Bronies! Are you ashamed of yourself? - UPDATED

[Birdfalcon]

Why can't we all get along, I do admit i am a bit of a brony. Iv'e seen the rule 34 stuff and I am not ashamed to say I think the Anthro forms of the main cast is pretty hott espicaly RD and my favorite pony Fluttershy. My ponit is we are geeks and nerds united and are capable of uniting on a msssive front just look at the seX-box incident with mass effect 1 or the public outcry agianst SOPA and PIPA. Now stop playa hating....::Sighs:: fine...take it away Enterprise-D



http://youtu.be/7dzP78UhcJQ

 

[SonicWaffle]

My ponit is we are geeks and nerds united

That's the point - we aren't

Otherwise certain passtimes like MLP or Warhammer wouldn't be ostracised the way they are.

 

[Random Fella]

Kind of, I try to keep it secret as possible from anyone I know in real life, as far as I know it no one beyond the internet knows of it
Then again, I have gotten a bit more lazy about how I hide it, but to answer your question, yeah, a little bit, considering my idiotic ideals

I really do hate stumbling across more, disturbing fan images of the show, just kind of adds to it

 

[Radoh]

I don't see the point of being embarrassed or ashamed of it.
Yes I watch it, and yes I am totally hyped for season three on its way right now, so yeah.
Oh, and since I don't really hide it all of my friends know and don't really care, except the bizarre few who are also bronies.
Though there were three individuals who have not spoken to me since, which I find silly but oh well.

 

[Chrono212]

Nope.

I wear as many self-referential t-shirts, badges and hats as my body is physically able to handle.

WHICH IS OVER 9000!

I doubt that, unless they're really, really small badges...

I'm not fat! I'm just big boned/slow metabolism/fluid retaining!

 

[SonicWaffle]

Kind of, I try to keep it secret as possible from anyone I know in real life, as far as I know it no one beyond the internet knows of it
Then again, I have gotten a bit more lazy about how I hide it, but to answer your question, yeah, a little bit, considering my idiotic ideals

Now there's the response I was looking for!

So why do you hide it? Do you also hide the fact that you like video games, and any of the other traditionally nerdy pursuits you may enjoy? What is it tat makes you hide MLP specifically?

 

[SonicWaffle]

Nope.

I wear as many self-referential t-shirts, badges and hats as my body is physically able to handle.

WHICH IS OVER 9000!

I doubt that, unless they're really, really small badges...

I'm not fat! I'm just big boned/slow metabolism/fluid retaining!

Sure, Cartman. Sure...

 

[Random Fella]

Kind of, I try to keep it secret as possible from anyone I know in real life, as far as I know it no one beyond the internet knows of it
Then again, I have gotten a bit more lazy about how I hide it, but to answer your question, yeah, a little bit, considering my idiotic ideals

Now there's the response I was looking for!

So why do you hide it? Do you also hide the fact that you like video games, and any of the other traditionally nerdy pursuits you may enjoy? What is it tat makes you hide MLP specifically?

Someone in real life has a pretty biased view to these sorts of things, they see MLP as a little girls show and nothing more, whereas on the internet there's more of a vibe to not judge without first researching (Not a huge amount, but it's how you get common interests in the show, it is personally how I came to it also, out of curiosity for the love of such a show) Also because I care less of what someone on the internet thinks of me.

 

[Folji]

No shame of any sort, anywhere, no real point in it, just a little disappointed in modern society for still not getting that norms change and unusual doesn't mean bad. As in "X is for girls" isn't a constant fact and just because guys liking pretty colours and happy times is unusual doesn't mean it's bad.

But, of course, society likes to put things they don't understand in the same box as the mentally unstable, so it's not particularly tempting to tell the whole wide world about it. Then again, convincing others that liking ponies can be done without being gay has gone really well so far!

I don't get the impression it's even about gay or straight, it's about degrees of lameness. Like throwing someone to the wolves - we nerds can say to the general public "OK, so I read comic books, but that guy likes a cartoon about ponies - I'm cooler than him, right? I'm not the lowest rung of the ladder?"

It would be about lameness, yeah, but a show about ponies that's actually intended for little girls just instantly goes beyond "that's lame" and straight to "why would you watch that?". And since it's guys watching a show for girls, the next assumption that comes along is that they're gay. It's like a guy who prefers boy band music; it's supposed to appeal to the other gender. Just look at any time any news syndicate anywhere have made an article on the fandom and the revolving subculture: the reactions are gonna be split between not caring, finding it quirky, announcing the end of masculinity and recommending a good psychiatrist.

But hey, opinions can change. During college I kept a printed poster of Rainbow Dash on my dorm wall, and the first conclusion from a soon-to-be-friend was that I was gay. One month later I was the manliest man in the world and liking ponies was cool.

 

[Dangit2019]

Why would I feel ashamed in liking a cartoon? It's nobody else's business what I watch.

HAZY. This is the 2nd time you've shown up on these forums without a Vegeta-themed avatar. Do you realize how much that throws me off? I don't even like Dragonball, but ever since you switched to the new Borderlands avatar, I've assumed you were someone else because it wasn't Vegeta. YOU'RE TEARING ME APART HAZY!

OT: Not a brony, but no one should be ashamed of it, and also no one should shove the fact that they aren't ashamed of it in someone's face. That's my policy.

 

[Hazy992]

Why would I feel ashamed in liking a cartoon? It's nobody else's business what I watch.

HAZY. This is the 2nd time you've shown up on these forums without a Vegeta-themed avatar. Do you realize how much that throws me off? I don't even like Dragonball, but ever since you switched to the new Borderlands avatar, I've assumed you were someone else because it wasn't Vegeta. YOU'RE TEARING ME APART HAZY!

