Life is hell

In the spirit of MerMay, I believe now is a totally appropriate time to talk about my favorite Black fairy character!

“Wait…fairy? Shouldn't MerMay focus on merpeople…hence the name??!!!?” You would be right Strawman in My Head, but Aisha is no ordinary fairy.

To be more precise, she’s the Fairy of Waves and Liquids, meaning her magic specializes in manipulating fluid substances. As the Crowned Princess and Guardian Fairy of Andros, she's been bestowed a great responsibility of protecting the realm's two kingdoms, both land and sea. This includes all of the Magic Dimension's oceans, but don't worry, she'll have the help of her friends for that. In addition to being related to an entire extended family of royal merfolk, she’s practically mermaid-adjacent!

No doubt Aisha's life is full of wonders. She and the Winx Club get to go on the most extraordinary magical adventures you’d only get to read in fairy tales. With all that in mind, can anyone explain to me then why folks act like her being Black completely shatters said fantasy?

As some may have noticed, Aisha’s own segment in my "They are Black" series is a bit different from the others. Up til this point, I’ve only discussed non-humanoid characters, since it's easier for folks to claim they can’t be Black when they have no human features. I'm just stubborn enough to debunk these claims, cuz I know what a metaphor is.

But with Aisha? That’s literally just a physical Black girl. As in, she’s purposely designed to have afro-textured hair and fuller lips compared to other character models. This, along with her fashion style, love for R&B, and dancing, all stem from the fact that she's meant to reference Destiny's Child-era Beyoncé.

Should I also mention she’s the Crowned Princess of a planet named after an island in the Bahamas, which is mainly populated by Black people (X , X)? No? Well, how about how all her English VA’s over the years have been consistently Black women? Needless to say, Aisha’s Blackness couldn't be any more deliberate for a character in an Italian show of all things.

(Flash Warning for the videos)

Alas, it’s a tale as old as time. White fans are willing to suspend their beliefs to enjoy these fictional worlds full of magic and super-powered entities. Don’t ever bring up the existence of Black people, though! That ruins the entire immersion experience for them!

Let’s continue doing just that, shall we?

Why can't Aisha be Black?:

She’s not from Earth, and wouldn't be considered "Black"

Aisha supposedly shares more characteristics with other non-Black groups

Black people and swimming simply don't mix

Most discussions pertaining to Aisha’s racial identity aren’t nearly as egregious; her Blackness is very apparent. Even Rainbow emphasizes this despite all their prior instances of lightwashing. (X). Now in their new reboot, AI.sha is nothing but the strong Black Sports Jock. Major downgrade for a character with such a unique storyline, but it's a racial stereotype only ever given to Black women. Not to mention the studio nowadays gives all their Black girls the same boxbraids with the same muscle-head personality.

But there are fans who do try testing Black fans’ patience. One of the more prominent arguments made to deny Aisha’s Blackness is the fact that, yeah, she’s technically an alien. In fact, all the Winx girls are extraterrestrial fairies.

If you're not familiar with Winx Club, the show's major appeal was its fusion of science fiction and fantasy Y2K aesthetics. And as scifi enjoyers tend to assume with all properties that feature aliens, a planet’s sentient species is just the ONE race. So for these fans, Aisha can't be Black; she’s strictly an Andros-ling (???).

Let’s talk more about this Planet of the Hats phenomenon that I’m sure these people are indirectly referencing. Writers utilize this trope to avoid overcomplicating the worldbuilding (and reducing production costs) of an alien planet. These civilizations are depicted as monocultural, with the native inhabitants given a single unique trait. That can look like a planet of robots, a planet of fish people, a planet where everyone speaks backward, a planet that's just Space Orientalism (take note of this), or y'know, a planet where everyone wears a hat. And yes, this tends to make the inhabitants' character designs appear a tad bit samey.

