a warp on skirt, wedge and wore a little more accessories than Stella. She is literally dolled up in this outfit and basically feminize the pants look.
Tecna: Like Bloom, she is wearing a miniskirt but she paired it with a jacket. This suits her sleek and cutting edge style.
Musa; She is also wearing a skirt with a tube top. Fans who saw her as a tomboy might forget this outfit. This style is basically the popular style for girl group of that year befitting her status as the one who knows music ( I might be wrong about the history.)
As for Aisha, let’s take her Season 2 outfit as an example: she is wearing a miniskirt which is cargo. Outside of the skirts=feminine, pants=masculine, I would perhaps say that the way the skirt was designed itself and the way it was matched with her shirt was made for her athletic lifestyle.
Going back to the main point, it’s basically just saying that tomboys wearing skirts did not made them look feminine. The way they wore it even match their personality and sometimes strayed outside the stereotypical feminine look.