The My Little Pony "Stigma"

[SummerSkye]

I agree there wasn't a stigma separate from any other girls toy before FiM. What there is now was created by Bronies. Part of me wishes FiM never existed bc this new group of "fans" have tarnished my favorite childhood line of toys. We had male members of the board before FiM but they were collectors like the rest of us.

I sometimes read Brony boards for the heck of it. Every time I am literally blown away over the topics. There is such a huge difference between fans and collectors. Think collecting  stamps vs writng fanfic/fantasizing about stamps. As a collector, all I care about is picking up the ponies I like. I Def don't want to debate details of a show aimed at kids (and it IS) which I don't even think is all that great honestly. Sorry but all this obsessing over the show has earned the stigma. Ive had mlp since I was a kid in the 80s and I don't want to hear it.

[DazzleKitty]

SummerSkye, I couldn't even read those boards without my blood pressure rising immensely. LOL.

[Al-1701]

Writing fanfics isn't bad in and of itself (though I'm a writer of said fanfics, so I could be biased).  I see it as another form of play using writing to play out imagining even with ponies you might not have in your possession but know about.  It's the stories of fanfics where you run into trouble.  I write about the adventures of the G1 ponies while keeping things in the spirit of pony.  Much of the brony community seems to have different fantasies they want to play out on the keyboard.

[Taffeta]

Fanfic is fine within perameters. I'm a lot in anime and such communities, and there are 2 types of fanfic there - stories and fantasies put into words for other people to have to read.  I also have nothing against deeply analysing episodes or anything, really, story related. It's when you start adding the other layer of...stuff...to it that it becomes a problem.  But, honestly, if they kept it to their own boards and it didn't spill on the wider internet (eg YT etc) then it wouldn't be a problem. It's only that we have it shoved in our faces so much - and so does everyone else. There was a thriving MLP community before even G2 came out, but some of those people think that they created the community and the concept of MLP fandom - and so can treat people the way they choose and not respect what came before.

The sexualised stuff is no better than child cartoon porn. There are a lot of things I could say about that, but the mods would slap me, so I won't.

I wouldn't go so far to say that I wish G4 hadn't happened. That would be punishing the fans of G4 who are not guilty of the nonsense. We have a lot of lovely G4 fans here, or people who came into MLP through G4 and expanded across other generations. Those people are welcome as part of the community and there shouldn't be a separation or a "that Gen should not exist" mentality, imo, even despite the frustration.

The problem is not with the G4 ponies, or even the show. The problem is with a group of very sick and immature people, and the stuff their minds create.

[Lore-Lei]

Well, I'm going to give a shot from the other side of the spectrum here, as I have been observing the fandom and fan-content (and creating the latter in form of art and fanfiction) for years. The differences are indeed mind-blowing.

You know, I feel like I'm trapped between the two sides here.

[DazzleKitty]

I see nothing wrong with fanfiction. I have been reading fanfiction for years. I even read some of the more adult stuff, as I am part of many anime fandoms (and a huge BL fan) and even got into Harry Potter for a while (I revisit that fandom a lot). And if someone wants to write adult pony fanfics, so be it. What I hate is if I look up My Little Pony on Google image search, I get spammed with pony p0rn. It annoys me for some reason.

[edit ~ many thanks ~ hathorcat]

[brighteyes]

I see nothing wrong with fanfiction. I have been reading fanfiction for years. I even read some of the more adult stuff, as I am part of many anime fandoms (and a huge BL fan) and even got into Harry Potter for a while (I revisit that fandom a lot). And if someone wants to write adult pony fanfics, so be it. What I hate is if I look up My Little Pony on Google image search, I get spammed with pony porn. It annoys me for some reason.

[edit ~ many thanks ~ hathorcat]

This is what kills me.  My 8 year old daughter loves to look at pony art, plushies and the like, but I've had to ban her from using google image search because every time one or more of the top results are *highly* inappropriate.   I've tried using safesearch and controls but for some reason, those images still get through.  I guess it's because they are My Little Ponies and the safesearch doesn't recognize them as bad.  But seriously, how unfair is that?  It's a kid's toy and she can't even look at it. 

I'm glad G4 happened because I've made some great new pony friends who were drawn to MLP because of the show.  They are great people and some of them identify as bronies.  But I just wish this over-sexualization of a child's toy would just stop or at least not show up on google image search :-(

[Wardah]

But I just wish this over-sexualization of a child's toy would just stop or at least not show up on google image search :-(

The bold is pretty much how I feel. Before FiM I only found adult images of the Big Brother ponies once and it was on an art site where you had to click "yes I am an adult" on a page first. (Hey I was curious) I have no problem with people being into whatever but keep it to yourselves.

[Lore-Lei]

Here I should mention two things for you guys:

Poniesforparents.tumblr.com and #SafeSearchWrapUp

First one is more of a dictionary and guide for parents, but I think you might still find something useful. As for SSWU, if you want adult material off Google images they welcome anyone in the action. It's a dirty job though.

[SummerSkye]

I want the clarify my point real quick. I was try to define collector vs fan. I don't have anything against fanfic. Me, I'm not into myself, but I think it's something a fan does vs a collector.

[Galaxy91]

I agree there wasn't a stigma separate from any other girls toy before FiM. What there is now was created by Bronies. Part of me wishes FiM never existed bc this new group of "fans" have tarnished my favorite childhood line of toys. We had male members of the board before FiM but they were collectors like the rest of us.

I sometimes read Brony boards for the heck of it. Every time I am literally blown away over the topics. There is such a huge difference between fans and collectors. Think collecting  stamps vs writng fanfic/fantasizing about stamps. As a collector, all I care about is picking up the ponies I like. I Def don't want to debate details of a show aimed at kids (and it IS) which I don't even think is all that great honestly. Sorry but all this obsessing over the show has earned the stigma. Ive had mlp since I was a kid in the 80s and I don't want to hear it.

I agree with everything you just said. I sometimes go to Brony sites too, just to see what's up, and what they are talking about. Its literally always just nonsense topics like "What if Ponies were Dinosaurs!" and "How cool is this edgy mlp/wwII crossover!" and "Which Ponies would you have for your slaves??" Its so weird! Sometimes I get the feeling the whole fanbase is mentally unstable.

Then again maybe they are all very young, who knows. I was obsessive and weird about things I liked too when I was 15.
Hey, maybe it really IS a age issue? As far as I know, Collectors are mostly 25 - 40 yo. How old is the average Brony?

[Wardah]

Not all collectors are older and not all bronies/FiM fans are younger. Tho I wouldn't be surprised if the most vocal and and obnoxious bronies were the younger ones.

[hathorcat]

Ok...this has diverted wildly off topic. Can we get it back to the original discussion or I am going to lock it for rehashing discussions we have locked in the past and just being a bit of that boring old us v them.

[Al-1701]

I think we've pretty well established the stigma against My Little Pony has its root in sexism and belief you have to grow out of things.  Not sure what else to say.

[MJNSEIFER]

As bad as the Being fandom can be, I would never wish it didn't exist.  I (for the most part) got into ponies, via the nicer side of the fandom.  It wasn't perfect even then, but it was better, and the fandom really needs a lot of work, but I'm still glad it exists, because I have fond memories of when things were nicer.

Also, the term doesn't really exclude women.  In my mind, and in the mind of some others, it's a unisex term. I know it probably started as "bro" and "pony" but it just became its own word, and became genderless in my eyes.  Anyone who wants to be called a brony, is a brony, regardless of their sex, in my opinion.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see the off topic warning.