Will MLP ever be gender neutral?

[Empress Celestia]

Personally I think G1 came closest to this (at least with the show) but will Hasbro ever decide to appeal to both boys and girls, instead of only reluctantly doing so after a large male fandom springs up?

[Flitter]

Depends on what you mean exactly.
Do I think they'll change the show to appeal more to boys? Gosh I hope not, but some argue they already have (shoutouts, etc.).
Do I think they'll market the toyline differently? There is already a lot of merch. put out to appeal to Bronies, particularly licensed goods. Do I think we'll ever see a pony at a toy store with a little boy on the packaging or not in the "pink aisle"? Doubt it, because there isn't enough push from parents for this type of thing. I think there's always going to be a boys and girls section at stores and therefore always toys marketed as one or the other and that MLP will always fall into the "girls toy" category.

[Al-1701]

I don't know about gender neutral.  Maybe release some male ponies.  I personally would have preferred if the Big Brothers had been 2 of each earth, unicorn, pegasus (or 4 earth and one each of the other two which became a trend in 87) like other specialty sets.  However, I think it should remain predominantly female.

Also, as we've seen with Shining Punching Bag and Brad, male characters haven't done well in the current series.

[Shiverdam]

G1 was supposed to be gender neutral. Bonnie originally designed the ponies to be colored more like real horses, but the company pushed her to make them pink and purple.
Honestly though, that never really stopped boys from playing with them. My brothers and I would play with my ponies all the time. The target audience may be girls, but boys can still play with them if they want.

It's mostly because the idea of liking horses in general had been pegged as "girly" (which is funny because only men could ride horses way back in the day), and almost all horse-related products are marketed to girls.

[Judhudson]

I would love to see adult shirts of MLP for both ladies and guys in stores like Walmart and Target, but what gets me is how they have tons of shirts/clothes for little girls - but nothing for the boys!  Tons of boys like MLP, my nephew is one of them.  He'd love to have pony merch.  Missed marketing potential from Hasbro. :/

[Snapdragon]

I think, personally, that trying to make something "market to boys" is a very negative ideal to strive towards. Our culture (in the US anyway) has this very strong caricature of overly-violent machismo that they think is "masculine", and it's really not something I think anyone should be emulating, especially young boys.

Personally, I think that you could already consider the current MLP show appropriate for boys as much as it is girls, because it focuses on friendship, navigating emotional crises, and doing what's right. These are all things little kids need to know! Little kids all need help figuring out how to treat others kindly, how to deal with their emotions, how to empathize with their friends, and how to keep their promises, be kind to others, etc. And it's all packaged in an amusing, entertaining package, with colorful and silly characters.

If you're talking about merch, I'd love to see more gender-neutral shirts made in little kids sizes (like a scaled-down version of the adult shirts!), but I'm sure boys would be bullied for wearing them.

[hathorcat]

Always a fun topic and I may get things thrown at me for it...but why should it ever have to be gender neutral?

I personally have never seen a problem with some toys being aimed at boys and some toys being aimed at girls. Not saying there is no cross over in preference and of course no harm in it either way. But I just have never understood the need to try to make everything appeal to everyone. Girls are often put in the corner and more money, time and effort put into boys lines. So what if girls actually have ownership of something? There is no harm in girls having their own thing, their own toys and there own voice to like something aimed at them without the need to make it suddenly appeal more to boys as well - by doing that it may loose its fundamental appeal to little girls.

MLP is aimed at girls and while a toy that would appeal to boys was the original concept of G1 that was when the ponies were naturally coloured. As soon as Cotton Candy, Bluebelle and Blossom hit shelves in their Rainbow packaging teaching little girls how to braid there hair...they became a girls toy.

So for the sake of the MLP line that we all love - pastel coloured little ponies on fun and frivolous adventures with brushable hair in frilly & girly playsets - I hope it doesnt.

Hasbro has a nice balance in G4 - lots of merch made my licensees to appeal to the adult male market - be they t shirts or vinyl figures. I think that's the way the line should go - that ensures the fundamental MLP line stays as it is. And the adult fandom that has been generated by the show is satisfied.

[Al-1701]

I think, personally, that trying to make something "market to boys" is a very negative ideal to strive towards. Our culture (in the US anyway) has this very strong caricature of overly-violent machismo that they think is "masculine", and it's really not something I think anyone should be emulating, especially young boys.

Of course we're talking a show that just has a knockdown drag-out fight for its latest season finale.

I would like to see the brand as a whole embrace high fantasy more, but not to be gender neutral.  Why do shows for girls seem stuck in the slice of life rut?  Why can't girls have some great endeavor or struggle?

[Majesty]

They made a G1 shirt for guys which was found in Target.  I bought it in fact even though I'm female.

Also, there is a huge guy fandom so obviously MLP is appealing to guys even before the Brony fandom became known guys liked MLP too.

[Alzatia]

The current show itself kind of is already. A lot of boys the age of the target demographic girls watch it. The only thing left really to be made gender neutral is the main Hasbro toy line. As mostly anything not made by Hasbro (except maybe the Aurora plushies) doesn't go out of it's way to promote itself as girls only toys.

[Leave a Whisper]

maybe if the ponies become natural looking?

[DazzleKitty]

Truth be told, I rather like MLP's girlyness. A lot of stuff out there is already marketed to men. I rather like having it as a girly sanctuary. But nothing wrong with guys enjoying it and being fans/collectors. I love MLP as it is, that's all.

And I think G4 has already expanded to both genders and created a G1 hating fanbase amongst some, which makes me sad.

[Leave a Whisper]

I would love to see adult shirts of MLP for both ladies and guys in stores like Walmart and Target, but what gets me is how they have tons of shirts/clothes for little girls - but nothing for the boys!  Tons of boys like MLP, my nephew is one of them.  He'd love to have pony merch.  Missed marketing potential from Hasbro. :/

Actually I've seen Brony shirts at Hot Topics and Walmart had a shirt with a Pony silhouette that had the word Stud underneath in KISS-like letters. I thought it was pretty funny

[Malicieuse]

Or how about we just accept that guys can like girly toys instead of making everything "gender neutral"?
Heaven forbid a guy needs to buy something in a pink packaging...

[Katika]

I'm another one that doesn't really see the need for it to become gender neutral.  I feel as though the aim of the question was more along the lines of "do you think Hasbro will ever make ponies more typically boy-friendly", because honestly, a gender neutral pony would be like yellow with a tree symbol (lol, I just realized that mostly fits G3 Breezie!) or white with a house symbol.  It would have to be colors that weren't automatically associated with "boys" or "girls" and symbols of the same, and I think that would make them less appealing to everyone.  If you think about it, there are several ponies already that could be considered gender neutral, and I don't really see the need for the entire line to try to change.  I'm in the same boat as Malicieuse that it should be just as acceptable (and honestly, we're getting closer to that point all the time) for anyone to like any toy.  Besides, if you love MLP right now, you must love it for a reason.  If it changed, it wouldn't be the same MLP, which is why several collectors seem to hit rough spots every time big changes are made between generations.