Bronies! Are you ashamed of yourself? - UPDATED

[Folji]

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.

How did you become the manliest man just from a poster? Did you roll it up and beat marauding wolves to death with it or something?

Nah, I just proved that liking ponies doesn't mean you're gay. Really, you might not associate liking it with being gay, which is a good thing since the majority of the show's male followers aren't gay. But whenever whenever someone brings it up some place, it doesn't take long before wild accusations of homosexuality or mental illness start rolling in. Because grown men who like a little girls' show about ponies? No way they can be mentally stable.

 

[Dtox333]

I don't feel ashamed about my fandom, I'm actually really enthusiastic about it, but I make sure not to be overbearing to other people. It's something that I tread lightly about as well, though, since not everyone is full blown "yeah, I can see someone liking that," and some reactions that I've gotten range from mild to extreme.

Also, the way you described yourself as liking warhammer 40k (and the table top) I just found a little funny. In no way would I have felt ashamed of that, and anyone who gave me shit about it I would tell to shut their face up. I actually talk very openly about things like warhammer 40k.

EDIT: I WILL say that the first time I got into MLP it was very confusing, and I didn't want anyone else knowing that I liked to watch it. The whole "This is for girls, this is for boys" thing had been pushed into my head for years, and now it was all crumbling down as I had gotten into something (which I couldn't stop watching) that defied ALL of that.

For a good while I did feel a sense of shame, but I got over that feeling the more I hung out with fans.

 

[Charli]

Casually told my parents I watched it, that it's pretty funny.

Am I a brony? Nope not really, I just like good cartoons, that's common knowledge, and if it gets my stamp of approval it usually gives the rest of my family with kids free reign to check it out.

So no, I don't care. Never have.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

That depends. Does Transformers: Prime feature characters with the emotional and behavioural development of eight year old girls?

I'd argue that Miko (despite being 15) acts like she's 8 years old.

Do you see people talk about how hot Megatron is?

You're really not familiar with Transformers fandom, are you? Because, short answer 'Yes' and long answer 'Yes, and I see him most commonly shipped with Starscream and/or Optimus Prime'.

The only one who gets more talk about being hot is Starscream, who is the target of many a fangirl fantasy. Also the legions of self-insert femmebots who exist solely for the purpose of being dominated by Megatron OR Starscream (or really just about anyone since the character roster is like 99% male) is just staggering.

 

[Timberwolf0924]

Snip

Who could not like this??

Someone my age shouldn't laugh at this as much as I did

whats a brony?

na really though I don't care. I had a fluttershy decal I made on my 04 STI and I was thinking about putting one on my Denali..

 

[Evine]

No, but there was some conflict when i started watching the series, "I'm watching ponies, how can this be" I never would have believe this could happen, but now it was. Not from an observatory perspective, but I participated in it. A unlikely theoretical possibility, trusted upon my name. I couldn't put my mind to rest on that issue for months, but to (from memory) quote Meghan McCarthy, a writer on the MLP:FiM series: "We sit up here in Vancouver writing these big and complex episodes, full of structure, clever jokes. And suddenly you're reminded that these are dancing little ponies". To see the creators of show having the exactly the same feeling as me, really, puts my minds to rest.


I am proud to say that i can enjoy My little pony: friendship is magic without the preconception of it being girly affecting my view. And when i say I'm proud of the fandom, I mean what good it has done, And that is what both me and you should care about.

A false representation, of something valuable.

 

[Mr Binary]

Why would I be ashamed? It's what I enjoy and it's not really anyone else's business. People can try to make me feel ashamed, but really... who cares? I like a cartoon, yeah.

 

[Radoh]

Because the "girly show" you're referring to features horses with the behaviour of five year olds. Transformers, on the other hand, paints its main characters as adults. A grown man watching little girls letting their imagination go wild is simply wrong.

Really? With that statement I know for a fact that you've not even given it a passing glance, considering they do not behave as five year olds.
The simple incorrectness of that statement is hilarious in fact, there is maybe one of the mane six that you could argue acts as a child, that being Pinkie Pie, though even then that's really stretching it. Five of them own property (the other one rents), two of them own businesses, and another is essentially a government worker.
So yeah.

 

[Loop Stricken]

But those characters are considered adults. Are the main characters of MLP adults?

