# Are you a Brony? (AKA, are you a male who watched My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2015, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180 "2015-02-20T08:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/21 "2015-02-20T23:03:04Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I’m not even bothering to voe. > > I’m just curious as to whether there really ARE any “Bronies.” I’m not at all convinced. You think they are hiring actors to go to the conventions? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/22 "2015-02-20T23:08:32Z")
I’ve never seen an episode of it, nor do I know any “Bronies,” that I know of, in real life. My only awareness of this subculture is pretty much from this board. (I don’t know if it’s quite the same thing, but when I lived abroad where the only English language programming I had was CNN, BBC World News, and Cartoon Network, the Powerpuff Girls did quickly become one of my favorites.) ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/23 "2015-02-20T23:47:41Z")
I didn’t vote because, no offense to the **OP** , their definition of “Brony” is different then what I’m used to from my daughters, who have Brony friends. A Brony isn’t a male who watches and enjoys My Little Pony any more then somebody who watches and enjoys Star Trek (TOS) is a Trekkie. I’ve watched MLP:FiM with both my daughters. I’ve also watched the second Equestria Girls movie by myself. It’s not a bad cartoon and I think it’s better then many “adult” sitcoms, but to be a Brony, you have to go beyond that. If you don’t own (or want to own) MLP merchandise; if you haven’t written or looked for MLP fanfic; if you haven’t engaged in multiple MLP conversations/debates/arguments online or IRL, you’re not a Brony. Just my $.02 - DESK ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/24 "2015-02-21T02:14:43Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I’ve seen a couple of episodes and honestly don’t see the appeal. I get why a little girl would like it. Anyone older, I’m lost. Were they My Little Pony Classic, from the 80s and 90s, or the new ones? The new ones are also aimed at adults, not just kids. I am not a Brony but my daughter has been engaged to two that I know of. And she insists the term is now applicable to ALL MLP-FIM fans, male or female. I’ll take her word for it. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/25 "2015-02-21T05:29:12Z")
I forced myself to watch some of it. Not terrible, but why don’t they draw their faces to look like ponies? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/26 "2015-02-21T08:36:22Z")
I was at some point. I was doomed to like the show because I love cute shit, and I like cartoons. I have a huge stuffed animal collection including 4-5 Pooh Bears ferchrissake. I’ve watched fewer cartoons recently, but I still watch the odd Adventure Time and the like when the urge strikes me. Basically, I was right dab in the unintended peripheral audience. I ended up getting a wallet (now replaced) and a few figurines for Pathfinder (my friend really wanted to do a MLP Pathfinder campaign so I figured I’d humor him and get a few figures to go with it, and hey, cute). I just… couldn’t after a while. The show got steadily worse after Season 2 and became what I felt was typical kids show dreck that treats the audience like an idiot by season 4, which I stopped watching after an episode. But by far the main problem was that the community got so loud, obnoxious, insular, and kind of creepy that I really, really wanted absolutely nothing to do with it anymore. It’s the best case study on the [Geek Social Fallacies](http://www.plausiblydeniable.com/opinion/gsf.html) I’ve ever seen. The community bends over backwards so hard to be “inclusive” that it tolerates pretty much any bad behavior as long as you at least kind of like an above average show for children. It’s so “inclusive” that it tolerates all manner of misogyny, hatred, thinly-veiled pedophilia, and so on. I put most of it down to the initial reaction. It went memetic so fast and hard that a lot of places banned it. Some of the initial blowback was definitely a bit of implicit sexism against a “show for girls” being popular, but a lot of it was justified because people would not shut up about it. Regardless, it caused the community to develop a bit of a persecution complex which I think directly lead to its current state. You just can’t criticize the community without being one of “them”, so it leads to a sort of overly permissive awfulness. Sometimes hugboxes create bad rather than good. I by no means condemn every single Brony, many of them are okay, if perhaps a bit awkward and lacking in courage calling out the more vocally bad parts of the community. I know several in real life that got together and did a ton of real charity work, just in honor of the show’s message, even! Of course, local Brony clubs/groups are going to differ in awfulness as well, depending on the courage and makeup of the members of those individual groups. But “the community” as a sort of holistic global entity has gotten a bad reputation for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/27 "2015-02-21T08:49:43Z")
Since the term “Brony” isn’t in the dictionary yet, I was going by [what this site](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Brony) (Urban Dictionary) defined it as. It has a few definitions on there, but the overall concept seems to be the same, that a Brony is anyone who watches or is a fan of the show. I guess the whole “getting really deep into that culture” happening isn’t necessarily a prerequisite…but then again, it is Urban Dictionary and hardly the best cite for anything. I can definitely understand people who enjoy the show not considering themselves bronies too. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/28 "2015-02-21T09:18:32Z")
Do I count as a Brony for absolutely loving videos like this? (NSFW for language) https://www.youtube.com/embed/WwN5cb7vJhU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=LLhF-3hfYICxNhWTjWNh3LPw ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/29 "2015-02-21T21:17:13Z")
I probably could be, but I get leery of shows that seem overly addicting. I’m not good with self restraint. ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/30 "2015-02-21T21:55:22Z")
Bronies are budding pedophiles who take a fun and wholesome children’s show and turn it into their sexual fetish. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/31 "2015-02-21T21:58:11Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > Bronies are budding pedophiles who take a fun and wholesome children’s show and turn it into their sexual fetish. But comments like this make me want to watch it. Someone likes something I don’t. They must be horrible people! You don’t seem to get the finger you point at others is actually pointing back at you. ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/32 "2015-02-21T22:17:48Z")
