I Don’t Believe in Winx Club by Samantha Winnicki

Blessed with a TV and terrible daytime programming, I tend to resort to ironic television viewing. Much of my regular viewing consists of children’s entertainment and really bad shows like The Voice and The Big Bang Theory.

On weekends, I watch Winx Club.

Winx Club, for the uneducated, is a show about some really fashionable 16 to 17 year-old girls who are also fairies. They save the world and have boyfriends and form strong friendships and are super girly. In each episode, there is some horrible enemy they need to beat. The fairies do this with powers such as:

  • The power of flowers (flowers grow really quickly/out of thin air.)
  • The power of music (one of the fairies shoots music notes at the enemy and it makes them deaf.)
  • The power of animals (as far as I can tell, this involves making animals talk.)
  • The power of technology (how is that even a magic power? I don’t know.)

And the list goes on. The girls of the Winx Club have tiny little spindly arms and legs – which is what beautiful looks like – and wear skirts and dresses so ridiculously short that, if they were to bend over, you would see their entire vagina, even if they were wearing underwear. I have interpreted this as an example of them displaying their sexual prowess. Because all boys love legs, they have to show as much leg as possible. What’s more, you are not allowed to be fat, for fear of insult:

Musa: Narrow passageway, plus-size fairy? Not good.

Stella: Plus-size fairy?! That’s not very nice!

Bloom: We got you, Stella!

Musa: And I didn’t mean anything by calling you plus-size.

Another important facet of this delightful show marketed at young girls is the characters’ incredible dependency on their significant others (who, 100 per cent of the time, are big, muscular and manly):

Brandon: You look beautiful!

Princess Stella: You saying that makes me feel beautiful!

Every episode, flying around in their short skirts, the Winx Club prevent a horrible tragedy from occurring. But they always end up in the arms of their men. In one episode I watched, a Winx Club fairy refused to help save the world because she was worrying about what her boyfriend had to tell her later that day.  She proceeded to be royally bothered at her friends for not caring about her and her boyfriend; because her friends had to, like, save the world. You know how it is.

(For those keeping score, the issue was resolved in the end. He asked her to be his “forever girlfriend”. It was all very romantic.)

The dependency on boys is so important that even the evil witches in this show have evil boyfriends. The evil witches do their boyfriends’ bidding without question.

Having read all this, let’s put on the cute shoes of a 12 year old girl: what does this show tell us?

1. You are capable of saving the world … if you are a fairy.

2. You’re not capable of happiness or beauty unless you have a boyfriend.

3. Your boyfriend comes before everything, including saving the world and your best friends.

4. If you are 16 and you don’t have a boyfriend, you have failed.

5. Your boyfriend must be big and muscular and manly (and look significantly older than you), or else you have failed.

6. Short skirts and dresses are key. Everyone must almost see your vagina.

7. If you don’t have the tiniest, stringiest arms and legs, you’re “plus-size” and hence not accepted.

8. You are submissive to your boyfriend.

9. Even if you’re evil, you still need a boyfriend. And to be submissive to him.

10. Pollution and robbers are super evil.

We all talk about feminism as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world; but, the more I’ve talked to people, the more I’ve started to realise that a large amount of women really do want to abide by these old school rules. If you don’t believe me, consult the best-seller Fifty Shades of Grey or listen to how it has ‘transformed’ the lives of women. Then come back and tell me that women seek to be equal.

I kind of feel like Winx Club tells us some horrible things. Essentially, it tells young girls that they can’t feel fulfilled unless they wear really short skirts and makeup, possess hunky boyfriends and wield fairy flower powers. It is one thing to, as an adult, look at the facts logically and say that feminism makes sense; and yet, perhaps we underestimate how influential television can be. I can’t help but think that certain ideas in women’s heads can be traced back to shows like Winx Club. Maybe, we think, it’s actually OK to only want to impress a man? Even though we are pulling off some super-cool fairy magic shit?

The feminist cause is not going to prevail if we continue to present young girls with stuff like Winx Club, Bratz Dolls and those new shitty Monsterz Dollz (is that what they’re even called?). Young girls will soon become young women, and some will inevitably come to believe that seeking the manliest partner and wearing a short skirt should be their highest priorities in life – closely followed by saving the world with magic, of course.

