Will MLP ever be gender neutral?

[Elisto]

I think MLP can become "gender neutral" when we get a push for all kid's stuff to be gender neutral. Until then (if it happens at all) MLP should stay aimed at girls because there's so few girls' products with it's quality/appeal. And if that push does happen, I'd say it shouldn't be the few good "girls'" things that go first.

I personally don't like the whole gendered toys/cartoons thing, but I think right now, the first step to breaking down that division is to make it OK for boys to like things aimed at girls, otherwise, the underlying negativity about feminine things in general won't be challenged, just hidden.

[MiRaja]

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.

I really agree with this, and was what I was thinking.  It's true, boys get a lot more lines devoted to them and directed at them, and then when something big happens for girls, there's issues with 'gender neutrality.'  Which isn't fair.  :/

I would rather see toys like Legos, which originally were intended to be gender neutral back when they first came out, be more gender neutral. 

[Snapdragon]

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.

I really agree with this, and was what I was thinking.  It's true, boys get a lot more lines devoted to them and directed at them, and then when something big happens for girls, there's issues with 'gender neutrality.'  Which isn't fair.  :/

I would rather see toys like Legos, which originally were intended to be gender neutral back when they first came out, be more gender neutral. 

Exactly this! I agree heartily. My feeling is, the MLP line/show shouldn't become gender neutral - it should remain as it is, primarily marketed to girls. (And as for the signs we're seeing that Hasbro is trying to appeal to boys with more violence, memes etc. - for shame!) That doesn't mean boys SHOULDN'T appreciate it - media shouldn't be so strict in its gender norms anyway! Lots of girls watch the Avengers movies, why can't boys watch MLP?

Girls have very little media dedicated to them as is. Why not try to take 'male' franchises and make them more feminine? (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles used to be more open to both genders, now they barely have any female characters at all! Lego used to be gender neutral in its marketing, He-Man had She-Ra as a companion series, GI Joe could have more female characters added to it!)

[Elisto]

It's true, boys get a lot more lines devoted to them and directed at them, and then when something big happens for girls, there's issues with 'gender neutrality.'  Which isn't fair.  :/

My take is that girls liking things aimed at boys is generally more acceptable than boys liking things aimed at girls, and so for people who recognize that boys are uncomfortable liking girl's things even when they actually do, it's easier to try to re-image the thing as gender neutral than it is to try to change the society norms that lead to that discomfort.

[Al-1701]

And unfortunately many boy brands idea of "gender neutrality" is making spinoffs for girls they play into stereotypes.  You don't have gender neutral packaging and marketing for the Lego's main sets.  We instead get Lego Friends which is "colored" for girls and based on what they think are girl things.  The brand as a whole might be more trying to appeal to girls, but they're still maintaining the divide.

So, My Little Pony should stick to its guns.  Maybe release some boy brushables (with proper hair please), but keep them in the minority and unmistakably MLP.

Speaking of males.  FiM seems to phone in their designs in lately.  All the new characters are the same lanky model and males have always had a bland pallet.

[Gloomygirl777]

So, My Little Pony should stick to its guns.  Maybe release some boy brushables (with proper hair please), but keep them in the minority and unmistakably MLP.

What?? You don't like Shining Armor's Treasure Troll hair?????

[Al-1701]

What?? You don't like Shining Armor's Treasure Troll hair?????

Well, he's probably the one pony you can style into a permanent fro.  Make a tacky polyester suit and he'd be ready for the disco.

[Harmonie]

What's wrong with MLP being a girl's franchise, and the boys that like it, you know, just being able to like it for what it is?

Yes, we really should stop being so rigid with these gender things, but... If we force "gender-neutrality" instead of just letting people like what they like, aren't we just making things worse? Guys generally hate MLP because it is 'girly'. Instead of changing MLP, we need to make society 'grow up' and learn that being 'girly' isn't a bad thing.

[Gloomygirl777]

What's wrong with MLP being a girl's franchise, and the boys that like it, you know, just being able to like it for what it is?

Yes, we really should stop being so rigid with these gender things, but... If we force "gender-neutrality" instead of just letting people like what they like, aren't we just making things worse? Guys generally hate MLP because it is 'girly'. Instead of changing MLP, we need to make society 'grow up' and learn that being 'girly' isn't a bad thing.

Agreed. I am of the mentality that "gender-neutrality" doesn't really exist. The only way for it to really work is for peoples perceptions to change. Things will be gender neutral when people stop seeing things as being gender specific....... It is kind of a mind freak......lol.

[sd_dreamcrystal]

I think in general, even many of the horse toys fall into the 'girl' toy category in most stores... Natural color or not.
Though in some cases I -do- think how a toy is packaged plays a role as well.. from the color to what images/models they use on the packaging.

