Will MLP ever be gender neutral?

[Snapdragon]

I wasn't talking about doing it now.  I was talking about a future generation.  And I would definitely not want him to become a representative of bronies because again not all males who like MLP are bronies.

And I personally don't like what they've been doing with Spike lately.  Spike is a sidekick built to be a sidekick, and when they make him a main character for an episode it shows how thin and grating his personalty can be.

Well (at risk of going off-topic), I think the issue isn't 'Spike is just a sidekick', but the flanderization of all of the characters, Spike included. I think in the first episode especially, we see him as having more personality - attending a birthday party without Twilight, talking back to/disagreeing with her, supporting her but not unquestioningly - than we see in later episodes. He became more two-dimensional, and because he is a baby dragon, he became an even more grating stereotype. Instead of "kind-hearted but innocent, easily misled or confused due to being a child" became "literally incapable of doing anything on his own without completely ruining everything he touches, useless and annoying."

[Al-1701]

And when it comes time for him to have to save the day, everyone must be nerfed because he doesn't have their capabilities.  "Let's disable our chief means of dealing with an emergency because death and injury are nothing compared to the unspeakable evil of cheating."  Though, Spike's only unique capability is being a fax machine which doesn't make for interesting episode ideas.

I was just thinking how well Arcee and Airachnid fit in with their "male" colleagues in Transformers Prime and if My Little Pony could do the opposite.

[Wardah]

I think they could get away with a male main character if he was already in a relationship with someone outside the group.

[SaphTalon]

I wasn't talking about doing it now.  I was talking about a future generation.  And I would definitely not want him to become a representative of bronies because again not all males who like MLP are bronies.

And I personally don't like what they've been doing with Spike lately.  Spike is a sidekick built to be a sidekick, and when they make him a main character for an episode it shows how thin and grating his personalty can be.

I agree with you. If they make a male character for the main six right now we can kiss what little of a good reputation for Bronies good bye. Forget about improving the situation. Hasbro has cursed us! (Sigh) Thank goodness they have not done this yet because it gives us time. If there can be a part of the Brony fandom we can make positive in the eyes of who grew up with MLP. This will be an accomplishment. It is a goal of mine and my other friends on FB. There may be tolerance  now in which I am grateful but I would like to see if we can improve our current reputation.

[otocolobus_manul]

Though, Spike's only unique capability is being a fax machine which doesn't make for interesting episode ideas.

I don't know, maybe there could be a huge conspiracy where he was caught leaking classified information to the changelings!   

But yeah, I agree that Spike has gotten flatter and flatter over the seasons (which is a shame, considering how much development the others have gone through). At this point, Friendship is Witchcraft Spike has more depth and character than FiM Spike, which is just terrible.

[brightberry]

I love Spike.  I don't think he needs to be a superhero to be worthwhile.  But I will agree that all the characters seem to have lost something in these last few seasons.

But yea, I guess I also wonder what is meant by gender neutral.  Even adding a character of another sex really doesn't make it gender neutral.   I loved Transformers Prime but Arcee and Arachnid still lived in a male centric world.  Even when digging deeper into Arcee's inner most motives, she still focused on a male and suggested romantic loss.  That's not really wrong at all.  I loved the show and her.  But it's definitely not gender neutral. 

But as said before, it's hard to find any shows at all that aren't male-centric and I think that's what makes My Little Pony special and unique.  Most male stereotypes take charge/romance/outsmart/save/show up female main characters in one way or the other.  I feel that any male character introduced into MLP would be pressured by fans/consumers to do the same and that would turn MLP into something completely different.   If the character were a male version of Rarity, sure.  But I really doubt that would happen.

[Al-1701]

Maybe that's why I'm fascinated by matriarchal societies where females are expected to be in the roles of leadership.  Even though so many writers have made the bonehead move of making the females of such society exactly like stereotypical males (or worse over compensate) in their attitudes.  That's why I like My Little Pony because it shows us a matriarchal society that doesn't fall into this trap.

[prancingstag]

If this has already been mentioned please excuse me (going to read back through the thread after posting), but animals in general are marketed as a girl thing, because in my experience they mainly appeal to girls and women. Working within the animal care/welfare industries, you tend to find a very high percentage of women staff. Vet clinics, shelters, zoos, wildlife parks, labs, horse riding or agistment, dog walking, grooming, animal boarding, catteries and kennels - most of them would have a majority of female staff. When I was at TAFE doing the Diploma of Animal Technology, I would say there was one guy for every 10 girls in my classes. Of course animals appeal to men just as much as women, but women seem to be driven more to caring for and working with animals as a life choice.