Samantha Winnicki

culture

  1. You made up over half of the things you said about the show. You’re just here to trash talk and get views on your website.

    Italy has different customs then the US. The show is an ITALIAN cartoon.

    I bet you’ve looked at porn before, and Winx Club isn’t even close to being that bad. So basically, you’re acting like you’ve never watched porn, never had sex, and revealing clothing is horrible.

    Not only that, since the show was sold to Nickelodeon, they’ve been doing their best to make the show less revealing by working with Italy on that so the show can be sold worldwide.

    You clearly did no research, and for your information, The Winx Club girls are in their 20’s. They aren’t 16, or 17 anymore. That was like, Hmm I don’t know, 9 years ago when the show aired.

    You’re late, you’re a fool, and you just got told off by a 15 year old male.

    And you say that like their revealing clothing is a bad thing, I wouldn’t trade that stuff for the world.

    1. Hey Dane,

      I have actually been watching this in Australia rather than the US: as far as I am aware, the series currently screening in the country at the moment is when the girls are 16, 17 years of age. I can only imagine that what they are screening here at the moment is somewhat older than what you might have seen. The great thing with living in Australia is that what gets screened here tends to be terribly behind the rest of the world. But yes, I have heard that Nickelodeon is changing their style to match evolving worldwide values a bit. Perhaps my opinion of the show will change as it goes on. The research that I did for this was based on what we have screening here at the moment and as far as I can tell, it’s all accurate. I would be interested in hearing what you believe I made up?

      While I agree that revealing clothing isn’t always a terrible thing, the strong marketing of that kind of fashion towards young girls creates the impression that short skirts etc. are a necessity to being attractive and therefore, a pretty cool and girlfriend-worthy person (as opposed to being just a pretty cool person). The point I was trying to make there is that there are quite a lot of girls and women who I know and hear of do not deem themselves decent to go out until they have something more revealing and are therefore objectifying themselves somewhat; I’ve often found myself falling into this trap. There’s also the issue of promoting pretty terrible body image, etc.

      Despite the age of the characters it’s persistently aimed at young girls, who are seeing the show and thinking that they should probably be dressing in revealing clothes, all the time, in order to make da boiz happy when they grow up, and this tends to be entrenched into young females, continuing as such as we grow older. Perhaps as a 15 year old puberty stricken guy this isn’t clear to you, as of course is understandable, you’d find it attractive, but it can be severely degrading to a grown woman who has spent her entire life thinking that skimpy clothes are the ultimate way to get to a long term relationship. Rather than like, I dunno, personality.

      In that sense, your saying “I wouldn’t trade that stuff for the world” kinda proves the point I was trying to make. I mean, I would love to see men with short shorts and obvious crotches all the time, but it would be weird if they had loads of crotch shots in TV shows for children, no matter how old the men were to whom the crotches belonged.

      I think I understand your argument though, I’m not saying that women should be totally conservative, I’m just saying that there shouldn’t be such a pressure to go out of our way to objectify ourselves in order to gain (what we think is) respect, particularly from males, and quite frequently, women as well.

      Finally, as a personal defence, I wasn’t even aware that this would go on this website (the article was initially for the magazine version), and I enjoy a particularly great sex life, complete with porn, skimpy clothes and everything! But shhhhh don’t tell anyone.

      1. I thought you sounded like a bit of a prude after reading your article, but this comment changed my opinion of you. You retaliated with reason and humour without going on the offensive, unlike Dane. Good job!

        Personally, I think Winx Club is only meant to be enjoyed on a superficial level. It’s not sending any harmful messages to tween girls because it’s not sending any messages at all. It’s dumb, glitzy, girly awesomeness. Pure and simple.

  2. I kind of agree with you.
    Some parts, i was like LOL!
    And the part that really made me laugh was
    ” Short skirts and dresses are key. Everyone must almost see your vagina” like, i was dead XP

    And do you mean “monster high” dolls? I don’t find those revealing. I mean, they are monsters for god sakes! And there boyfriends a freaking creepy….

