When Did The Term "Brony" Become Offensive?

[Majesty]

Sorry I guess I missed it.  From what I understand or consider, Brony means people who are fans of FIM and nothing else.

Then I read posts saying and comments saying Brony is offensive. 

When did that happen?  Are we still allowed to say Brony?

[Mlphammy]

I guess some people don't like concidering themselfs bronies.

[Rosencrantz]

*puts on explainer hat* It's more, Brony is a *group* of FiM fans. Bronies like FiM, but not all people who like FiM are Bronies. And the group has had a history of doing a lot of bad things, from the mild of going on insulting fits over previous generations, to the not appropriate for talking about on this forum of attacks on women in fandom.  As well as generally offensive behaviour.

And as a side explanation, it is a term for men (bro) who wanted to differentiate themselves from lady fans, and well, some people don't want to go that route. Especially old school fans who were around before FiM.

[lunar_scythe]

The majority of those who call themselves Bronies do not like the earlier generations(and some of them get very offensive about it!)  They tend to say the right things, but then their actions are the complete opposite of what they say they stand for, and that gets *very* irritating.

[Majesty]

I see now, thanks for the explanation.  So, I guess I'm at a loss.  What do we call the female fans of only FIM?  What do we call the nice male fans of only FIM (the ones who aren't intentionally causing trouble)? 

[Rosencrantz]

I see now, thanks for the explanation.  So, I guess I'm at a loss.  What do we call the female fans of only FIM?  What do we call the nice male fans of only FIM (the ones who aren't intentionally causing trouble)? 

We call them whatever they want to be called.

[lunar_scythe]

*shrugs*  pony fans or collectors?  Not *everyone* who calls themselves Bronies are offensive, but the ones who are tend to be the loudest.  Part of it, to be honest, is the classic 'we were here first!' attitude you have any time a large group of new fans show up, too.

It's like the Bronies are the 'new fans'  at a concert when you've liked a band for years and it's finally getting popular; great for the band, but darn it, you know all their songs and these people just know the newest single!

[BrightIdea]

People are over-reacting. It's not offensive, but some people don't want to be labelled and lumped in with everyone else I guess.

A subset of Bronies act very rudely (make fun of people's youtube videos of other generations of ponies, loud and opinionated, etc) and another subset is rather creepy, and unfortunately these groups of people stand out and give the rest of them a less than stellar reputation. I am guessing people don't want to be lumped into a group and associated with the annoying/weird/creepy fans.

But yeah, Brony was from "Brother Pony" and to describe adult male fans of Friendship is Magic that were out of the show's target age group. Bronies can like anything my little pony, not just FiM.

I consider myself a brony, too, even if I am a girl

[Evening_Moonstone]

Not all bronies are misogynistic, previous-gen haters.  Lots of them are just guys (or just "adults") who like ponies.

I attended a con earlier this year called "Brony Fan Fair" and the biggest demographic consisted of sweet but socially awkward guys in their 20s who liked ponies.  One guy lifted me bodily into the air so I could see a screen that was blocked by tall people (he was well-meaning, even if that was a bit unexpected).  I had a lengthy conversation in line with a guy whose favorite was G1 Surprise. 

Every group has a mix of personalities.  Unfortunately (as is the case with many subgroups), the loudest and most obnoxious give the whole group a bad reputation.

[svleonard]

Brony is not offensive.

[SourdoughStomper]

I'm going to give my own take (and only my own) as someone who knows a bit about the background, and then I'll lock this thread. Sorry if it seems unfair, and perhaps it is - but these types of threads always break out into flames.

The term is generally thought to be a combination of bro and ponies, but I'm pretty sure that is not the case at all. Not originally, anyway. It's a combination of the name of a very . . . um, shall we say . . . shady corner of the internet and the word ponies. I will not name the name, but this place had repeatedly in the past shown disdain and hostility both to My Little Pony and to the Arena itself. Yes, I said that. To the Arena.

So it took us (that is, we mods) by no small amount of surprise that people from a group known to dislike ponies in the extreme were suddenly flocking over here. It's been an uneasy situation ever since. We have tried our best to keep the peace here at this site.

The aforementioned hostility seemed to morph from "we hate MLP" to "we hate old MLP."  Again, I don't say that of any Arena members who identify with bronies because they are probably unaware of the origins. And because those truly hostile folks don't seem to join the Arena as a whole, anyway. (Thank goodness.)

The term "bronies" spread to a wider usage. Like the word "Coke" can mean any brand of soda pop, or "Kleenex" can mean any brand of tissue. I'm sure a lot of people new to the world of MLP do not know the origins or even come from that place, and I try to keep that in mind when a new person comes along and identifies with them. But it's hard to separate the negative feelings from the negative origins.

The Arena-based bronies are a nicer lot. You Arena bronies are welcome to stay and I hope you do not feel like I am bashing any of you. It just is what it is.