The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Broken Irishwoman on November 23, 2017, 01:57:22 AM
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I hope this is allowed; I asked this question in a different thread, but it got locked. Anyway!
I always thought "cutie marks" were the hearts on the hooves of G3 ponies? I see it being used everywhere as a synonym for symbol now, but for some reason I seem to recall the hoof hearts were actually called cutie marks. This must have been around 2008, 2009. Anybody who can confirm/debunk this? :)
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In the show g3 was the first to actually use the word it didn't have all the fim meaning of talent and destiny but it was still on the flank. Dunno about the toys though.
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Yup, I also vaguely remember this. It would actually make more sense because they were like beauty marks but on hooves. :wonder:
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I always thought hoof hearts where called hoof hearts? :P
I can't really remember when the term cutie mark came into use, but I think it was with the G4 ponies.
Love pkw xxx
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No, it was definitely G3 that started using it. As Saphy said, it was in the G3 cartoon
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For G3, Hasbro started using the term but they were unclear at first about what it was supposed to stand for. Since the hoof hearts where a new thing for MLP, it was assumed by many that "cutie mark" was supposed to mean the hoof hearts. I think at some point, it became clear that it was meant to describe the symbol but most of us collectors thought (and still think) that it's too cutesy of a term and proceeded to ignore it. Which was easy to do because it still didn't have the significance that the term took on during G4.
At least that's the way I remember it.
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Hoof heart is the name for the hearts. Cutie mark is definately the symbols. IIRC they say their name in one of the Core 7 cartoons, there's also some books that call symbols in G3 cutie marks.
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For G3, Hasbro started using the term but they were unclear at first about what it was supposed to stand for. Since the hoof hearts where a new thing for MLP, it was assumed by many that "cutie mark" was supposed to mean the hoof hearts. I think at some point, it became clear that it was meant to describe the symbol but most of us collectors thought (and still think) that it's too cutesy of a term and proceeded to ignore it. Which was easy to do because it still didn't have the significance that the term took on during G4.
At least that's the way I remember it.
Yup, this! I think that's one reason "cutie mark" didn't catch on really until G4.
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I think Hasbro stuck by it, cheesy though it is, because they didn't have an official and potentially trademarkable term for the symbols before that point.
Speaking of the significance Cutie Marks are given in G4, I think that may have been inspired by something in G1. Specifically, Baby Ember. She was the original baby pony and her original toy did not have a symbol, only the later Ember's Dream toy had a symbol.
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I think Hasbro stuck by it, cheesy though it is, because they didn't have an official and potentially trademarkable term for the symbols before that point.
Speaking of the significance Cutie Marks are given in G4, I think that may have been inspired by something in G1. Specifically, Baby Ember. She was the original baby pony and her original toy did not have a symbol, only the later Ember's Dream toy had a symbol.
Yeah, I think by G4 Hasbro realized that they needed a word for symbols, and cutie mark was already there.
Your idea about Ember is interesting, but it doesn't quite make sense. Nothing was ever said about her symbol. (They didn't actually ever specify if she was the same pony or not. We have seen other ponies with the same names, but they are still different ponies.) How could the significance of cutie marks in FiM have come from that?
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Being someone who came back into MLP towards the end of the G3 era, I have heard of -I refuse to say the term- starting in that era. I didn't watch the show so I didn't know and stuck with symbols because it makes more sense to me XD
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@Safflower Notice that I use the word inspired. I envision the thought process being something like this: "Hey, this foal character started off without a symbol but a later toy of her had one. Let's craft a narrative/lore element based on that."
I'd say the odds are good for Ember's Dream Ember being the same character since unlike most other intragenerational other name reuses she's the same age group of pony, the same species, the same pose, and shares a body color with one version of Mail Order Ember and hair color with another version. Plus she's from the very next year instead of there being a gap.