    1. WTF?? U need to get ur facts right, u’re too anti-feminist, and u write as if winx club is all about sexuality!!?? If ths was the case, winx club would not have more than a million fans!! And u speak like an over strict mom of three young girls. wtf is wrong with u? if u don’t believe in winx club, we don’t care for a rat’s fart! But at least, stop spreading all these rumors with only half the knowledge about winx club. little knowledge is a very dangerous thing. i mean, in this show, nobody even notices the dresses and boyfriends and blah blah except u! and its a kids show, so obviously kids will like tall handsome guys and thin girls. obviously there will not be obese fairies and short and skinny boys created on the show! Winx Club is a fantasy world!! anything can happen in a fantasy world. so stop pointing out some mistakes that no one even realizes! stop ranting about how horrible bratz, and winx club and monster high are! they are better off without haters like u!

  3. Congratulations, you made up half of your facts.I guess that’s what makes a good story sometimes. I’ve been watching the show since 2005 and own the Italian version of seasons 1 and 2 along with the German/English dub of the first movie. I’m also a 31 year old mother of 2 girls ages 8 and 2. The girls are 16 in the first season except for Stella who is 17, but was held back for blowing up the potions lab. They’re in their early 20’s now, you may want to know all of your information before typing any type of article

    Winx Club’s body style is an art type. It’s not to be seen as an accurate portrayal of a body type and anyone who does so or has children who see it as such should re-evaluate themselves or their parenting, It’s not the show’s job to raise a child and teach a child self worth, it’s my job as a parent. If my child is having issues with her body image, then it’s because I didn’t address something as a parent, not because of the media. It should only play a small part of your life style.

    I don’t remember that line about the plus size fairy in season 3- when Stella was turned into a monster. If that was said, it went right over my 8 year old’s head. I’m curvy myself and she sees me as a confident person who takes care of herself and her family. Not as a lump of fat who should go on a diet. I also don’t see an issue with a boyfriend or significant other telling you you’re beautiful. When you feel like crap and are having a bad day, a little bit of flattery does wonders.

    Yes I’ll admit Winx Club has terrible clothes (except in the 4th season, I liked the clothes in that season because they covered more and were more sensible than any other season) and now that Nick has given everyone platform stiletto heels I foresee a lot of foot problems if not addressed in a timely fashion. They also lack the good plot lines of my child hood cartoons. However, there is a lot more to Winx Club than what your blog post has offered. It’s about friendship and sticking up for each other. If my 8 year old can see that, why can’t adults who continuously kvetch about something they know little about>

    1. Um.. do your kids watch Winx or do you just use them as an excuse to be obsessed with it yourself…………. . . .. cause you were starting to scare me a bit at the end there with the Nick and the stiletto thing…. You do realise it is a fictional kids show….. A show for kids .. Made for kids… because its not real.. And kids… . ….. … . ..
      . .
      ………..
      .

      Wait until your “kids” actually become real people and have real world issues, or at least hit puberty before you start using their perception of things as an example to justify yourself as an adult. I would hope you (being an adult), would keep your mind open to the world and its issues (not just issues that impact you directly – like paraphrasing of your favourite show).

      I thought it was obvious that real world issues were the target of this article? But everyone seems pretty focused on the fact that the author said the fairy girl thing in the show’s dress was red not pink. And also that she hasn’t invested her adult life into watching this whole series religiously. It was a very nice and humorous literary technique to use a children’s show as a vessel for some of the living issues that young women face today. Refreshing and humorous! So hmmm.. Was Winx club maybe an allegory, People?????

      Media is getting even more and more prominent in our society, mainly through new mediums of socialising and our consumer lifestyle. You can protect your kids from media when they’re young, or maybe even convince your self that you have avoided its influence (kelly-Kel I’m hinting that one at you, girl), but unless you live under a rock you’re going to be inundated with messages by it as well as marketing messages daily. Is it wrong to think that maybe we should more critically analyse and filter what is being put out there, what with it being such a dominant force in growing humans’ lifestyles and social development (you may not think its central to your lives, but think of how social contexts have changed based on the medias dominance, and then think about how social contexts define people – especially when you’re an adolescent)? Or maybe even just look at it in a different light, say from a feminist perspective??

