Bronies

            The bulk of this post actually comes from a cultural criticism paper I wrote for my creative nonfiction class this past semester. In case you just skipped the title, I’ll give you fair warning now that this post is about the incredibly strange Brony fandom and how I became a part of it. A friend of mine made me promise to put it on here and I figured if I’m going to alienate over half of my potential readership then why not get it over with.

            I can think of few moments when I feel more secure in my masculinity than when I am sitting with my computer and a voice sings from the speakers, “My little pony, my little pony…” After that admittedly girly opening theme is done, I’m immersed in twenty minutes of quality cartoon centered on the friendship of six ponies and their adventures in the land of Equestria.

Young men like me who watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic get more than a little grief. Let’s rewind a bit. In October of 2010, Hasbro launched a new take on their My Little Pony show based on the accompanying line of toys. The show last aired in the early 90’s and was remembered as a terrible cartoon that shamelessly marketed the toy franchise with cheap animation and poor plots. When the new My Little Pony aired in 2010, it quickly got the attention of those who remembered the awful predecessor and garnered some critical reviews. One such review caught the eye of some young adults on forums like 4chan, and they decided to check it out. Some of them fell in love with the show, took on the name brony (a combination of bro and pony or /b/rony depending on who you ask), and a cult following was born.

            By late 2011 the number of these followers, mostly men aged 15-30, had swelled tremendously, and my eighteen-year-old brother had stumbled across them and been snared by the cartoon ponies as well. When I came home for winter break, he was all too happy to try and share it with me, even if I was less than enthusiastic. I’m not certain what my exact response was the first time he asked me to watch MLP with him, but it was something along the lines of “No thanks, I like women.”

What I didn’t know was that after a couple weeks at home, one becomes a bit desperate for things with which to kill time. Having been worn down by my brother and seeing fairly funny MLP related content online, I looked up the first episode.

Honestly I wasn't hooked by the first few episodes, but nobody really is. The first episode was half of a two-part special, and when I found myself decently entertained I watched the next episode too. I continued clicking the “next episode” button for a little while until I realized I had watched ten episodes. Still I resisted, not telling anyone I’d watched it and trying to convince myself that just watching some of the show didn’t make me a brony; at this point I was what is referred to as a “closet-brony.” It wasn’t until a few weeks later when I found myself humming a song from the show as I walked to work that I was forced to accept that I was thoroughly hooked.

Since “joining the herd,” I haven’t exactly kept my love for the show a secret, but I don’t usually broadcast it either. My own introduction to the phenomenon displayed a pretty typical reaction. People tend to assume bronies are either homosexuals, pedophiles, or people with some other mental defect. While I obviously think there is nothing wrong with grown men enjoying a show targeting little girls, I will be the first to admit that it’s really weird.

To their unending credit, the makers of the show responded very positively to the unforeseen demographic the show had captured—once they managed to pick their jaws up off the floor. At one point they even released a promotional music video for the show that contained a direct shout-out to bronies. They’ve also taken to paying attention to trends in the fandom and playing to our interests. The most notable example is of a background pony who was first shown as cross-eyed, prompting bronies to nickname her Derpy Hooves. When the creators noticed the apparent animation prank and the fans’ reaction, they began placing her in the background more often and eventually gave her a short speaking role and officially named her Derpy—to the bronies’ unending delight.

Lauren Faust, the creator of MLP: FiM who has also worked on cartoons such as Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, has totally embraced the unexpected fan base. She has stated that the thing she has always disliked about cartoons designed for girls is that they only target little girls and can’t be enjoyed by anyone else. Unfortunately not everyone shares this philosophy on cartoons. The general response to bronies has, predictably, been a mix of confusion and disgust. Most people think there must be something wrong with a grown man who watches a show for little girls; it’s just not natural.

Well why not? Once I accepted that I thoroughly enjoyed the show and was in fact a brony, my next goal was to figure out why exactly I liked it so much. With all the negativity directed toward bronies, I needed to justify my interest in the show and be able to refute any arguments that say it’s wrong. People assume that bronies must be perverted, or that watching the show makes a male gay or somehow less of a man.

The popular argument is that it’s just unnatural for grown men to watch such a “girly” show without something being wrong with them. Having watched the entire series thus far and clearly investing a lot of thought into the subject, I’m willing to go out on a limb and consider myself something of an expert on My Little Pony. Despite the supposed girly nature of the show, I can’t find much that is objectively girly about it. What makes ponies- whether normal, pegasi, or unicorns- girly? Is the theme of friendship girly? Perhaps from a certain socially constructed viewpoint it is, but not objectively. Well, maybe the themes and issues presented in the content pertain to girls only? Not exactly.

Each of the six main characters could have her gender flipped and keep her main traits without it seeming off. The first is a bookworm, the second is all about having fun and partying, the third is an introvert who cares for animals, the fourth is obsessed with fashion and style, the fifth is a hardworking farmhand, and the sixth is a cocky athlete. Nothing in those descriptions is necessarily girly, or even feminine, and in fact some seem to fit male stereotypes better. The issues addressed in the show are the same; each episode wraps up with a moral about friendship that easily applies to either gender.

What confuses me most about the argument is that I’ve never seen a similar fuss raised about girls of any age watching cartoons targeting boys. In fact whenever a girl takes an interest in something that’s supposed to be for boys, such as video games or guns, it’s seen as desirable. The message sent by this seems clear: the feminine is undesirable and lower while the masculine is better and to be strived for.

Why has My Little Pony gained such a devoted following? I can think of many reasons: the animation is very well done, the music is fun and catchy, the plots are surprisingly well written, and the characters are relatable and entertaining. Once you add in the wonderful fan community and the creators who pay so much attention to them it’s no wonder so many get hooked. The community is possibly as big of a draw as the show itself. Bronies create everything from memes to fan-fiction to fan art to original music inspired by the show. A brony who looks into the community as well as the show will get all kinds of new art along with the show to enjoy.

One thing that keeps many of us in the fan base is the attitude of bronies. We revel in the fact that we managed to look past the first impression of a show like this and enjoy it anyway, and we rally under the motto “Love and Tolerate” as the main takeaway from the show. The more I think about it, the more trouble I have finding anything not to like in this wonderfully “girly” cartoon about a bunch of colorful ponies.