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In Rescue at Midnight Castle/the first My Little Pony special Ember was the only Baby pony featured in the cartoon and the only pony that didn’t have a symbol. Hasbro used one of the mail order Embers for Ember in the cartoon. None of the mail orders had symbols. Rescue at Midnight Castle seems to indicate that each pony has a talent or ability that is different from the other ponies. Bowtie can jump further than the other ponies and Twilight is the only pony who can disappear and reappear (later all unicorns could do this. )
Ember and Twilight have a brief dicussion where Ember asks if she’ll ever be able to fly, disappear or jump far and Twilight tells her that one day Ember will grow up to be own special my little pony. Hasbro seemed to drop that idea by the time Escape from Catrina was developed because all other Baby ponies seem to be born with symbols. I think it was mentioned at one point that the CMC were inspired by mail order Ember.
In my opinion Star Ember is a different baby pony since she has a symbol and can see things in her dreams before they happen.
I just recently found out that Cutie Mark was first used in G3. I thought it was a G4 made term.
Ponyfan
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Ahh, that makes sense. Sorry if I came off as rude!
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Officially (i.e. according to Hasbro) cutie mark meant the same thing in G3 as it did in G4. It's the symbol of the pony.
Collectors often referred to the heart mark on the hoof as the cutie mark, but nah, the cutie mark was definitely meant to refer to the butt symbol.
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"Pretty jeweled cutie mark."
Also, yes, the idea of baby ponies starting out blank and getting symbols later was inspired by mail order Ember, based on Lauren Faust's childhood playtime with Ember (and probably RaMC, I think she mentioned having watched that as a kid). Hasbro itself didn't really care much about developing pony lore, I think. Just selling toys. So all the initial world-building came from Lauren Faust. Like Cloudsdale is actually inspired by the Waterfall playset.
The only reason Hasbro came up with "cutie mark" was for marketing purposes. ("Our newest line of ponies feature shimmering cutie marks" or whatever.) I agree that they just kept the term around for G4 because, hey, it was already there, why change now.
Here's a picture of Lauren Faust's childhood collection (plus a couple G4s):
https://io9.gizmodo.com/lauren-faust-shares-her-childhood-my-little-pony-collec-1473997423
Under the picture of Ember it says something like "100 points to you if you know who this is and can guess what character she inspired." :)
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Ah, so many helpful replies! Thanks people! :D This clears up a lot. I'm still glad I'm not the only one who remembers the hoof hearts being called cutie marks though. :P
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Cutie Mark has meant symbol from G3 onward. Heart hooves are the name for the little hearts.
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I remember when g3 first came out. One of the backcards mentioned something about two ponies comparing cutie marks, and I was ranting about it. "Mine is a heart! What's yours! Oh, it's a heart, too!" So something must have led me to think the hoof hearts were the cutie marks!
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This makes me think of the interesting way Hasbro dodged this issue in G1 from time to time...the surprise newborns had 'surprise friends' which suggests a vagueness by 1994 about what they were called. I am fairly sure in the eighties though Hasbro did trademark 'rump mark' but I may be wrong...I just feel like I saw it somewhere with the tm. Either way if it had lapsed by 1994... maybe it led to them feeling the pressure to trademark this term. But it also makes sense it was cutesy as g3 had a younger target age demographic based on the shows etc. I remember that being talked about a lot. It makes sense to use a term a five year old might find cute (might...). I guess because it alrwady existed it then made sense to keep using it in the new g4 context and Faust used her childhood memory of Ember to make it mean something.
Weird question - what does g2 call symbols?
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Weird question - what does g2 call symbols?
I don't think it was ever directly referenced on backcards or anything, but IIRC there was a shirt or something like that that referred to them and I think they called it "Official Rump Design" or something like that? I know I saw it somewhere but I can't remember where, now :/
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Ooh, I own one of those shirts! I will hunt it down.
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G2 called them "rump designs".
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(Look at the little yellow star in the upper right. :) )
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G2 called them "rump designs".