      It was unfortunate for all you die hard winx fans out there (all 3 of you!!!) that in this instance this show was used, but look past your television show of leisurely preference (also maybe put down your pitchforks and torches too) and think about the problems the show was used to call to light!

      1. My favourite show would be anything but Winx Club after season 3, child. And you can be a feminist without kvetching about the media constraints which still show a bias to stereotypes. In fact you can also still be a feminist while taking youI also find it funny that you’re assuming I’m lying about having children based on the fact that I actually watch the show and do actual research instead of jump to conclusions. Isn’t it a parent’s job to monitor what their children watch?

        It is not the media’s job to raise a child, as I pointed out in my post to your crudely written blog it is the parent’s job to step up and be the parent. Your child learns more about morals and acceptable social behaivour from those they interact with than the TV. The creators of TV shows and video games didn’t create their work to become babysitters.

        I’m also not sure what part you don’t understand about the body types being an art style. The majority of animation with the recent exception of WITCH have had unrealistic body proportions for both men and women to give the viewer a stereotypical perspective of that person’s character.

        Now really, I’ve enjoyed having a 20 year old denounce me for ‘claiming to have children’ and being butt hurt for people pointing out flaws in your biased blog post and not having the balls to admit it was a biased post. But unlike you, I have a life outside of the computer.

      2. “Wait until your “kids” actually become real people ”

        Did you seriously just tell her that her kids are not real people? Weird. I could swear all human beings are real, regardless of their age. So if her kids aren’t real people, what are they?

        An 8-year-old child has more understanding than you. Your argument has lost its water.

  4. I agree with Dane that you must have been watching porn before writing this. This article is completely inaccurate and you’ve only watched the surface of the matter.

    I’be seen this show since I was ten. I’m nineteen know and I don’t wear skimpy clothing. Winx club didn’t teach me how to dress, what I like in a man or how to “please” one. Only a deprived child would use Winx club as a guide to life. Twelve year old girls are smarter that what you perceive; they know this is a CARTOON with fairies, for Pete’s sake. How they learn how to think is for the people they are around the most: family and friends. They learn the norm from the two groups above and they develop their mindsets, morals, goals, etc from those groups. Did I forget to mention they learn it from REAL PEOPLE as well?

    Another truth is that your REALLY behind. Season 4 came out a year and a half before the US on Boomerang Australia. The ages are off, content is 30% true and the rest you fabricated from your anger against this show. You should site the episode you saw this “plus size” dilemma. Really… this extreme exaggeration is ridiculous and that added bit of Monster High was random an how does that relate to Winx?

  5. I agree with Meggy81 and Kelly-Kel, and try to get your facts straight. I was like 5-7 when I started watching Winx Club, and I never even thought twice about wearing their clothes, I mean seriously, it’s just a cartoon! I also never even noticed their “skimpy” clothes, until I was like 10 (somebody pointed it out to me), because all I noticed was the friendship, adventure and humour that was in it. Only grown ups really bother about criticising their clothes, children wouldn’t even care if they wore their boyfriends clothes, although that would be weird. I’ll agree that sometimes their clothes are revealing, but it doesn’t matter, cos’ it was the tale they told that counted. Plus I know a guy who is past his puberty, and he doesn’t care what clothes they wear, he just likes the plot, and have you ever heard of youtube? Watch a few episodes there, and research a bit before you start your ranting.