I believe that's why animal toys are mainly marketed as girl toys. Fur real friends, pound puppies, puppy in my pocket, my little pony/puppy/kitty, pony/puppy/kitty surprise, stuffed animal toys, those giant 'realistic' ponies like Butterscotch - all very typical girl aisle toys. Media catering to animals, especially horses, is also little girl central - Black Beauty, Pony Club, Saddle Club, Flicka, etc. Animals, especially baby animals or animals about to give birth, strike on the nurturing/caring/keeping healthy interactive elements. Of course that kind of play style can appeal to boys and I do see little boys looking through the animal stuff and playing with the 'stroke my back to hear me make a sound' realistic animal toy types, but overall its the girls who desire and consume such products, so of course they would be marketed heavily into the pink, sparkly and maternal themes.

As for MLP in particular, I really don't see a problem with the abundance of little girl's marketing. It is obvious from the brony crowd that they don't care if its supposed to be for them or not, they will consume what they like regardless of company marketing, and I believe a lot of kids these days are the same. I see plenty of little girls looking at action figures and toy cars, and little boys looking at dolls and collectible charms. Quite often I see pairs of opposite gendered siblings walking the toy aisles together, saying 'Look at this! Look at that!' and enjoying everything. The girl's aisle and the boy's aisle still exist but the rule of only being able to enjoy one or the other is steadily breaking down, I really don't think boys will be turned away from MLP or lose interest solely because Hasbro continues the girl targeted marketing. In fact it's a good thing - femininity and masculinity are both distinct and appeal for different reasons. A bland grey neutral toy is going to appeal to nobody. A pretty pink princess and a battle-scarred hero are two very different things that can potentially appeal to anybody! Diversity in toys and marketing is good, forced segregation and denial of choice is what should be stamped out.

[Al-1701]

I have to imagine toy companies would love to see the forced segregation and denial of choice stamped out because that improves says.  However, everything has to have a style to be appealing and styles will almost always favor masculine or feminine and feminine best fits My Little Pony.

[Elisto]

Well, it's true that marketing a product involves selling an "image" of the kind of person who buys this product because that's what people relate to, and so yes, companies do tend to move towards a forced "segregation" of "masculine" and "feminine" concepts because that's easy and familiar to conceptualize since it's a concept that already exists, but they don't have to use that dichotomy, and using it doesn't even have to mean it's a reflection of some natural preference state. It's more of a feedback loop, where they have a predictable market if they can convince people that this is the epitome of what girls like or what boys like, and in turn, the more people are convinced, the more they ask for that kind of thing.

[SaphTalon]

Well, it's true that marketing a product involves selling an "image" of the kind of person who buys this product because that's what people relate to, and so yes, companies do tend to move towards a forced "segregation" of "masculine" and "feminine" concepts because that's easy and familiar to conceptualize since it's a concept that already exists, but they don't have to use that dichotomy, and using it doesn't even have to mean it's a reflection of some natural preference state. It's more of a feedback loop, where they have a predictable market if they can convince people that this is the epitome of what girls like or what boys like, and in turn, the more people are convinced, the more they ask for that kind of thing.

Some one give this girl a golden metal! Great response   

[Darker]

Bonnie Zacherle wanted it neutral, and Hasbro kinda made it that way on G1, but G4 is just a bit less girly than G3 was, so I guess it will never be.

It might be, but probably not in the next following years.

[LadyMoondancer]

All the generations were pretty damn girly.  (I mean that in a non-negative way;  it's just what they were.)

Arguably the least girly generation was G2.  (Reminder:  MLP Tales is not G2.  G2 is the toyline with the skinny horses.)  It had pretty many bright "non-pink" color schemes (at least once the line hit Europe), the boy and girl poses were identical so you could assign any pony to a "boy" role, and there wasn't any TV show to reinforce the "this is a land of singing and hearts and sparkles" aspect.

I wonder if there were more boys (in Europe) who played with MLPs compared to G1 or G3?

[hathorcat]

Nah....this is an old thread and I was done babysitting it some time ago Its gone in circles for 6 pages. Lets try something new...*oooooh look shiny shiny...throws confetti, locks thread and vanishes*