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(Look at the little yellow star in the upper right. :) )
*Snurf* XD
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Oooh, I never noticed they did put it on the packaging after all! Hehe.
Ooh, I own one of those shirts! I will hunt it down.
I'm excited to see it! :D
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Ohhh, was the G2 shirt one produced during G2, but with G1 characters? I think I have it. It's sooo pretty! It has Parasol and Baby Lickety-Split on it, and I believe there was a 2nd one with Rosedust and Galaxy on it.
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Ohhh, was the G2 shirt one produced during G2, but with G1 characters? I think I have it. It's sooo pretty! It has Parasol and Baby Lickety-Split on it, and I believe there was a 2nd one with Rosedust and Galaxy on it.
mmmmaybe? I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever seen the Rosedust/Galaxy one though, that sounds really cute! :O
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I've always thought calling them symbols or even cutie marks was redundant. I would just say like "pink pony with blue and yellow balloons on it" or "white pony with strawberries all over". "Pink pony with a blue and yellow balloon cutie mark on it" or "white pony with strawberry symbols all over it" just seems unnecessary.
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I've always thought calling them symbols or even cutie marks was redundant. I would just say like "pink pony with blue and yellow balloons on it" or "white pony with strawberries all over". "Pink pony with a blue and yellow balloon cutie mark on it" or "white pony with strawberry symbols all over it" just seems unnecessary.
Symbol and/or cutie mark would mean you don't have to say "on it" or "all over it", though. Just gotta say "pink pony with a blue and yellow symbol/cutie mark", or even "pink pony with a balloon symbol/cutie mark". IMO it takes less effort to type "pink pony with a balloon cutie mark" or "white pony with strawberry symbols". Plus symbol/cutie mark is used in a lot more situations, such as just discussing the concept as a whole, or saying "what is your favorite symbol". Wouldn't really be able to have proper discussions about them without them having a term to refer to them, right?
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^This.
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As a collectors terms like "symbol" or "cutie mark" are useful for buying selling toys. "Hair: Good. Eyes: Slight rubs. Body: No marks. Symbol: Rub on right side." So you can describe ponies in a systematic way. It just seems easier to have a word for it IMO. Like, I don't see any advantages in not having a word for it.
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As a collectors terms like "symbol" or "cutie mark" are useful for buying selling toys. "Hair: Good. Eyes: Slight rubs. Body: No marks. Symbol: Rub on right side." So you can describe ponies in a systematic way. It just seems easier to have a word for it IMO. Like, I don't see any advantages in not having a word for it.
This too!
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Yep, it was primarily for ID'ing and describing condition, thus the single short word choice. "symbol" is easy and not likely to be misinterpreted. "paint" doesn't work since it also applies to say, the eyes. And 'markings' doesn't differentiate from the hoof trademarks/year/country of production and printed design.
'Rump design' was used during G1 (and possibly 'brand' as well?), but it wasn't on the packaging until G2. G1 princesses' packaging referred to their 'medallions', Merry-go-Rounds used 'design'. It really is strange it's never directly mentioned given that's one of the defining characteristics of a MLP.
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If the best I could come up with was "rump design" I'd avoid mentioning them too, lol!
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Yep, it was primarily for ID'ing and describing condition, thus the single short word choice. "symbol" is easy and not likely to be misinterpreted. "paint" doesn't work since it also applies to say, the eyes. And 'markings' doesn't differentiate from the hoof trademarks/year/country of production and printed design.
'Rump design' was used during G1 (and possibly 'brand' as well?), but it wasn't on the packaging until G2. G1 princesses' packaging referred to their 'medallions', Merry-go-Rounds used 'design'. It really is strange it's never directly mentioned given that's one of the defining characteristics of a MLP.
Just "design" actually seems perfect. I've always felt "symbol" isn't suitable for some of the ones that are more complex than just a small image on their butt.