  6. I don’t agree with you about anything you said Samantha. All you talked about was an opinion. You made it sound like everyone should stop watching Winx Club just because you don’t like it. If this is a news article it shouldn’t be about your opinion it should the truth. If it were a blog then you could talk about your opinion, but this isn’t a blog. If you wanna see a blog on the Winx then go to Uni Di Noi Winx. That blog shows the truth about everything and doesn’t state opinion. You are what us fans call a critic, and we don’t like critics. Alot of people watch Winx Club because of the “saving the world” nobody cares about boyfriends, short outfits, or how skinny they are. They’re skinny because it’s a cartoon. It wouldn’t look good if the were any larger because then they wouldn’t be cartoons. The short outfits are based from real life, it’s not putting ideas into anybody’s head. If you look most teenagers are wearing short shorts and skirts, and none of them don’t know anything about the Winx Club. The boyfriends in the show help the Winx save the world. Everything I just said, boyfriends, short outfits, skinny body, is all based on real life! It’s not showing kids this and corrupting their thoughts! I don’t like the vigina comment either. It’s gross. The show wouldn’t have that in it because the show was made for 9 year olds. If you thought about viginas when you saw the show you are corrupted and digusting! It’s impossible for it to show because even if the outfits are short their skin tight! I don’t know what show you’re watching but it is definitly not Winx Club!

  7. Wow… You have only watched the 4kids dub which is where that plus sized fairy quote came from, they were trying not to be offensive to Stella’s TeddyFrog (as Bloom called it) Form, watch the full series from episode 1×01 to 4×26 in the RAI and of course all of Nick before your next Winx rant. I wasn’t really bothered by the outfits. In the end Winx is about 7 wonderful girls who wake up go to school, save the universe and be really close friends, boyfriends are generally second and sure Bloom’s not been herself this season with Sky but after what’s happened with her and Sky since season 1 the fact that he and Brandon LIED to her and Stella about their real names and being involved on Sky’s part do you blame her, especially after Aisha lost Nabu last season, she’s afraid she’ll loose Sky in some way whether it’s like Nabu’s or a really harsh break-up.

  8. Please use correct evidence if you want to critique the show! I agree with Kelly-kel and Meggy81, and Dane, and everyone else who is disagreeing with you! The body figures of the characters of Winx Club is an art style—-there wasn’t any intention in it to tell little girls that they MUST have a tiny waist and long legs. In fact, it is near IMPOSSIBLE to have a waist that tiny, unless you are small boned, depraved of food, diagnosed with some disease, or have been wearing tight corsets all your life. And, when you say that the girls have to be submissive to their boyfriend, where and when are they submissive? There is, in fact a sense of female superiority in this show, as it is mainly the GIRLS who save the world, and the boys are only a helper–not that important. You can’t expect it to be a win on every fight–what good is it if they never lose? Usually in each season (except the first), the boyfriends are there to help the girls because the girls’ magic isn’t strong enough to defeat the new bad guy, so the boyfriends have to help them until the girls get their new transformation.
    And, considering how the show is designed for young girls, who probably didn’t even learn about menstruation or hormones yet, what you see and think is wrong and disgusting and horrific isn’t what a little girl would see. A little girl would just want to watch the show for the plot line. And maybe the transformations and the magic powers. When I was a 12 year old, I couldn’t care less about the clothing, or how needy the Winx were when it comes to love. My older sister is the same, and so was everyone else who watched the show. Winx Club isn’t a show to tell little girls that they are nothing without a boyfriend. The main morale of the show is that friendship and loyalty is important. (and in seasons 4-5, to care more for the environment)
    If you think Winx Club is a bad show, what do you think of the Disney Princess movies? Cinderella decided to get married to a guy after only meeting him once, calling it “true love”. Snow White fell in love and got married to a stranger who rose her from the dead. What about Powerpuff Girls? I remember there was one episode when the girls pretended to be the Mayor and Ms. Bloom, and Blossom stuffed her chest with stuffed animals. Of course, no one gave a damn about that when they were watching the show at a young age. It was only noticed AFTER learning about the adult body and stuff.
    Please, there are MUCH worse shows out there. For instance, Adventure Time. Adventure Time is EXTREMELY inappropriate, but Cartoon Network allowed it to be earlier than the adult swim. If you want to rant about inappropriate shows, rant about this one.
    But, don’t ever critique a show without knowing ALL the facts. Your article about Winx Club is too opinionated to be a concise and educated review.