OT: Not a brony, but no one should be ashamed of it, and also no one should shove the fact that they aren't ashamed of it in someone's face. That's my policy.

Don't worry, this is Fiz_The_Toaster's avatar and I just swapped it temporarily. I'll be back to Vegeta soon enough

 

[Shadowstar38]

also no one should shove the fact that they aren't ashamed of it in someone's face. That's my policy.

Similar to Latin pride parades in New York. Those things can be offensive.

 

[klaynexas3]

Hi guys

I'm currently writing an article about arbitrary lines drawn within the geek community, wherein this is cool but that is uncool. You lot immediately leapt to mind (the bulk of the article is about Warhammer as a tabletop game, and how other nerds have looked down on me for trying it) as a marginalised group for liking a cartoon despite geek culture as a whole celebrating shows like Transformers or Thundercats. I felt weird playing Warhammer, as if I were doing something wrong or shameful, just because I experimented with a game considered "lame" by the mainstream, and even other nerds, but I can't figure out why one has been labelled better than the other. Neither I nor the friend I played with have discussed our Warhammer game with anyone for fear of ridicule, but considering we spent the rest of the day co-op playing Borderlands 2 and watching Doctor Who, I'm confused as to why our instinctive reaction is to be reticent about one geeky thing but not the others.

So my question to you, Brony chums, is whether you feel ashamed of your hobby or whether you revel in it? Do you discuss it openly with family and friends or do you restrict your pony-loving to forums or other forms of online interaction? Would you walk down the street in a Pinkie Pie t-shirt (I admit, I had to look the name up) or do you keep your preference a secret? Whichever way you answer, I'd like to ask why - if you feel safe publicaly admitting your tastes, do you ever face harassment for it? If you keep it as a dirty little secret, why? Do you think other people would look down on you?

DISCLAIMER, PLEASE READ - since I know that, sadly, there are people who will only see the title before responding, I want to make it clear that I'm not saying Bronies should be ashamed, I'm just asking about how individual Bronies feel about what they enjoy

I'm just curious about something, why is Warhammer 40K tabletop games frowned upon? I've seen it, hell, I even saw it at the Expo, and I thought it looked awesome. The only reason why I haven't touched it is the same reason why I haven't done Malifax, I'm poor. Well, I at least spend too much on video games and Magic to do much else, unless I tried to wing myself off something for a little while.

OT: Yes and no. You see, I go to high school, and while I don't entirely care about others' opinions, I don't wish to start a fight if I can avoid it. If one does start, it goes nuclear typically. One time on my old bus, these people found out my friend and I didn't believe in God, and the first words one of them said was "These n****s be worshippin' the devil!" I shit you not, that is exactly what they said. So, the next few months I spent cycling through wearing a pentagram necklace, chanting "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Phatagn!" playing songs by Cradle of Filth on my Ipod, and mostly just different variations of that. Granted, not the most mature approach, but definitly more satisfying than most other approaches. There were also other types of fights with these people, and in the end, I kicked one of their hands when they decided to make fun of my pants and were tugging on them, and then they said they were going to kick my ass. After two days, the one that I kicked smacked me in my head, sat down, and my friend and I never talked with them ever again. I'd rather not go through a similar situation.

 

[BeeGeenie]

Hmm... No, I wouldn't say I'm ashamed. I don't go out of my way to proclaim Bronydom! to anyone who'll listen, because it's not that big a deal. But if asked I wouldn't deny it. It's a show. I like it. Ain't no thang.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

No. Why should I be ashamed of something that is 100% legal, utterly harmless and largely done in my personal time that it shares with Judo, the Gym, WoW and my Wife?

 

[Trenya]

The way I see it, anything that doesn't hurt anyone else is perfectly ok. So I'm not ashamed to be a Brony and I'm perfectly fine with people enjoying mlp or anything else in any way they want to.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Bronies! Are you ashamed of yourself?

Briefly.
But about ten minutes after I've had a wank, it passes.

But a Pinkie Pie t-shirt? Nah, dood.
First of all, I don't have the body to be seen in public in a t-shirt! Secondly, not unless it's Pinkamena. Much rather have Twilight Sparkle, Vinyl Scratch or Queen Chrysalis.

I remember being at a WoW guild gathering and insisting that I watch the latest episode of MLP:FiM, because it was out that day and damn it I didn't want to miss out!

 

[Schtoobs]

When I was about 5 years old my mum bought me a My Little Pony (doll? toy?) complete with "real" hair and hair brush, Bubbles was it's name. I was ashamed even then. I haven't seen the new My Little Pony, don't recall seeing the original cartoon either for that matter. "Parents" eh?

So from a non-bronie perspective you guys are weird and your love for the cartoon equines is creepy. I think bronies get a lot of the hate because it could be construed that bronies just wanted a common interest and picked something extreme or contentious to make an elite social group out of. Kinda like an in joke or elaborate secret handshake.

We non-bronies wanna be in the cool club too dammit! We just don't want to have to pretend to like a cartoon that doesn't appeal to us. Pick any cartoon (not too girly) from the 80's and I'll wear the bloody t-shirt, maybe even without irony.

Disclaimer: I am not at all bitter about being bought a shitty MY Little Pony toy rather than M.A.S.K or Starcom toys... I'm just saying it didn't even have posable limbs. Crap. And despite the name, ponies have mane's just like horses not pony tails on their heads. Crapitty crap crap.

 

[Legion]

I wonder how many of the people who say that they are not would admit to liking it if asked in public or by a member of the preferred sex or in any situation where they might be openly criticised/mocked for liking it.

I am not implying that people should be ashamed, as people said, it's nobodies business. But it's easy to say that you aren't when anonymously discussing it with strangers, and for most people much more difficult to admit it in real life.

 

[Zeren]

I'm not ashamed at all. Why would someone be ashamed of enjoying something?