Probably about as adult as any disparate collection of 18-25 year olds, yes.

 

[Folji]

Because eight-year old boys will frequently play with Barbies and say their favourite colour is pink?

Of course young girls understand femininity. When I was five I used to recoil at the thought of playing with a Barbie and my niece told a boy off recently for playing with a Barbie because "That's a girls toy!". She's three.

That has nothing to do with femininity.

Actually, it kind of does. Well, concept of it anyhow. When you're talking of femininity you're talking of something preferably attributed to females, like if you say a Barbie doll is for girls then you're branding the doll as feminine. If a three year old can look at that doll and say that boys shouldn't be playing with it because it's for girls, then that three year old understands the basics of feminine and masculine.

Wibbly wobbly definitions and stuff. Funny how girls expressing masculinity is praised while guys expressing femininity is scorned, like girls into guns versus guys into... I don't know, fashion? Hairdressing? And the majority of the show's cast are actually adults, probably early 20 something if you're gonna compare to to a person.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Because the "girly show" you're refering to features horses with the behaviour of five year olds. Transformers, on the other hand, paints its main characters as adults. A grown man watching little girls letting their imagination go wild is simply wrong.

I love how you can make judgements about a show you clearly have not seen based on how incorrect your assumptions are.

It's also astounding how even though the nature of this thread makes it so that MLP fans are the only ones that apply, you felt it necessary to come on in and tell everyone how ashamed you are of all of them.

My suggestion is that you actually research the topic you are discussing before making such statements in the future. It is a good way to make yourself appear more reputable.

That and perhaps not comment on forums when you dont have anything to contribute to the discussion.

 

[AngloDoom]

I could say that "bronies" are mostly pedophiles, which would probably be an accurate remark, but I refrain from doing so because I know how sensitive you lot are.

I just realised you replied back to my post from a while back when I asked for us to discuss this in a civil manner. I read through all your replies and since then you've gone and called an entire fandom sexually deviant because of their viewing tastes, while continuously telling us that we are completely ignorant by nitpicking spelling and rolling your eyes indeterminately without explaining why we are so wrong.

If you're not a troll then you're thoroughly ignorant and I came to this thread to get fresh perspectives and discuss the fandom in an adult manner: if you're totally incapable of shaking off your ridiculous prejudices to keep things civil then I see no reason to discuss this further.

So, are you willing to tell me specifically why it is wrong for grown men to enjoy a show about ponies? A show where the characters are adults, created by an adult, to cater mostly to children but also grasp the attention of adults?

I'm not even going to address the accusations of paedophilia since it's just as productive as me claiming you're a sheltered homophobe based on what you've said before.

Honestly, I know this is the internet but can we try and pretend for a moment this isn't so we can actually talk rather than lock horns to show the internet who's the alpha Escapist?

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

As far as I can tell (me not being a brony and having never seen the show), liking or disliking MLP is not a 'nerd' attribute. It seems about half and half honestly. Personally I don't care which is which, and many others don't either. As for why you would even make this thread, let alone name it such, is beyond me.

 

[C. Cain]

The next time you try to look badass by using a word that sounds complicated at the very least look for one that is actually in the English dictionary.

I think you'll find that even a cursory glance at any given English online dictionary will prove you <link=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irrelevant>wrong.

I could say that "bronies" are mostly pedophiles, which would probably be an accurate remark, but I refrain from doing so because I know how sensitive you lot are.

How delightfully dishonest of you. That said, however, your insults are neither as clever nor as veiled as you may think. But that's to be expected from someone who tries to argue semantics simply for the sake of arguing.

I tried giving you all a fair chance to explain yourselves (...)

No, no you really didn't.

(...) but so far I have yet to be given a compelling argument to justify why grown men would enjoy watching five year olds run around the countryside doing whatever.

There is no reason for them to justify themselves. Especially not to you.

EDIT: Irrespective of your blatantly deliberate and almost slanderous misinterpretation of what they allegedly enjoy.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Irrelevant.

The next time you try to look badass by using a word that sounds complicated at the very least look for one that is actually in the English dictionary.

I think you will find that 'irrelevant' is actually in any English dictionary you care to name dude.

I could say that "bronies" are mostly pedophiles, which would probably be an accurate remark, but I refrain from doing so because I know how sensitive you lot are.