This is all, of course, not realistic worldbuilding if we use our own planet as a reference. Earth has way too much history and different cultures to reduce to a single civilization meant to represent the entire human species. But what does this have to do with Aisha? Well, the way these fans like to bring up this argument indicates they're assuming Planet of the Hats is at play. They believe that whatever dominant species occupies Andros would be their only idea of "races" on the planet. However, the civilian designs suggest there is indeed genetic diversity, as on Earth. Hardly anyone on Andros shares similar features to the royal family on land (take note of this). Even the merpeople are shown to have variety in appearances.

I should also point out that species-wise, people from the Magic Dimension, including Earth, are generally considered human. There are other magical species like pixies and trolls, but the main cast we follow are regarded as magical humans. It's hard to say witches and fairies are their own species, given that they can switch if they want to.

They might not realistically have the same racial classifications as on Earth, but race in itself is a made-up construct (like fairies and mermaids, just less fun). It changes depending on who wants to fit that status quo, with Blackness always placed at the very bottom of the social ladder. Had Aisha been dropped on Earth, she'd be labeled a Black girl and be treated accordingly.

"You still can't call her Black, if her alien species doesn't have Black people as a concept!" Yeah, so remember the year Black actress Halle Bailey played as Princess Ariel? Full-grown (mainly white) adults had public meltdowns over this news. They made it their personal mission to torment Black people and fans who were excited to watch this movie. All that simply cuz the inhuman species that is the mermaid was played by someone who wasn't white (gasp!). This behavior wasn’t totally unfamiliar. Similar events have occurred before and after this movie’s release - they're likely to still continue. (X, X, X)

Whether it’s a fairy, a space rebel, or a mermaid, racists will put all their energy into ending this "ludicrous" notion that Black people would ever be fit to perform as mythical beings. Beings that supposedly shouldn’t have an assigned human race, as they so insisted.

What this tells me is that y'all don't actually believe in your own ludicrous stances when push comes to shove. Had we, for instance, cast Bloom or Stella as a Black girl in that (god-awful) live-action series, all the naysayers that claimed whitewashing didn’t occur because "they are all aliens" would strangely throw a fit over the racebending. Truly a case of "Rules for me, Not for thee." So I think it's safe to say that all technicalities aside, Aisha be Black.

2023 was really not a good year to be Brown and a mermaid fan. The Little Mermaid movie sparked so many pitiful bad-faith arguments aimed at proving that mermaids couldn't be Black. Some went so far as to use "scientific facts" as evidence (for mermaids, yes), while others tried appealing to the importance of preserving other racial groups' cultural identity (yes, again, for mermaids). It was a headache, but not surprising. I was already used to this absurd line of thinking with Aisha's inclusion in Winx Club. Somehow, fans even found a way to question Aisha's Blackness through her name(s) alone.

Anyone else picking up a rather demeaning tone coming from that last part? Cuz I'll tell you, the familiar use of the vague "Americans" does little to hide the fact that this user is directing this at Black Americans. I understand there are demographics that are hardly given any respectable representation in mainstream media. What I don't buy is how we gotta frame this as though Black people got enough of it as is. Not just Black Americans, but the entire diaspora.

It makes it all the more ironic, given how this person seems to have forgotten the existence of Afro-Arabs, who are always left out of these discussions. Or the fact that both Aisha and Layla, and most Arabic names, are very much common to find in Black communities. I should know, my African-American Studies professor, Ms. LAYLA, had us look into this for a project. I already talked about the absurdity of this position, it’s just...the mental gymnastics, it gotta be studied. Are we so desperate to claim Aisha isn’t Black that y'all are willing to forget basic geography? These are the same naming schemes, mind you, that everyone loves to mock Black people for!

Even if Aisha's racial coding had been ambiguous (it's not), there's no need for this animosity towards Black people and Blackness. But it doesn't stop here. While this Reddit user is pushing a non-Black Arab identity, fans usually try to claim Aisha is more so South Asian-coded. Strangely, some go as far as to use her association with her (former) boyfriend, Nabu, as evidence.

