The Issue I Have With the Big Brother Ponies

[Artemesia's Garden]

I love all the big brothers, and besides you don't have to go by the American name, you don't even have to call them Big Brothers.

I really didn't put a lot of stock in the cartoon, it was like a really fun accessory to the toy, not the end all and be all of MLP creation. To me the cartoon was never the official pony land it was just there to be watched for entertainment purposes.

I guess for folks who based a lot of their My Little Pony dreams/life/hopes/fears off the cartoon (this goes for the G1 thru G4 cartoon obsessed), well I guess it's more likely you're going to be disappointed.

But if you were like me, collected the toy for the toys sake, used your own imagination for pony adventures instead of whatever hasbro decided to throw at you on the TV show - you to could live like I did, where there were no limits placed by hasbro on ponyland.

 

[hathorcat]

I agree with the sentiment of it being a line aimed at little girls...that typically equates to female characters. As others have mentioned the opposite happens in some male orientated boy lines...how many female transformers were there in the cartoon again? I love MLP for what it is - a simple sweet toy line with the cartoons as a cute merch angle but certainly not something which affects my opinion of the toys.

As for the name it is a gentle alliterative name which is cute and appealing for the target market. The boys were not designed to be boyfriends or dads...they were supposed to just be male ponies in the line and the nicest way to do that is literally to make them "big brothers". Its a very common way to introduce male characters in a line with such a young demographic. As to the lack of unicorn and pegasus...gosh yes I would have loved these too. But with the majority of ponies in general being earth ponies and the boys only getting a couple of sets [remember the first sets of the girls were all earth after all], the fact all the boys were is not too surprising. If you dont like Big Brother...dont use it. As Karen says Adventure Boy is what they went with in the UK. Personally I dont see it as some kind of deep and dark hidden meaning about dominance...I think it literally was that they were bigger ponies and their relationships to the other ponies were cutest explained as like big brothers.

[Epona]

There were mommy ponies, daddy ponies, baby brother ponies, baby sister ponies, sweet heart sisters and twins. I don`t see any problem with familial titles.

There were Daddy ponies, baby brother ponies and mountain boys as well as the big brothers. There were different sets of male ponies with different titles.

I do wish that there had been pegasi and unicorns. If they had continued the male lines they probably would have come out with them. That is one nice thing that G4 is doing with the blind bags having the "big mac" pose and also the "shining armour pose". I just hope we get some brushable boys....Ooh wouldnt that be a great favorites set? Big mac, shining armour (not troll hair), Dr whooves, snips and snails, mr cake and the villian Sombra.  *dreamy eyes*

[Tenar]

...We (my sister and I) had always had lots of male characters in our herd, we weren't allowed to watch TV so they all had the genders and personalities that we assigned them.  I recall that Bow Tie and Minty were male characters, and Twilight too  ...

Same with me, melody was male, and powder, skyflyer, and majesty.  Other ponies as needed.  Someone had to father all those babies. LoL

[KarentheUnicorn]

Since I was into MLP in 1983 and there were no boys for a while, my thoughts at the time when big brothers became available was: FINALLY BOYS! YAY!!

I didn't really sit around and lament why would they choose to call them big brothers.

I was just excited that they were created in the first place.

[Binny]

I would have preferred they called them stallions, though I'm not horribly bothered by the name. my biggest issue if any is there being so few male ponies period. I don't mind there being more girls, but it would be nice to have at least a few boys per set (and not just earth ponies)

[Navi]

...We (my sister and I) had always had lots of male characters in our herd, we weren't allowed to watch TV so they all had the genders and personalities that we assigned them.  I recall that Bow Tie and Minty were male characters, and Twilight too  ...

Same with me, melody was male, and powder, skyflyer, and majesty.  Other ponies as needed.  Someone had to father all those babies. LoL

That's so funny, I did the same thing. The ponies mostly didn't look gendered to me - Mainsail was a boy in my group.

[Dragonflitter]

I really didn't put a lot of stock in the cartoon, it was like a really fun accessory to the toy, not the end all and be all of MLP creation.

This is the wisest thing I have read on the Arena! ^_^ I think we should all remember that the cartoons (in all generations) were accessories for the toys, just like the combs and pamphlets!

[brightberry]

I didn't like them at all when they came out.  I have warmed up to them since.  But I guess as a kid I didn't meet many big brothers who didn't bully their younger siblings.  It felt like an invasion.   

