MLP in USA Today!

[MoonStars]

I think in some ways, it can be a lot harder for a guy to like "girl" stuff than a girl to like "boy" stuff.

[/b]
Indeed. People seem to not even care if a girl wears clothes from the boy section, but if a boy wears girl clothes, everyone goes nuts. Just as girls seem to be able to buy guy stuff in the toy aisle, but a boy getting a girl toy is outrageous.

Oh god I hate the "boy" and "girl" labels for things. Things are for people, not a certain gender. 

That ^, and that. ^
Back to the article itself, though, I liked its tone. I didn't detect any underlying "WTF???" nuances, which is often the case in articles about MLP male fans (or, yeah, MLP fans in general... as in "wtf? Adults like a kids toy?") (another thing that bugs me are age-labels!) I'm wondering if what drew the reporter's attention, though, was the charity aspect of brony-dom.

ETA: I am absolutely NOT going to read any of the comments on the article's website. Usually a huuuuge waste of time and only aggravating.

[zannid]

On the one hand, I'm very glad male fans are getting positive attention because as has been said many times, we shouldn't be telling people what they can and can't like based on gender, and I think in some ways, it can be a lot harder for a guy to like "girl" stuff than a girl to like "boy" stuff.

In a larger societal view, yes, guys are often discriminated against for liking feminine things. Though that's mostly because feminine is viewed as weak or inferior and so men should be manly men.

In the case of community, though, guys are often more easily accepted into female-based communities vs. women into male-based communities. Oftentimes women even choose to buy less "feminine" clothes to fit in in an already male-based community.  It helps separate you as "one of the guys" instead of "those gross girls"

Of course, this is just my experience in the groups I've been in over the years. Also, ignoring factors like women occasionally being physically intimidated by men in their space. (When I say "space" I mean the areas of interest in which they associate). You'll always have some women who don't think men should be anything other than masculine, same as you'll always have some men who think women should always be feminine and stay within the areas "fitting" for their gender.

It's complicated, y'all. Like, super complicated. And fjfhfjhfdfdf I just want to play with my ponies and read my comics and wear my biker boots while ogling pretty dresses and ignore the societal gender boxes for a while. Cause dude, those boxes ain't fun for nobody.

[Elisto]

On the one hand, I'm very glad male fans are getting positive attention because as has been said many times, we shouldn't be telling people what they can and can't like based on gender, and I think in some ways, it can be a lot harder for a guy to like "girl" stuff than a girl to like "boy" stuff.

In a larger societal view, yes, guys are often discriminated against for liking feminine things. Though that's mostly because feminine is viewed as weak or inferior and so men should be manly men.

Yes, definitely! I think this is the center of a lot of problems. Feminine is associated with weak (ie: inferior), which is from one perspective, is harmful to women, but is socially acceptable, so we, even as adults, can like "little girl things" and generally speaking not be seen as weird, other than perhaps obsessive (hence the lack of attention in these pieces on the popularity of MLP, even positive ones like this). But from another perspective, is harmful to men who might like something generally considered "feminine," which I think can lead to two understandable reactions in guys who this bothers/harms or girls who don't like being considered weak: they can try to change opinions (their own or others') about gender, interests, etc. (like all the bronies I know personally, and I would put most of us here too, including Faust, given her goals with FiM), or they can deny that they like something "girly" (leading to the rude, insulting bronies).

I am glad that positive articles like this keep coming out, as infuriating as I find it to not see us long-time fans really acknowledged. But on the whole, I do think it's ultimately a good thing for the MLP community (fractured as it may be), and a good thing for people outside of it to think about and hopefully find less "scary" or "threatening".

I also think all of this, all of FiM's popularity as well as attention outside of the pony fan community means that Faust's aim of creating a show for girls that didn't conform to mindless gender stereotypes was successful at doing just that. And I think people know it, or they (rude fans or even just the insulting commenters) wouldn't be complaining if they weren't on some level aware of it.

[BerryPunch]

jhdjhreejdufreiworplg,fdlk
The word "girly" is getting to much for me.
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I wish we lived in a world where everyone could watch and play and dress how they wanted to.
Gender labels are preventing that 

[hathorcat]

Gosh we seem to have travelled a little off topic! Lets get back to the article shall we?

I think its really interesting the way the article has made such a significant mention of the charity angle which is becoming prominent in the FiM community - its nice to see that kind of perspective being mentioned.

[Elisto]

Yeah, I agree, this article actually did have some interesting things to say that I hadn't heard before.

[KarentheUnicorn]

Re: 1982 / 1983.  The first toys are stamped "1982", but I believe they did first become widely available in stores in 1983.

I still think it's 1982 - just from how I remember them in stores back then and what was available for me to buy in 83 when I started collecting. I don't ever remember seeing Minty, Butterscotch, BlueBelle or Snuzzle in stores; which makes me believe that it was 82 when the first 6 were being sold.

[Tupin]

I rarely see all of the charity work the FiM fandom does mentioned in most news sources outside the fandom. Then again, most news sources just want to stereotype all fans based on their worst examples to give people an easy target to be bigoted against.

I won't say any more about the gender, I think the real disconnect is between fans of FiM exclusively and fans of other generations.

[Malicieuse]

I rarely see all of the charity work the FiM fandom does mentioned in most news sources outside the fandom. Then again, most news sources just want to stereotype all fans based on their worst examples to give people an easy target to be bigoted against.

I won't say any more about the gender, I think the real disconnect is between fans of FiM exclusively and fans of other generations.

From what i have seen most news sources are fairly positive these days...

[Tupin]

For the longest time it was just "look at these people" and then it became "look how these people act at conventions, we should take away their 'man cards' and keep them away from us, they're creepy."

So it is nice to see a positive article.

[Elisto]

huh, I guess I've fortunately missed a lot of the negative articles. Mostly what I've seen has been positive, although with not much to them. I do think this one may be the best (and most researched) one I've seen.

[lithiumkat]

It is nice to see more positive attention for the new, older and maybe more male driven fans instead of mockery and torment. Also nice that someone wrote an article in a reputable source that documents the good works a lot of the bronies are doing and also a reasonable explanation as to why they may like a show that is "supposed to be for little girls"