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I have this feeling it is on the packaging, but I need to actually check that to make sure it's not my imagination. I know the term rump mark was used in the comics. All my notes up to coming online refer to rump marks and I wouldn't have known what that was unless it was actually used for them. Like Earth pony, that just seeped in there because that's what Hasbro called them, not because it necessarily made sense.
I am happy enough with symbol or design, they're both generic words that mean something on the pony. Cutie mark doesn't really mean anything more than rump mark, except it avoids mentioning the pony's rear end...but that's generally where such marks are, and so I feel like Hasbro are ignoring the elephant in the room by making it cutie? The more you think on it, the more disturbing cutie mark actually becomes as a term....
Moving back to the original subject of my post...
So a quick flick through my backcard photos finds that Hasbro uses a lot of terms for the designs on the ponies. Obviously a lot of my cards are UK cards but not all. I looked at ones that have notable symbols.
Party (TAF) ponies are the "most beautifully patterned"
Magic Message : US card "Rub to reveal surprise" (doesn't tell you what to rub ;)"
UK card "gently rub the rump designs to reveal two secret messages"
"Each Magic Message Pony has a touch sensitive rump marking..."
Sundae Best (UK cards) - no mention, just mention of being scented.
Precious Pocket (US) - "a pocket full of fun"
Pocket Friends (UK equivalent of above) "with a pocket full of surprises/ a pocket full of fun"
Surprise Newborn (UK) as mentioned before "surprise friend"
SHS (US Card) "Fancy floral design"
So a wide range. I can't go through the inserts or other adverts from here because that paperwork is all at home, but in the UK the rump word was used and I am pretty sure it was used in the comics. Maybe that is a UK thing though...I dunno O.o. Hasbro's 1987 catalogue for the UK also refers to the Princess Ponies as having jewelled rump markings. I can't find mention of that on the photos I have of Pearl and Ruby's boxes but I can't check them while in London and don't have a picture of the very top portion for some reason.
So I guess Hasbro decided since the 1980s that a term that refers to a pony's posterior is not suitable for children in the twenty first century. Mind boggles rather at that. Also interesting that the US Magic Message card seems to avoid using any word (although the front of my Floater card is ripped, so I might be missing something else.)
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Cutie mark is supposed to be a play on "beauty mark". Mentioning this because I went through all of G3 without realizing this, then suddenly had a revelation that it was a pun a few years into G4. I still wish they'd gone with insignia, symbol, badge, design . . . but oh well!
It's so interesting that the UK Magic Message cards mention "rump designs" while the US don't! The US TAF cards say "The most beautiful ponies in Ponyland!" (1st set) and "Twice as pretty for double the fun!"
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In that case it is lost in translation because we generally say beauty spot in the UK...
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Cutie mark is supposed to be a play on "beauty mark". Mentioning this because I went through all of G3 without realizing this, then suddenly had a revelation that it was a pun a few years into G4.
Yes, it's meant to be a pun. And it's not the first time it's been done. Dot from Animaniacs used "cutie mark" to refer to her beauty mark at least once in the show.
I prefer "symbol" to "design" because I use "design" to mean something else. I might say," I like this pony's/character's design." And by that I mean more that just the symbol/cutie mark. I mean the overall aesthetic, color choices for body and hair, etc.
Thanks for all that info, Taffeta. It definitely sounds like UK Hasbro took far more advantage of "rump mark" than US Hasbro did. I myself don't remember hearing the term until I had been online for a while. I do find it interesting that the word "brand" isn't thrown out there more often as they are in the same place as a brand was typically put on real horses/cattle. But maybe that would be too confusing considering the other use of the word "brand" withing marketing.
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I dunno but "symbol" still irks me especially for G1-G3. Mostly because a symbol is supposed to be symbolic of something and, as an example, milkshakes all over isn't really symbolic of anything. At least in G4 they are symbolic of the special talent a pony has.
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I dunno but "symbol" still irks me especially for G1-G3. Mostly because a symbol is supposed to be symbolic of something and, as an example, milkshakes all over isn't really symbolic of anything. At least in G4 they are symbolic of the special talent a pony has.