  9. I DO NOT THINK THIS IS A REVIEW OF WINX CLUB, PEOPLE, RELAX! IT IS USING THE SHOW TO CRITIQUE SOCIETY. THAT IS WHY IT HAS MORE THAN ONE POP-CULTURE REFERENCE. RELAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. No. It is critiquing the show by saying All boys in the show have to come in and save the girls behinds like they’re idiots when really The Winx have saved the guys behinds since season 1 only 3 instances did all guys in the show have to save the girls over the course of the show and I can name them all within the first 3 seasons, Season 1 around episode 22, Bloom’s power not working so she needed Palladium to shield her from the army of darkness, season 2 during the resort realm episodes the girls not having magic, Flora and Tecna needed a little help unlike Bloom or Aisha who are used to no magic and being resourceful, jump to season 3 where Icy renders Bloom powerless, Sky jumps in front of the ice blast and moves Bloom out of the way.Episode 4×03 deals with the feminism thing, The specialists are accused of being over protective by the Winx, especially Bloom who had the you don’t trust me to handle myself on my own planet look, wow shows how dominating Sky is yet 3 episodes later he agrees to back off admitting that the Winx can take care of themselves which was what Bloom was trying to say in the first place almost flipping Sky off.

  10. I understand that your trying to steer the article into the feminist perspective Amelia, but keep in mind that actual problem here: the facts (when they are facts) are only partcialy correct. Most of this article/blog entry consist of WINNICKI’s opinion. I would find her opinions to be sufficient…only if her content were correct. I have no clue where you came up with your comment about the incorrect color of a Fairy’s dress or are you just making up reviews… I’ll also like to bring up that this is a review of the series, not an allegory of today’s projection of women. If it were, WINNICKI would have expanded on her research of different forms of children entertainment and carefully choose the rightful content within each to use within her article. Since her article is titled “I do not believe in Winx Club”, only sentence included a different girl entertainment brand and she doesn’t give an analysis of her viewpoint into why exactly the current shows shown to young girls slows and reverses the feminist movement, this is a review. Plain and simple review. Series bashing, but a review. I’m not a diehard fan of Winx Club, but guessing from your comments anyone opposing her statements are crazed fanatics. You don’t have to be a diehard fan to know you have to have proper research to develop a review. I’m glad that WINNICKI is taking the time to study more on the series and will hopefully give a more structure review or a proper article on how the messages in the media affect our children. Possibly, Amelia, you can keep your mind open to views that don’t only concern your own.

  11. WHAT????!!!!!????? Who are you? Probably a porn yourself. I never even wanted to wear crpped clothes even when I was like 4! Why do you even write this when you know Winx lovers will come and choke you to DEATH?!? Leave winx out of this! You’re a stupid, sex writer for sure! Get out of here! Oh… sorry! Didn’t mean to shout. AAAARRRGGHHHH!

  12. Winx Club opened me up to a whole new world of fanfiction and fairies and magic. Because of Winx Club I started fervently designing outfis. Because of Winx Club I made my own fairies, my own worlds, my own magic.

    You know what’s bullshit? The fact that in one breath Feminism says ‘ALL WOMEN SHOULD BE ABLE TO DRESS SLUTTY’ and five minutes later you scream ‘PATRIARCHY AND OBJECTIFICATION’ when we PRESENT YOU WITH GIRLS WHO ARE CONFIDENT IN THEIR SEXUALITY AND DRESS IN SHORT SKIRTS.

    When I started watching Winx Club I didn’t think ‘DIETS’ I thought ‘AW HELL YEAH FAIRIES AND GLITTER’. It never occurred to me to get a boyfriend or dress in tiny skirts. It sometimes feels like feminism hasn’t quite made up its mind about its own dress code. The Winx are dressed ’empowered’ like you wanted them, but you think they’re objectified and teaching girls bad habits.

    It’s laughable that you still carry this on, quite honestly.

  13. What the fuck! Your just saying this stuff because you hate winx club! This stuff is destroying every little girls dreams! You made half of this stuff up and your a FUCKING BITCH THAT WATCHES PORN! So keep your thoughts to yourself you SLUT!

  14. If you hate Winx Club don’t watch don’t write about it!
    Winx Club is just an innocent kids show!
    And if you have problems with it, shut up and leave us Winx-fans alone.

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