So xxheartsUpx posted an link on this club's wall. I was interested and clicked on it to see what it was about...and boy did it piss me off!

The author starts off by telling those who do not know about the show, what it is about. Oh, and should I mention that she knows nothing about it? She thinks the girls are still 16-17, even though we're in the fifth season now, and only seems to remember: Flora, Roxy, Musa and Tecna. Great job! Didn't even do any research what-so-ever when you wrote this. That's always a good sign!

After that embarrassing bit, she begins her "true" first paragraph with this:

"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."

First of all, just because the style of the girls is something different, doesn't mean that the show is fucking promoting that ALL women should be this skinny. Oh well, then I guess Barbie is promoting that girls should drive fucking minivans and become damn mermaids! Second, the way that they dress isn't even that bad. In Winx they mostly wear shorts, and even in their seasons 1-3 attire, their skirts are at least slightly above their knees. In season four, the only one wearing a dress is Flora and that's precisely it: a dress. It stops above her knees. In season five, Stella is the only one wearing a dress but the same thing goes. The most skin they've probably ever revealed is their beach outfits or their Sophix outfits. (And those were each shown for what, one episode?) And finally...."Sexual prowess"? As in, defining their girls or that the outfits are "sexy"? The outfits aren't sexy. Winx covers most of their skin; Enchantix is fairy-like; Believix has casual-ish clothes; Harmonix is dresses and elegant skirts; Sirenix has no skin showing what-so-ever with those long tights and tops. So...where are these sexy fighting clothes you speak of? By the way, finally addressing this "plus-sized" thing...She uses the episode where Stella transforms into a monster as an example of the "badness" of the show. Well, it's a good episode. Stella is insecure about her looks but she soon finds out that Brandon could see what she looked like (As a monster) and still loved her because he knew it was still his Stella. What's a better, (Even though, cliched) moral than loving someone for who they are and not by their appearance?



This is her next "big" paragraph:

"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."

Since when have the girls been dependent on their boyfriends? Do you ever see the boys fight? Hardly! The girls are always the ones that step in to save people and prevent evil. She even claims that all the girls have a boyfriend. Uh, no sweetie. In season one, Flora didn't have one and Musa and Tecna both didn't really seem that interested in boys. Layla hated the idea of having a boyfriend in season 2, and didn't even like Nabu when she first met him. (She mentioned a "fairy of animals" before, but guess what? Roxy doesn't have a boyfriend, dumb-ass.) Plus, she said that the Trix have boyfriends. Uh...what? Are you stupid? Darcy manipulated Riven in season 1, and the Trix joined Darkar and Valtor. There's a difference. Boys aren't that important, okay? They don't gush over them (Well, maybe Stella does) but having a man isn't important in this series. (But, she was using season 5 as an example for this article. Not a great source) 



Here's her next paragraph:

"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."

Let me just address this one by each point.