Just to get this out of the way: Nabu's racial coding IS deliberately ambiguous - much like Naveen from Princess and the Frog, this is Orientalism in practice. His design is a clash of various SWANA and East Asian aesthetics: he wears braided locs, wears a Chinese garment, performs wushu, and the only MoC to ever voice him has been a Black man. Is this enough evidence to state he's intentionally Black like Aisha? Admittedly, no, but that’s the frustrating aspect of his character. The creators weren’t committed to making him any specific brown ethnicity that they threw in for his design. Studios just do this, especially the European kind. Look at Alex from Totally Spies, who was made ambiguous so “every brown girl could feel seen through her.” A nice way of saying they didn’t want to create different characters of color among their predominantly white cast. “Nabu is a South Asian name, though!” Don’t make me bring out another map. I knew a Naveen back in our Black Film Club, and he's from Ethiopia. We share some cultural likeness for a reason; it's not the end of the world. But this is the reactive behavior I'm talking about.

Constantly, there's this animosity aimed at Black fans for daring to recognize aspects of our cultures in characters that are, once again, deliberately ambiguous. Like the mere implication that Black people share cultural similarities with another group, is revolting in nature. And yet, when it comes to an intentionally Black-presenting character like Aisha, everyone is simply free to interpret other racial identities they feel would be more fitting. And as Black people, we are expected to grant grace to those who are openly ignorant, excluding us from our cultures. Meanwhile, the offending party will have no shame in asking for forgiveness, right after insinuating some rather colorist remarks about our features. Or they use AAVE, and do not capitalize that "B" before telling us how silly it is to presume a character is Black. Is that not weird? I find it weird. A simple, "This character is more likely to be xyz," is enough to get your point across. No need to sound as deranged and hostile as white people, flabbergasted, that other cultures have stories about mermaids.

Going back to Nabu, though: why is he ambiguous in the first place? Not saying the show didn't need more different groups of poc, but it's not like they had a lot of Black people to begin with. Aisha wasn't even a character in the first Season.

Like Princess Tiana, Aisha was promoted as a new prominent Black girl for the sake of diversity! While she's certainly pretty and has an amazing storyline (until they forget it), she doesn't seem to interact with any other Black characters aside from her family. When you rewatch the early seasons of Winx Club, you do pick up on the severe lack of Black characters, even in the backgrounds. At best, you see people with brown skin, but we know by now that ain't enough.

This is why some fans even speculate that the only reason Aisha came into existence was to act as damage control for this infamous Season 1 scene.

Adding Aisha was a step in the right direction, but it shouldn't have just ended with her and her rarely shown family. They included more Black background characters in later seasons, but not without lightwashing Aisha, and/or turning her aggressive. That's why Nabu's inclusion didn't feel like a genuine attempt by the series to diversify itself. We could have had a silly, kind, and doting Prince boyfriend for Aisha, who was intended to be Black. But like Prince Naveen, it doesn't seem like the creators could envision those traits in a Black boy. That, or they figured the Black girl was more than enough for us to be grateful for.

It's funny when you think about how much of the series' iconic Y2K fashion was pioneered by Black Americans. With the way Rainbow struggled to get the look of their new show before incorporating this trend, you'd think they'd be obligated to include Black characters from day 1.

Now Nabu will always be Blasian to me. Despite being a prominent character, he died and was horribly treated by the narrative and fans. I think that earns him the Black Card by default. But even if he wasn't Black, why would anyone assume Aisha had to be the same race as her boyfriend for them to somehow make sense as a pair? We don't question this with Musa (Asian-coded) and Riven? I doubt anyone questioned this when Aisha got together with that white boy (I don't care enough to look up his name). What's with these absurd standards that are consistently put in question when it comes to Black characters?

If there’s anything these extreme speculations of Blackness have in common, it's that they all try to establish an in-universe explanation to argue against the existence of Black people. Almost as though we are so detached from the concept of a human being, there'd be no way to figure out how to include us at all.