Most G1-G3's symbols are symbolic of their name, personality, or interest. How can you get more symbolic than that? The whole 'special talent' thing is hardly new or exclusive to G4. It's been around since the very first line.
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I dunno but "symbol" still irks me especially for G1-G3. Mostly because a symbol is supposed to be symbolic of something and, as an example, milkshakes all over isn't really symbolic of anything. At least in G4 they are symbolic of the special talent a pony has.
Posey gardens, Gusty blows wind, Skywishes makes wishes for her friends. That's unsymbolic of name and something they do how exactly?
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I find the idea that the symbol should relate to the pony's destiny really confining and restrictive. It's like the ponies themselves may love the idea of something when they are young but then suddenly when they are adults, they can't change that because they already have a symbol. Which to me is ridiculous when thinking of ponies like Shaggy, for example. Yes, I'm going to stand upside down on my head forever like Untidy Ted. That's going to look great on her CV ;)
The UK comic did try with illogical symbols to make them logical. Gusty had the power to blow leaves together into piles etc when it was autumn but she was also the baby pony nurse which was a completely separate destiny from her symbol and I like that. Bouquet's name is flowery but she had a giant hat she could fly on, like a magic carpet. I much prefer the idea that ponies look how they look and are who they are. But that's maybe because the comic stretched through most of the pony lines available here, so most of them had that kind of opportunity to have a personality, maybe a magic trait and perhaps something related to their symbol or maybe not. Fizzy was clumsy and she was also the hostess of Fizziwhizz night. Fizzy the name clearly links to her soda symbol but she's more iconic in the UK for the two things I mentioned above, thus making the 'fizz' refer to fireworks. And of course she's iconic in the US for having a 'fizzy' bubblehead personality, again making more of her as a character than tying her rigidly to her symbol.
...I don't like the cutie mark destiny concept. I think it tells kids that once they've chosen what their life will be then they are stuck with it - and that's categorically not true.
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...I don't like the cutie mark destiny concept. I think it tells kids that once they've chosen what their life will be then they are stuck with it - and that's categorically not true.
Not to mention the implied "there is One Thing you will be awesome at and that is going to be the thing you are known for, forever." And the whole deep dark can of worms that was opened by the episode where they switched marks and weren't happy with each other's lives, but felt compelled to do them because 'that's what their cutie marks were telling them to be'.
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I find the idea that the symbol should relate to the pony's destiny really confining and restrictive. It's like the ponies themselves may love the idea of something when they are young but then suddenly when they are adults, they can't change that because they already have a symbol. Which to me is ridiculous when thinking of ponies like Shaggy, for example. Yes, I'm going to stand upside down on my head forever like Untidy Ted. That's going to look great on her CV ;)
:rofl:
The cutie mark destiny thing is something that I think they didn't really think through.. it has interesting implications, like you said. Which I think would be interesting to explore, but the show doesn't appear to ever do that, from what I've heard...
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...I don't like the cutie mark destiny concept. I think it tells kids that once they've chosen what their life will be then they are stuck with it - and that's categorically not true.
Not to mention the implied "there is One Thing you will be awesome at and that is going to be the thing you are known for, forever." And the whole deep dark can of worms that was opened by the episode where they switched marks and weren't happy with each other's lives, but felt compelled to do them because 'that's what their cutie marks were telling them to be'.
I actually find some of those ideas problematic. I mean, the idea that a bad guy is going to become your friend if you are nice enough to them....really worries me because it encourages kids to trust people who maybe they shouldn't trust. Some bad people are just going to be bad people. And friendship is a great thing, but I worry about how many kids' shows privilege it as a theme nowadays. It's a lot more complicated than that for some kids to find friends. (I also don't really believe Twilight and co are friends, but they're kind of forced to be because of the Elements of Harmony). Weirdly, I do believe they are friends in EQG, but I think that's, again, because of Sunset Shimmer changing the balance and making them all kind of work a little harder at being friends.