For the first: uh...how the hell did you get that? The characters being primarily female is teaching girls that they can be the heroes and that they should believe in themselves. So what, by going with that logic, if they watch "Tinkerbell" or "Sailor Moon" they should only be able to believe in themselves and strive for a higher opinion if they're magical? Yep. Makes sense.
For the second: do they shove the idea of boys in our faces? No. When we first meet the girls, they seem to have no intention of having a romantic relationship sometime or another. But, it's a girl show. It's fucking obvious that there's going to be romance. Most of the girls don't have a relationship in the beginning, or don't even seem interested in boys. Yeah, they eventually find a guy but some still don't get comfortable with their relationship until season three. (Tecna, Musa and Layla, really) Stella really is the only one who starts off with a boyfriend. Each of the girls have to fight their feelings and shyness to eventually tell each of the ones they like how they feel. (Which you see more in season two)
For the third: boyfriend comes before everything? Are you basing this on one fucking episode you saw or something? Tecna saved a whole goddamn planet without talking to her "precious" boyfriend before doing it. Flora saved her sister from drowning before consulting her boyfriend. Bloom went in to defeat countless evil before asking her boyfriend. Musa saved a princess from fire before asking her boyfriend. Layla went blind and stood up to evil before asking her boyfriend. Stella stood in front of an angry dragon to protect her father before asking her boyfriend. Like, are you stupid, or what? Of course they care more about their families, homes, friendship and the whole damn universe than their boyfriends! Sure they care about them, but you don't see the Winx asking if they can stop a dangerous evil before taking it on, do you? No! They just go and do what they have to because it needs to be done.
For the fourth: sweet mother of God! Why do you keep shoving this boyfriend thing? The show doesn't even promote the boys this much! And...they all had boyfriends at 16? Musa didn't [really] have one. Tecna didn't care for boys. Flora didn't have one. Layla didn't have one. Roxy didn't (And still doesn't) have one. So, invalid point.
For the fifth: oh Lord another boyfriend thing. Muscular and manly? Timmy is a dork who loves playing video games and is awkward. Helia loves nature and poems and animals. Nabu likes to goof off with magic and act snarky. How are they all "manly" and "tough"? Just because they go to a training school, doesn't mean they'll all be these buff douche-bags.
For the sixth: they don't always wear these mini-skirts. And what is your obsession that they will show their vaginas? Do you know how short these skirts will be? And the show isn't that stupid. The outfits are sensible for fucks sake. I'm sure they've seen worse on television, with Nicki Minaj and Snooki creeping the channels.
For the seventh: the tiniest, stringiest legs and arms? That's just the way the characters are designed. Barbie is based off of actual women so I don't see why you're not getting pissy at her perfect rack, waist and stomach. The Powerpuff girls are drawn as chibis but you don't see girls trying to become fat or something to imitate them. Like I said before, if you think the Winx are promoting you have to be skinny to be beautiful (Which it isn't) then don't let your kids watch the show.
For the eight: submissive to your boyfriend? Uh no. Layla hated Nabu when she first met him and usually tried to shove aside any help given by the boys in the second season. Tecna is very independent and hardly calls upon Timmy for help. Even Stella, the most flamboyant of the group just doesn't fall into the arms of Brandon. If she wants to do something, she will. I mean, "submissive"? What is this, the middle-ages?
For the ninth: fuck, the Trix do not have boyfriends. Darcy manipulated Riven; they all eventually destroyed Darkar; and they did the same with Valtor. Yeah, they screwed Icy up in the fifth season, but all the characters got screwed over in that season, so what's new.
For the tenth: I know season five really shoved that "go green" ideology into our faces a lot, but...shouldn't your kids already know this? Robbers aren't bad? Polluting the Earth until it becomes uninhabitable isn't bad? Stealing hard-earned money from people isn't bad? Are you stupid, or what?

This is her next few paragraphs, of course, bringing out the oh so reliable...feminist card:

"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?"

Okay, first of all, using "Fifty Shades of Grey" as a fucking example, is probably the stupidest thing that you can do. The amount of sales that this book series has, doesn't have anything to do with how women now-days want to be treated. The whole series was basically a published fan-fiction that middle-aged single women with no lives could use to have a thrill. (Why do you think the "Twilight" series sold so well amongst older women?) Just because some people enjoy reading this degrading and disgusting "porn", doesn't mean that they all want to be bound and slapped and shit. Second, when does Winx force these "messages" unto your children? Since when do girl shows not involve some makeup, boys and magic? How can she find this a bad influence on today's children, when there are awful songs on the radio, violent video games, violent and sexy movies and shows, and the entire damn internet. If you're getting your panties in a wad for having the Winx wear short-skirts, then you might as well take Barbie away! And The Little Mermaid! And all other paraphernalia that has women wearing nothing but bras or singing or being princess'—because feminist and people like this seem to have issues with all that as well. Finally, I've watched this show since I was about, 9 or 10, but I don't dress up like a "hussy" to impress guys and feel good about myself. The show was something big for me because it showed girl superheroes. Yes, it is now over-used, but the only other superheroes I knew who were girls were the "Powerpuff Girls" and maybe Wonder-Women and that's it. I was so used to guys being the ones to step in and save the day, so seeing girls being the ones to actually be the heroes, was really cool for me. If you truly believe that watching a show like this will turn you into someone who thinks their looks are everything and they need to impress a man in life well...there's something wrong with you. No normal child is this stupid.



And here is her closing paragraph:

"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."

Well, you're feminist cause certainly isn't going to do anything if you criticizing shit that doesn't need to be in the first place! You're over analyzing a show aimed for young girls. The messages are: believe in yourself, girls can be heroes too, and love your family and friends. Not that deep, really. Straffi didn't secretly insert these subliminal messages that tell girls to dress like whores and go hunt down hunky dudes. I watched this ever since I was a kid and I turned out fine. (Completely the opposite of what the author is insinuating, actually) And if your daughter turns out like the way she described, it's not because of the show, movie or video-games, it's due to how you raised her. How you nurtured them. Blaming the harmless children show is not going to help your so called "whore" of a daughter, not is it?

This about wraps up my rant. And, I'm sorry, but this woman is a fucking idiot. If you change your mind on the show because of the stupid article she wrote, than you're a big of a twat as she is. So, all in all...fuck this article and screw the one who wrote it.