Brony Culture

A discussion not about the show but about the people who like it, why they like it, and how the phenomenon may evolve in the future. Comparing them, and especially contrasting them, to subcultures such as those of the Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. fandoms are also encouraged.

Here's one guy's attempt at making sense of this...

At first I thought people where using them to troll... then I thought it was an annoying meme.

Now I am scared.

That's not a sociological analysis. It lacks research, it lacks thorough examination, it lacks everything.

Furthermore,

Dude, it's just a fandom. There are hundreds of others. The text does not bother to examine in which ways, if any, the "brony" phenomenon differs from the "trekkie" phenomenon, from the "furry" phenomenon, from the Harry Potter fandom and so on. The text does not even try to perform a statistical analysis on the structure of the fandom, and that "subgroup" classification is ridiculously simplistic (and, for the most part, applicable to any relatively popular fandom).

Maybe I am being too harsh; but really, that thing is not an analysis, it's just someone saying "I like ponies" in a longwinded way.

edited 6th Nov '11 9:55:46 AM by Carciofus

^What he said. The whole thing basically boils down to "MLP:FiM is awesome!"

edited 6th Nov '11 10:38:06 AM by INUH

Wait, seriously? A visual pun and a reference to a well-known Greek myth is an indicator of intelligence now?

As far as I can tell, it seems to revolve around making non-members get ill from Cuteness Proximity or similar effects. That and gibbering over a kid's show.

Agreed. The only reason anyone from the outside gives a crap is because it goes against gender norms for grown men to watch a show aimed at girls. The thing that everyone misses is that MLP:Fi M isn't anything new, today's "girl" shows are far, far more sophisticated than the same genre 20-30 years ago.(Wow, 1980-1990 was 20-30 years ago...I'm old...)

Back then, girly shows were just...plotless showcases of all things pink, shopping and dating. Since then, we've had shows and movies like Sailor Moon, The Power Puff Girls, Totally Spies, Winx Club, countless girly anime, especially MagicalGirls...Hell, even old-timey girly media like Barbie and Tinkerbell have gotten plot upgrades, all before Fi M came out. So yeah, MLP does a lot of things better, though not necessary more uniquely, than other stuff in the genre, from what I've seen. It's just that people are taking notice this time for some reason.

I've never seen the show nor do I know anything about it but even I'm starting to find the ponies cute.

One question that might be asked about the "brony fandom" is: why did MLP:FIM gather such a following between young males?*

Saying that it is a good show is not sufficient: after all, it does not seem (but one should check, this is just an hypothesis) to have such a popularity among females, or among middle-aged people, or so on...

Perhaps (but I am basically guessing here, I am no sociologist and I did not do any research) one of the reasons could lie in the fact that watching My Little Pony could be perceived as some sort of rebellion against the societally expected standards of behaviour for young males.

Males in that age range are, it seems to me, about in the middle of the process of constructing their own personal identity. And it is undeniable, I think, that the messages that young males receive from society at large are near-contradictory and, often, too demanding to be met in full. A male should be sensitive yet though, not overly prissy but not a slob, muscular and athletic but not threatening, successful with women but not a "man-slut", and so on.

Note, I am oversimplifying quite a bit here, and I am not implying that "women have it easier".*

Typically, after a while of trying to juggle contradictory and confusing expectations, a person ends up "making their choices", developing a personality which meets none of the demands in full, but which is an acceptable compromise between

1. The societal expectations of what an "ideal young male" should be;
2. The personal inclinations and talents of the subject.

What I suggest here (but as I said, that's just random chatter, I Did Not Do The Research) is that becoming a fan MLP:FIM is, for many "bronies", a gesture of rebellion against unrealistic and stressful expectations.

Here is something that is enjoyable (and, frankly, it is enjoyable, as far as cartoons for little girls go), but that they are not "supposed" to enjoy. And for that reason, I suggest, that show might have a particular pull for people in this age range.

What do you think? It's very simplistic as an explanation, and of course it cannot explain everything; but do you think that something like this could be the case, or am I talking out of my ass?

edited 6th Nov '11 11:37:18 AM by Carciofus

I think you might be on to something there Carciofus. It might also explain the fandom's extremely defensive nature.

I think what separates the MLP fandom from other fandoms is that it has become memetic to like the show. Like, really like the show. I've also noticed the fans are just really... defensive. I can hardly say "eh I don't like it" without at least a horde of them jumping on me for being a hater.