Dude, are you okay? I get that this whole 'brony' thing baffles you and you want no part of it. Cool, suits us all. I'm just starting to think this isn't about MLP at all, you're just really fucking angry and need a target.

Its a cartoon. I think its funny. This isn't some Illuminati conspiracy to destroy the world or anything.

 

[Genocidicles]

Awesome! Someone posted this piece of bullshit again!

Read this . . .

The creator of the show is saying right there that she created it, not just for girls, but for adults as well.

So you're wrong, once again.

I'm sick of people posting that crap. Of course she would say that after Bronies became a thing. What do you think would happen if she said "Yeah! It was made entirely for little girls, and I haven't the slightest idea why these guys on the internet took such a liking to it."

The tv show for MLP is essentially a twenty minute advertisement for the toys (Along with Transformers and all the other tv shows backed by Hasbro). The toys which are aimed exclusively at little girls.

Now this might have changed for the second and third seasons (now that Bronies are a thing), but I bet you anything that when Hasbro commissioned them to make the first season, it was aimed at little girls.

 

[Taunta]

I'm confused as to why our instinctive reaction is to be reticent about one geeky thing but not the others.

Oh i see where you went wrong: MLP is not geeky, its a tv show for 7 year old girls, made exclusively to sell toys. I can see why you could mistake this as geeky as there are similarities, but only in the same way that a blue car & a blue plane are similiar... They both have wheels & are blue.

As for the idea that bronies should be ashamed of themselves: Yes... Yes you should be ashamed that there is now a gender age discrepency of intended target versus actual audience. You should be ashamed that you can't stopping fucking talking about ponies. You should be ashamed that you can't stop co-opting every other fandom into ponies... But frankly not anymore then furfags & anime otaku fanboys who never shut up about there favourite fandom...

I mean i enjoy Young Justice, but i don't feel the need to talk about it every day: I don't make young justice versions of Doctor Who, or young justice memes & its not my TF2 spray.

So i suppose you could say I HATE BRONIES: Not because they like a tv show for 7 year old girls, but because they cannot shut the fuck up about a tv show for 7 year old girls. Please just shut the fuck up about it... Honestly, thats all any of us ask.

I'm a brony and I don't talk about MLP all day every day. Could it be that instead of everyone talking about it all the time, you are wandering into distinctly pony-themed areas of the internet, and complaining when people talk about ponies?

Secondly, if people want to talk about stuff that interests them, that is frankly none of your business. If it really bothers you that much (which I don't see why it should) then you could always just exit the conversation.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

Awesome! Someone posted this piece of bullshit again!

Read this . . .

The creator of the show is saying right there that she created it, not just for girls, but for adults as well.

So you're wrong, once again.

I'm sick of people posting that crap. Of course she would say that after Bronies became a thing. What do you think would happen if she said "Yeah! It was made entirely for little girls, and I haven't the slightest idea why these guys on the internet took such a liking to it."

The tv show for MLP is essentially a twenty minute advertisement for the toys (Along with Transformers and all the other tv shows backed by Hasbro). The toys which are aimed exclusively at little girls.

Now this might have changed for the second and third seasons (now that Bronies are a thing), but I bet you anything that when Hasbro commissioned them to make the first season, it was aimed at little girls.

Just because it is made to sell stuff for little girls doesn't mean the show itself can't be aimed at other people as well. Where'd you get that idea? No one's denying that it's directed at little children to sell them toys, but that doesn't mean it can't be aimed at other people as well.

 

[Taunta]

No. Why should I be? I have a Fluttershy shirt that I tie-bleached and I wear it a lot. It looks neat. But then again, I have shirts for practically every nerd interest in mine. I find they're great conversation starters. Plus it's a good way to meet people who share your interests without being all "I don't mean to pry, but you wouldn't happen to like ponies?"

MLP is just a cartoon. As far as I'm concerned, it is no different than watching Spongebob, Adventure Time, or Ed Edd n Eddy, all shows that I've never heard this level of hatred towards the fans of.

Also I am so beyond the point of caring what people think about the things I like. Whateva whateva, I do what I want.

Edit: If your sensibilities are so easily offended that you can't even stand the thought that someone else likes something that you don't, then you need a reality check. Other people are going to have different interests than you do. Get over it.