No but I watched the Snorks. I watched a little bit of the Care bears. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/33 "2015-02-22T00:19:20Z")
I gave it three or four episodes. It seems like a very well-made show, but didn’t strike a chord with me. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/34 "2015-02-22T00:38:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t know if it’s quite the same thing, but when I lived abroad where the only English language programming I had was CNN, BBC World News, and Cartoon Network, the Powerpuff Girls did quickly become one of my favorites. The creator of Friendship is Magic actually was a storyboard artist, writer, and director for some of the Powerpuff Girls’ run. (She’s married to the guy who created PPG too) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/35 "2015-02-22T22:47:17Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But comments like this make me want to watch it. Someone likes something I don’t. They must be horrible people! You don’t seem to get the finger you point at others is actually pointing back at you. This is a possibly unnecessary clarification, but, just in case, I want to tell you that I’m not talking about the rest of you who have voiced legitimate problems with the community. Over-inclusiveness is a real problem in any disdained community, as is overcompensating by being obnoxious. It’s just that this guy called fans of a TV show pretty much the most disdainful thing you can be. I also have a thing about making fun of someone’s kink, and I was _this_ close to doing one of those rants that people hate–it was all typed up but I didn’t press Submit. I hope this post wasn’t already too much. But I came back to the thread and realized my post didn’t read as well as I thought it did yesterday. I promise to try to not make this a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/36 "2015-02-22T23:18:49Z")
I have a 4 year old daughter, I have watched plenty. All things being equal its a better show than most aimed at that age. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/37 "2015-02-23T00:11:52Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > The creator of Friendship is Magic actually was a storyboard artist, writer, and director for some of the Powerpuff Girls’ run. (She’s married to the guy who created PPG too) She also created Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/38 "2015-02-23T14:47:47Z")
**Reverse** - This is absolutely unacceptable in a Cafe Society thread. Suggesting people who enjoy a show are pedophiles is at best threadshitting and at worst insulting and is absolutely jerkish behavior. Do not post comments like this again. **Warning Issued** > [@Reverse](#): > > Bronies are budding pedophiles who take a fun and wholesome children’s show and turn it into their sexual fetish. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/39 "2015-02-23T14:59:37Z")
Never seen it myself, but my 13 yo Aspergian son is completely obsessed. He is probably the most avid reader of FIM fanfic in the world. Like seriously…2-3 hours per day reading other people’s fics. In vetting the site for appropriateness for him, I was skeeved and dismayed at how much erotic fanfic there was - of the pony-on-pony variety, the human-on-pony variety, and the “in this story, there’s a magic spell that turned [name of pony] into a human for just one day…so that he could have sex with a human character who is in no way a proxy for the author” variety. I wouldn’t put it as indelicately as **Reverse** , but. Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180/40 "2015-02-23T18:59:28Z")
I’m a Brony. Generally, the term is for guys who are outside of the demographic (elementary school aged girls) who watch and enjoy the shows. For adult women, the technical equivalence is “Pegasister”. Its a great show that adults can enjoy but it never forgets that its a kid’s show. Thus it will never be Breaking Bad, it won’t deal with suicide or drugs or stuff like that. Its about friends and friendship, as the title says. Most episodes have some kind of a moral that’s spelled out for the kids in a voiceover that adults might find too obviously obnoxious, but remember this is a show directed at kids. For what its worth, plenty of accusations of pedophilia and bestiality are correct, as the numerous Rule 34 fan art shows. But there are a lot of people who enjoy it purely because its a funny show, well-written, and they probably like the “forbidden” pleasure of saying they like something that they’re not “supposed” to like due to their age and gender. The internet has a tendency to pervert anything, its annoying that people consider the X-rated stuff for MLP any worse than Rule 34 drawings of literally anything show. I suspect a couple of things: 1) that the popularity of MLP increases the number of such art so it seems more prevalent, 2) the fact that most characters are girls and so there are more targets to sexualize, and 3) the show is aimed towards 7 year old girls and people like the shock value of sexualizing something that’s wholesome. What I do credit the vast Brony and Pegasister fanbase is the explosion of popularity of MLP that can only be achieved by a demographic that has the time and money to spend on expanding the revenue stream of the show. Hasbro knows the adults buy a lot of stuff, so beyond just the smaller pony figurines typically targeted for kids are more expensive, larger and detailed pieces that come with targeting an audience that can spend hundreds of dollars on toys. I do think that show’s life has been extended tremendously because of its adult fans. Brony conventions now soar in attendance to the thousands and MLP is the most watched show on Hasbro’s cable channel. That can’t be possible if most or even a significant portion of the fanbase are actually pedophiles or whatever people want to accuse us of. The show’s a lot of fun, its got singing, its got dancing, its got Pinkie Pie usually doing both of those things. And unlike a lot of shows directed towards children, its not completely episodic. Big events spanning the whole season happens, not to the extent of something like Breaking Bad, but enough so that episodes aren’t just isolated from each other. You feel a bigger world exists when you watch for a while, its smartly written. And if that’s still not your cup of tea, that’s fine, but don’t accuse us of things we’re not. Some of us are, most of us aren’t, that’s the same of any fanbase. > [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I forced myself to watch some of it. Not terrible, but why don’t they draw their faces to look like ponies? You mean like [this?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igho4QohaNQ) MLP: FIM is a new generation with new art. Its anime inspired. You can see that in the larger eyes. Ponies are more expressive now in this form than they can be with a more horse-like face. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-brony-aka-are-you-a-male-who-watched-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/713180.md?page=3)