Are Rainbow Dash and Applejack feminine?

[Azureth 686]

Would you say RD and AJ are feminine or have feminine traits or would you say they are more masculine?

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,151]

I really have a hard time using either term for both characters. If anything, they probably don't use either term and the truth probably lies in the middle.

 

Dash is more of a tomboy while AJ is a country girl; but those term don't universally align with being masculine or feminine. That likely depends on personal preference those.

 

Personally I wouldn't use either term. As a said, tomboy/country girl seem more appropriate.

[Cloud Strife 928]

Of course they have feminine traits. They are girls, after all; they have eye lashes, like some girly things, etc.

 

It's just that people and ponies aren't usually 100% in one way or the other.

[Mouse 302]

If we are going by masculine and feminine stereotypes, then both would probably be considered more masculine. But honestly I wouldn't put them under either category; they do what they want and if it happens more masculine or feminine then so be it.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Mouse

[Red Cedar 1,406]

Of the two, Applejack seems the more feminine by far. She saves it for when she's not working, though. However, Rainbow Dash does have some feminine qualities to her from time to time. She just doesn't let them show often (like in Just for Sidekicks, where Dashie specifically checks all around to make sure no one was looking before giving Tank a goodbye noserub).

[Silver Letter 1,830]

They don't really show any "feminine" qualities but are both "feminine" in their own way.

[Dingo_Dash 1,401]

First time i attemped to see MLP i thougt they were male characters! AJ looks like a farm\cowboy and uses a kind of "southerner" (no offence to anypony) accent and various slags too. She works very hard all the day looking masculine and doesn't have significant elements that evidence her femminility, eccept maybe, for the long ponytale.

RD loves to use dark sunglasses that gives her a masculine aspect too. She has a "mohican" o "punk" style rainbow-colored crest and tail. Loves challenges and speed, her body has a color wich usually, in the real world, is used to identify a male subject. Simply she acts without a pick of femminility, it's a "tomboy" (lesbian? Again, no offence to anypony).

[Pastel 7,627]

They're quite masculine though, especially Rainbow Dash whose gender can easily be confused.

They do have feminine traits, but not much.

[Cloud Strife 928]

Loves challenges and speed, her body has a color wich usually, in the real world, is used to identify a male subject. Simply she acts without a pick of femminility, it's a "tomboy" (lesbian? Again, no offence to anypony).

 

It says something about our society when a certain color is associated with a gender, despite the fact that our interest in colors is divorced from that entirely.

 

Also, being a tomboy doesn't inherently mean you're a lesbian. Many lesbians are very feminine. That doesn't mean there aren't tomboy lesbians, of course, just that the trait is also divorced from sexual orientation.

 

Lastly, I wouldn't say that Rainbow acts "without a pick of femininity". She actually likes wearing the dress that she did, she's been more prone to sap nowadays than she used to, and she's not against bright, stereotypically female colors. In fact, Rainbow doesn't seem to be all that much against girlishness at all, moreso against anything that might be uncool instead.

[Jammo 986]

A little actually. They are the least feminine though. I would hardly consider either of them butch.

[chirox the pony 1,334]

Why should they be considered either, why do we associate personality traits with (apologies for the expression) what's in between your legs, so I'd prefer to call them neither, they're just Rainbow Dash and Applejack. 

[Cloud Strife 928]

Why should they be considered either, why do we associate personality traits with (apologies for the expression) what's in between your legs, so I'd prefer to call them neither, they're just Rainbow Dash and Applejack. 

 

Actually, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with acknowledging there's a masculine and feminine side to things - a sort of yin-yang. The world is a bit more complicated than that of course with its multi-faceted nature, but categorizing is something humans do in order to understand their world better, and I'd say that's perfectly okay to do. Some people are more feminine, or masculine, than others. The problem, I think, is the fact that we see femininity as something that's gross or shameful, which neither Applejack nor Rainbow Dash demonstrate in the show canon. Applejack simply favors practicality and Rainbow Dash favors coolness/awesomeness/radicalness/whatever artificial term she came up for something above average. If femininity overlaps with that then they're okay with it.