But anyway, trying to really look deep into why people like the show... I mean, it just goes to the same conclusions anyone would make analyzing any fandom. People are attracted to things for many different reasons, but it usually boils down to typical escapist fantasies.

Eh, to me, I see it running its course soon. This huge wave of popularity is going to die down eventually to be like any fandom, I expect.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out there was feminist theorizing about MLP and its fans somewhere, since a lot of it does seem to boil down to "young guys discover their "feminine" side."

I think the defensiveness is probably because some of the less charitable people on the internet tend to look at this and see (a) boys/men acting like little girls and (b) boys/men acting like kids, and they don't mind pointing that out. I'd probably get defensive after a few rounds of that.

Yeah, it's not the feminine part that ticks me off, but the childish.

I must say that I did not see that much defensiveness, nor that much backslash against "bronies" either. Yeah, sure, people will joke about grown men watching shows about magical ponies: that's to be expected, frankly.

But that seemed good-natured to me, and not all that different from the jokes that people make against, I dunno, trekkies and so on.

edited 6th Nov '11 12:53:43 PM by Carciofus

Actually, I did see it as a big step for men in the war against girl-cooties, but making a big deal out of it shows that the girl-cooties still hold a lot of the forts - at least in the minds of people who are into sociology, and in this case, the minds of people who actually have a problem guys doing girly things.

EDIT: Well, actually, I take that back. Cracked, a.k.a. the most testosterone-poisoned site ever to have worthwhile things to say, has only made one Brony joke, and the rest I've seen was the usual exasperation with how disproportionately popular the popular show is.

(Haven't seen the show myself. I considered it, but then I found out it didn't have a plot from episode to episode.)

edited 6th Nov '11 1:38:46 PM by DomaDoma

The way I see it, the actual My Little Pony fandom, the bronies, are not necessarily the same people as those spreading the brony meme the most quickly.

Carciofus' theory might be a good reason why it's commonly discussed on the Internet, but it's not a very good reason why people actually watch it. Especially on some place like TV Tropes, where people are already openly discussing all kinds of media, including things outside of their target audience.

Lol you thin society is harsh on men???

You should see how it threats woman.

This isn't going to become a generalized sexism thread, but anyway, gender role rigidity is way tougher on men in Western society. Nobody ever thought less of a girl because she watched Dragonball Z.

Is the fandom really comparable to that of Star Wars, Star Trek, LOTR, Harry Potter, Twilight, etc? As far as I can see it, only a tiny, dedicated percentage bothers with anything more serious than having a semi-ironic avatar here and there.

Way to actually read the post.

edited 6th Nov '11 2:57:54 PM by silver2195

As opposed to every single person who ever liked Star Trek, being a cosplay-wearing, Klingon-speaking, fanfic-writing, convention-visiting fanatic?

Of course, 90% of every fandom consist of people who just watch the show, discuss it afterwards, and maybe put up an avatar to let others know that he likes it, without any bigger commitment. Why, what do you expect?

Oh, and not ironic. Not semi-ironic either.

edited 6th Nov '11 3:04:31 PM by Ever9

I don't think this is a very large fandom, compared to other famous massive fandoms. It's mostly really prevalent on some parts of the Internet. So we get an extremely disproportionate percentage on this specific site.

And no, it's not a particularly intelligent show, to answer that guy's analysis. It's not stupid, but it's hardly something it takes a genius to watch.

If it takes a genius to watch, that makes it less intelligent than an accessibly smart show, one would think. There's a place for that kind of thing - Neal Stephenson and David Foster Wallace reign as that place's sacred duumvirate - but television is too general a venue for it.

I don't think that anyyone meant that it's literally as big as any of those (older and more established) fandoms, just that it works the same way. All of it. The casual viewers, the fanfic writers, the cosplay, the show discussion, the memes, the fansites, etc., have the same functions in the fandom, it has the same inner workings. It's not something especially ironic, or ideologically heated, just a bunch of people liking a thing.

I don't like it when bronies are big on how "clever" the show is. It seems like missing the point, like if Star Wars fans would be defensive about how their show has the hardest science.

Cleverness in a show isn't an universally necessary value like writing quality or good characterization, but a possible direction, just as sci-fi hardness is a possible direction. My Little Pony is not outstandingly clever, but it doesn't need to be.

This is a "culture" now? Sheesh, how silly. This is no different than liking any other show and while it was odd in the beginning like many others, I don't see why anyone needs to make such a huge deal over it. A Periphery Demographic grew, it happens. Fandoms will be fandoms.