And cutie marks defining who they are is like someone else is telling you what you have to be and you have to fulfil that even if you don't want to. It stands in stark contrast to what Mattel tried to do with Ever After High (albeit maybe they failed) in implying your destiny wasn't carved out for you and you could still write a new story even if the world was trying to push you in a particular direction. I know the cutie marks aren't pushing them necessarily, but having to live up to your cutie mark...I mean, what if your cutie mark is a skull and crossbones but you like ballet? Do you become the first ever ballerina pirate? I just don't know.
(Also, unless Fluttershy is going to become a butterfly, I don't get how her mark really reflects her personality. There are lots of other ways to reflect being gentle or reflect being fond of nature...which I think are her two main attributes).
Also - someone mentioned about brands as a term? I imagine they avoided that to avoid the inconvenient fact that branding an animal is usually a mark of ownership. That would imply the ponies were enslaved to some other power, which is a very...dark..path to go down. Definitely better to call them cutie marks, which may sound silly, but is generally not implying they're all possessions.
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Also - someone mentioned about brands as a term? I imagine they avoided that to avoid the inconvenient fact that branding an animal is usually a mark of ownership. That would imply the ponies were enslaved to some other power, which is a very...dark..path to go down. Definitely better to call them cutie marks, which may sound silly, but is generally not implying they're all possessions.
Also the whole "burnt into your skin, painfully" thing... yeah. Not hard to see why they'd avoid using 'brand'. >_<
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Well, if the show were being realistic it would be like: "Yeah, a bunch of ponies are going to end up in low-paying unfulfilling jobs, living hand to mouth (hoof to mouth?) and ultimately dying without having accomplished your dreams." But I think that's a bit too heavy for little kids. :P
I saw calves being branded once. Definitely understand why they didn't use brand. It's really disturbing and painful for the animal.
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...I don't like the cutie mark destiny concept. I think it tells kids that once they've chosen what their life will be then they are stuck with it - and that's categorically not true.
Not to mention the implied "there is One Thing you will be awesome at and that is going to be the thing you are known for, forever." And the whole deep dark can of worms that was opened by the episode where they switched marks and weren't happy with each other's lives, but felt compelled to do them because 'that's what their cutie marks were telling them to be'.
I actually find some of those ideas problematic. I mean, the idea that a bad guy is going to become your friend if you are nice enough to them....really worries me because it encourages kids to trust people who maybe they shouldn't trust. Some bad people are just going to be bad people. And friendship is a great thing, but I worry about how many kids' shows privilege it as a theme nowadays. It's a lot more complicated than that for some kids to find friends. (I also don't really believe Twilight and co are friends, but they're kind of forced to be because of the Elements of Harmony). Weirdly, I do believe they are friends in EQG, but I think that's, again, because of Sunset Shimmer changing the balance and making them all kind of work a little harder at being friends.
And cutie marks defining who they are is like someone else is telling you what you have to be and you have to fulfil that even if you don't want to. It stands in stark contrast to what Mattel tried to do with Ever After High (albeit maybe they failed) in implying your destiny wasn't carved out for you and you could still write a new story even if the world was trying to push you in a particular direction. I know the cutie marks aren't pushing them necessarily, but having to live up to your cutie mark...I mean, what if your cutie mark is a skull and crossbones but you like ballet? Do you become the first ever ballerina pirate? I just don't know.
(Also, unless Fluttershy is going to become a butterfly, I don't get how her mark really reflects her personality. There are lots of other ways to reflect being gentle or reflect being fond of nature...which I think are her two main attributes).
Also - someone mentioned about brands as a term? I imagine they avoided that to avoid the inconvenient fact that branding an animal is usually a mark of ownership. That would imply the ponies were enslaved to some other power, which is a very...dark..path to go down. Definitely better to call them cutie marks, which may sound silly, but is generally not implying they're all possessions.