If you follow @creatingblackcharacters, you’ve most likely seen this blog get asked PLENTY of questions on how to go about writing Black mermaids. Most of them ask how Black people’s hair fares underwater, and which hairstyles are most suitable for Black mermaids (hypothetically). These questions likely might bear no ill will, but they do come off rather odd, to say the least. You have to wonder if these same questions have ever been asked about white mermaid characters in pop culture.

Cuz it seems that for white mermaids, we can all reason, “mermaids aren’t real, so there’s more freedom to style their hair however they want.” That's cool, but why can’t the same be applied to Black mermaids? It’s not like Black hair irl is so extremely different that it operates under a different realm of hair physics. Our hair isn't intimidating to style unless YOU actively decide not to put in the research - but that goes for anything. It wouldn't even matter, given that all mermaids in media have unrealistically beautiful hair that always seems to cooperate in water. Regardless of race, artists should have already looked into how hair irl behaves when fully submerged. All of us, as real human beings, have to follow rigorous hair-care routines if we plan to swim repeatedly in salty oceans and chlorine-filled pools. Don't expect your hair to come out luscious and untangled after any water-related activity.

In case you’re wondering, yes, the occasional fan would ask how Aisha keeps her (Black) hair so "well-kept" for someone who enjoys swimming. It probably has something to do with her magical powers being water/ocean-related. But maybe, just maybe, it’s because she’s an animated cartoon character. Yet again, are these the sort of questions we ask of the white fictional beings? Do we ask how animated!Ariel's hair could possibly stay untangled and out of her face? It might be a passing thought, but it's nothing worth scratching your brain over. They're cartoons.

Plus, Winx Club is a magical girl show. Don't try applying real-world logic, you'll get dizzy from their transformations alone.

In spite of how often this stereotype gets debunked: Yes, Black people can swim. I’ve brought it up before on my Sonic post. The only reason you don't see Black people at pools or at beaches often is because of racism. Tired of hearing that? Imagine how we feel constantly experiencing it. Black locals can't even access their own beaches without white tourists/residents getting nervous. Public pools aren't always accessible either.

But no matter how much effort is put into separating us from the waves, we find ways to reestablish that connection. Sometimes that can look like providing snorkeling and swimming lessons for other Black people. Other times, that can be us teaching the history of our communities' relationship with water sports. We can also just really like sharks, or save our oceans through the power of MerMagic!

Realistically, wouldn't you assume all these Black/Caribbean/African coastal societies would have to know how to swim for their daily activities?

And why do you think we have so many stories of Black mermaids and water deities spread across the diaspora? It’s not like the concept of aquatic people is that original. The reality is that through European colonization efforts, everyone has been taught to see African beliefs as demonic and not meant to be celebrated.

There’s a sort of irony in how Black people have always been treated as something inhuman, yet are still told we aren’t best suited to play as these mythical creatures.

Could it be because these mythical characters still, in a way, invoke themes of humanity? Sure, there are the escapism aspects, but at the end of the day, characters like Aisha are very human. Beyond the fairy-mermaid princess aspect, she's a young woman who likes to dance, has fears, and wants to hang out with her friends.

As we constantly discuss on here, white (and even some non-Black) people find it difficult to relate to Black characters, because they don't perceive our humanity. Whiteness is assumed to be the default in storytelling, so there's often a period of disbelief whenever a story doesn't revolve around it. At times, this leads to violent reactions towards those who disturb this status quo.

For any privileged group used to seeing themselves everywhere, perhaps being aware that those you've "othered" have been people all along, sounds frightening.....oh well. Cope and do better.

Black people can be fairies, merfolk, or whatever generalized mythical beings you'll find in our legends, too. You can try to throw in "logic" all you want, you still sound dumb.

Was it really ever about keeping the sanctity of mythological creatures pure and true, or was it simply about keeping them white?