[Sarah-Bee]

I have no problems with the Big Brothers at all.  I'm just happy that they made boy ponies.

This. And let's just remember this was in the 1980s when things weren't exactly as they are now in terms of total equality. It was just the time they were produced that led to a bunch of the stuff that people are having an issue with here. Not saying it should have been inequal but it was how things were at the time.

[Lilja]

1.  I don't like that they waited until Year 5 to do it.

I am under the impression that in their early years, ponies were not strongly gendered. Female pronouns would always be used when they were needed, but gender was not that big of an issue. By introducing a specific set of male characters however, it suddenly makes all other ponies explicitly female.

I pretty much agree with what you said. If the ponies must be gendered, the sets should've be mixed. There would've be no problem with the females being the vast majority, the problem is the segregation between the two genders.

2.  I don't like that made them a theme set.

I think this says a lot of how different "girls'" toylines operate compared to "boys'". You'd never see a theme set of female characters in any "boys'" toyline. It's like women are encouraged to worship men from a young age. The very concept of a character being male is a selling point. And the main point of introducing a male character is often so the female character (which you are meant to identify with) will have someone to date. Little girls are taught that a romantic relationship with a man is a very important part of life, while boys are taught to be more independent.

3.  I don't like that they're all earth ponies.

This is certainly something that contributes to making male ponies seem like a completely different species of pony (notice that they each have a different colored streak in their mane, which up to that point was exclusive to unicorns and their offspring), but other than that I don't have much of a problem with this. Unicorns and pegasi are rarer anyway.

4.  I don't like the term "Big Brother."

Neither do I. It evokes the image of a strong, male person that will protect you. And this is the name applied to what was the only set of male ponies at the time (and pretty much ever in the US). Yeah...

5.  Sonambula was a bad way to introduce male ponies.

Yes, it was. From the way the ponies fawn over the big brothers, to the fact that the big brothers can break free from their fantasies with little effort while the other ponies cannot, this episode is terrible from a feminist perspective.

I do not hate this set of ponies in any way, quite the opposite, but I think it's important to be critical of even the things you like. Of course Hasbro meant no harm making these, they were following the norms of society (and still are) which is really what is getting criticised here. However, they are still very much responsible for continuing to reinforce these norms and sending out possibly harmful messages to children.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Since I was into MLP in 1983 and there were no boys for a while, my thoughts at the time when big brothers became available was: FINALLY BOYS! YAY!!

I didn't really sit around and lament why would they choose to call them big brothers.

I was just excited that they were created in the first place.

Yeah, I'm with you on this one. 

[Al-1701]

I'm glad this has struck up a discussion.

Admittedly, I have filled in the gaps in my mind as well.  The Mountain Boys are unicorns, the BB's don't have a streak in their manes, and I came up with male pegasi.  Though, I've also come up with my own ideas for the natures of some ponies like Truly is a nurse and Sparkler is a demolitions expert. 

The cartoon is certainly not the be all and end all of the franchise (something G4 needs to remember), but it's still an important advertising tool, and I think Hasbro screwed the pooch using it to present male ponies.

[Rosencrantz]

...We (my sister and I) had always had lots of male characters in our herd, we weren't allowed to watch TV so they all had the genders and personalities that we assigned them.  I recall that Bow Tie and Minty were male characters, and Twilight too  ...

Same with me, melody was male, and powder, skyflyer, and majesty.  Other ponies as needed.  Someone had to father all those babies. LoL

That's so funny, I did the same thing. The ponies mostly didn't look gendered to me - Mainsail was a boy in my group.

Mine too! There's just something about Mainsail that screamed 'dude' to me. Also, pirate captain:

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[Malicieuse]

I'm glad this has struck up a discussion.

Admittedly, I have filled in the gaps in my mind as well.  The Mountain Boys are unicorns, the BB's don't have a streak in their manes, and I came up with male pegasi.  Though, I've also come up with my own ideas for the natures of some ponies like Truly is a nurse and Sparkler is a demolitions expert. 

The cartoon is certainly not the be all and end all of the franchise (something G4 needs to remember), but it's still an important advertising tool, and I think Hasbro screwed the pooch using it to present male ponies.

Wait, what is wrong with them having a streak in their mane?