There have actually been some episodes about the fears of getting a cutie mark you don't want. Most notably a recent episode where a colt didn't want one because he was afraid he would get one different from the one thing he really wanted to do. The resolution was the older brother showing him that even though he (the older brother) had a cutie mark in one thing it didn't stop him from enjoying doing other things, too.
I feel like the idea is more that cutie marks are about self realization and therefor it would be impossible to get one that you hated. (The Magical Mystery Cure was a spell gone wrong and so that was a special case.)
I do agree that sometimes the concept of cutie marks is limiting. But for me, it's mostly because I just want prettily designed ponies without having to justify the cutie mark with a special talent or job.
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I agree with many of the points that have been made in this thread regarding symbols/rump designs and problems with FIM.
I also have a problem with FIM's recurring theme of if you treat everyone nicely and are friendly with them they'll eventually become your friend. I know FIM isn't supposed to be bound by reality, but in real life no matter how nice you are to people, some people will still be mean to you and not be your friend. I tried to make friends in school but was often teased and made fun of just because other kids decided that I wasn't worth being a friend to. I was never a big fan of Diamond Tiara but I liked that despite the CMC's efforts to make friends and be nice to her that she refused and still made fun of them since it was showing that not everyone is going to be your friend.
Brand/branding would be too negative for an official term and might give kids the idea that someone owns the ponies and they're not truly free.
The G1 ponies had enough problems trying escape/defeat all of the creatures that wanted to enslave them in some way.
Ponyfan
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That's interesting, thank you Sunset. It's almost as if they've realised the risk of limitations on the term and so were trying to broaden it out a bit.
In that example, the brother did a lot of things but had one "main thing" which was his cutie mark, I assume. It's problematic for them because either they undermine the whole concept of the lore by saying that cutie marks aren't determining your fate overall...or they basically say you can't change your mind once you've decided, which is the same problem I raised before. People have different interests and goals throughout their life. I don't think that it's too big a concept to let kids know that they don't have to decide their whole lives in whatever age group the CMC are. They need to know that life changes and so do they.
@LM, that's a bit extreme, and not what I meant. It's obviously a bad message to send kids that people who do bad stuff can be trusted because they need you to befriend them. Some safety guidance needed of the don't talk to strangers kind I think there. And I feel like there's 'befriend' mode and 'villain' mode and the latter is generally solved by the former. But that's not really teaching kids how to handle their real life situations.
@Ponyfan, thank you, you said it better than I could. I was trying to work out how to really explain it. As a person with autism who had friends in school but was also bullied all through school by teachers and by students, the world is not like Equestria for many kids. And telling them it should be just reinforces the idea there's something wrong with them, because they find it harder to make friends.
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I think the main problem with FIM's rump marking lore is that the writers tried to make it both a metaphor for finding your calling in life, but also for puberty. While you can make interesting stories about either of these, they are two very different things.
I think it's fine that an adult pony gets their cutie mark once they realize what they like to do and how that ties to their role in pony society. Obviously real life is more complicated, but as a metaphor in a fantasy world I think it's perfectly fine and can make for some good stories. A child however can't possibly know what they will dedicate the rest of their life to, so fillies shouldn't really have cutie marks at all if this is the lore we're going with. Unless a cutie mark can be changed, but we've had no indiciation this is possible. If it was, that could also make for an interesting story, but it does seem like a cutie mark can't be earned to begin with unless you're 100% certain about what you want to do.
In any case, it's an interesting concept that opens up for a lot of discussion. I think the writers could have done more to define what a cutie mark actually means, and we would've had a stronger show overall. Still, I prefer it to not acknowledging the rump markings at all. I'm looking forward to see how future iterations will handle it.
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I have a Tshirt somewhere from the early 2000s with two G1s on it and little closeups of their symbols, and it said "official rump design!" which still tickles me to this day. the shirt is packed away somewhere, wish I could share it atm!