[Truly]

I really don't see a problem with boys liking "girly" things, and I think mlp is fine as is (though I'd love a chocolate colored pony!) I just really think that people should be able to like whatever they like without others giving them grief over it.
Also a lot of feminine things begun as masculine things, heeled shoes, the color pink were worn by males. (Cannot remember which history book or reading I saw this) But really, why should things matter? We're all human in the end, why should this be a problem?
My nephew LOVES ponies and their pink hair, the excitement that little guy has when I give him a g3.5 starsong, g3.5 scootaloo and G3.5 rainbowdash is just brilliant and I don't think anyone should ruin this happiness because they're girly. Let people be happy with what they love! And well, mlp does help teach kids about love and acceptance!
I just really do not like at all the attitude that boys like boys things and girls like girls things and anything else is not right, I just hate it, it's causing a lot of upset for kids, the amount of stories of children being shouted at by parents that they're "not getting that boy/girl toy because you're a girl/boy" is just upsetting, do stereotypes and social "norms" matter more than your own kid being happy? Why is it such a bad thing? Because they look gay? Well what's wrong with being gay? Why should any of this be a problem? I just don't get it. I'm all for whatever makes a person happy.
Wow I rabbited on there! I'll just go crawl back into my pony filled room and shush now :p
Also, I agree with so many people here!

Oops I forgot to say that adults of both genders should be happy too! I did mean that in my above text wall but forgot to put the words "adult" in. To be honest, one of my male friends is really the only friend I have in person who loves ponies as much as I do! He certainly is not ashamed of these delightful little horses and I think that's just awesome and he's very happy! There should be nothing shameful in liking something (in a perfect world...)

[post merge ~ many thanks ~ hathorcat]

[LadyMoondancer]

What's wrong with MLP being a girl's franchise, and the boys that like it, you know, just being able to like it for what it is?

This is how I feel about it too.

The example I would use is Transformers.  The current TF comic books have about a 40% female readership but the stories are still about robots in space who have big guns and fight wars and occasionally die.  It's not "girly", there's not a lot of pink, but lots of girls like it, and that's fine.

(Actually the "robot blood" is pink in the comics so there is a lot of it but, uh, you know what I mean.)

[brightberry]

I've loved Transformers ever since I was a little girl and I never saw a need for everything to turn into pink glittery rainbows.   Why would My Little Pony have to change just because boys like to watch a cartoon?


And honestly, in the 80s there were plenty of little boys who liked MLP and had one or two of their own.  Rainbow colors  and all things cute naturally appeal to small children.  Why should they have to be deprived because boys aren't suppose to like that sort of thing?  It broke my heart when I heard a father shaming his toddler son for wanting to go into the "girls section".    My little pony and Transformers are already gender neutral.  Society is the one deciding who gets to enjoy it and who can't.

And... as a little girl, I got a lot of slack for liking boy toys and I still see that divide now.  Sure it's more acceptable but there are plenty of people who like give girls a hard time for liking "boy things".

[SaphTalon]

In my opinion I think the world itself needs to find a gender neutral median. So do I think MLP is a great start? Yes. Why is it a great start? (Look at how many school kids get hurt badly from bullies because of MLP)

I don't support bullies quite contrary. I support the idea that men need to get out of their shell and be what real men are. Real men have a heart and desire to be themselves without trying to prove that they are unbreakable. Of course back when I joined the MLP fandom Friendship is magic had yet to be thought of. I had a lot of negativity from people who had the gender roles at the highest priority. There was a lot less men who liked mlp

Do I think we need men who are obsessed with the color pink and wear dresses? (No) What I do think is there need to be a world where people can be who they are without people trying to tear them down because they think the world should be in pink and blue colors. I believe in a world of Rainbows darling rainbows!

[NoDivision]

Going to try to only stand on my teenie soap box here... but I've seen this discussion before in much less friendly terms and it always irks me. There is a fairly large sub population of adult male fans (not saying that's necessarily anyone here, but you know they're out there) who think that MLP FiM should not be for little girls, and should be made more masculine, or more 'balanced' in terms of character genders in the show. And you know that? I don't agree.

There are very, very, very few quality cartoons aimed at girls. This is something I've discussed at length with a lot of people in the animation industry. Most girls cartoons these days are pretty horrible (horribly written, horribly animated, etc) and send messages that really are not doing girls any favors. My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is a show for girls that, while not perfect, is overall pretty good quality and usually has a good message. Honestly? Just let it be for girls. Let girls have this one. Boys can watch it too, of course they can, and they do. But in the industry categorization of things, this is a girls show, and you know what? That's okay! It's a victory for young girls programming. So let little girls have this one.