[chirox the pony 1,334]

Actually, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with acknowledging there's a masculine and feminine side to things - a sort of yin-yang. The world is a bit more complicated than that of course with its multi-faceted nature, but categorizing is something humans do in order to understand their world better, and I'd say that's perfectly okay to do. Some people are more feminine, or masculine, than others. The problem, I think, is the fact that we see femininity as something that's gross or shameful, which neither Applejack nor Rainbow Dash demonstrate in the show canon. Applejack simply favors practicality and Rainbow Dash favors coolness/awesomeness/radicalness/whatever artificial term she came up for something above average. If femininity overlaps with that then they're okay with it.

So stereotypes and gender roles are good? 

[Cloud Strife 928]

So stereotypes and gender roles are good? 

 

Stereotypes are bad. People conforming to stereotypes is not.

 

Gender roles are not necessarily terrible in theory, but in practice they turn out awful because people enforce them upon others. That being said, categorizing behaviors as feminine or masculine in nature doesn't have much to do with gender roles. Boys are capable of feminine behaviors and girls are capable of masculine behaviors. Gender expression doesn't have to match your actual gender.

 

This is straying off the topic, though. Point is, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both have feminine traits, but those traits do not define them. This goes as well for the perceived masculine traits they have.

[VitalSpark 1,830]

They each exhibit some masculine and some feminine traits. (As do most ponies, and indeed most people.)
 

 

 

 

 

lesbian? Again, no offence to anypony

 

Based on the ponies we see on screen, Equestria's population is around 70% female. So my headcanon says that bisexuality and lesbianism are fairly common amongst female ponies.

[Megas 27,050]

I think they are feminine. They just also happen to exhibit traits that are considered masculine too.

 

So basically they're both

[Guest]

I really have a hard time using either term for both characters. If anything, they probably don't use either term and the truth probably lies in the middle.

 

Dash is more of a tomboy while AJ is a country girl; but those term don't universally align with being masculine or feminine. That likely depends on personal preference those.

 

Personally I wouldn't use either term. As a said, tomboy/country girl seem more appropriate.

I came here to post a similar viewpoint. However, you have beat me to it and put it so perfectly....  so all I can say is that I agree! I wouldn't use such terms to describe either RD or AJ.

[ManaMinori 4,143]

Of course they have feminine traits. They are girls, after all; they have eye lashes, like some girly things, etc.

 

It's just that people and ponies aren't usually 100% in one way or the other.

what does having eyelashes have to do with being feminine? Boys also have eyelashes. It's a necessary body part to keep crap out of our eyes.

[galaxysquid 2,121]

Applejack and RD are tomboys. With Applejack being more of a country girl. Yes, the can act masculine at times because that's just their personality! ^^

[Sipenda 66]

As a kid i grew up in a house hold of five female "Farmgirls". So looking at AJ Ihave no issues seeing her "feminin" side, its there its just under alot of dirt and sweat.  

 

Rainbow on the other hand im at a loss even after watching every episode 3-7 times and reading all the comics, I still have moments when Twilight will say "come on girls" and I go "Oh yeah RD is female".    Im not sure the "Tom Boy" title is fitting, but have yet to figure out exactly how I would lable her or if i even need too. So for RD im gonna just stick with she's 20% cooler and leave it at that. >P

[VitalSpark 1,830]

Boys also have eyelashes.

In real life, sure. Not on MLP though.

[Silver Letter 1,830]

 

 

She actually likes wearing the dress that she did

Rainbow Dash would never wear a dress unless she had to. It's not a bad thing that Dash doesn't express any stereotypically "feminine" traits. Fluttershy doesn't exhibit any "masculine" traits and that is okay.

[SteffieMusings 295]

I see both Applejack and Rainbow Dash more like tomboys, but they don't mind doing things that are considered girly, like that going to gala in the fashionable outfits Rarity made for them.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Steffie

[Silver Letter 1,830]

 

 

like that going to gala in the fashionable outfits Rarity made for them.

They did mind but even they know that the gala calls for formal attire.

[Shark Woona 169]

Lets just say they're the manliest ladies in the show and call it a day. I'll buy you some cookies for just being yourself. Love ya.