Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Big AppleDoom » 30 Apr 2012 09:50

NavyBrony wrote:I'm usually the one making long replies, but the answer to the question is relatively simple.

Liking ponies is considered weird because stereotypes are weird. Stereotypes are weird because enormous amounts of people devote their lives to them.

If enormous amounts of people weren't idiots for falling into this so called, "manly man," alpha male persona, then they'd be more likely to watch a show for its quality, they wouldn't feel the need to berate others for what they do, and the world would be free of a good chunk of morons.

There is absolutely nothing weird about liking FiM. It's a high-quality show, and I watch high-quality shows because they're awesome.

Sometimes I wish people stopped treating bronies like a crazy phenomenon, because it isn't. People just enjoy quality shows. And no, we shouldn't consider ourselves special, or that we have a weird quirk. We just like a goddamn good show (I should say that again):

"WE JUST LIKE A GODDAMN GOOD SHOW." Simple, straight, and to the point.

If anything, we're more normal than society's masses. How is not liking something because some unknown source told you it was girly normal? If anything, the haters are the weird ones.


This.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Legion » 30 Apr 2012 11:46

colortwelve wrote:
vladnuke wrote:Forget I said anything, lol.

It's already been said - we live on a different planet than the other bronies.

I live in michigan and I've never gotten crap for being a brony, aside from the obligatory light-hearted joking from friends. So no, LA isnt all that alien.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Whitetail » 30 Apr 2012 12:31

Image

This is what most guys my age are expected to like.

So when someone my age likes this

Image

It's bound to turn a few heads.

It's not really all that odd, I wouldn't consider harsh people's judgements justified but it's not really all that hard to understand the mindset. Hell a few years ago I'd probably be too afraid to get into the group in the first place because of that.

Part of the experience as a whole is not taking yourself too seriously so that people giving you flak over liking it doesn't bother you in the first place. Something a think a lot of people tend to miss now - you should be able to laugh at yourself just as readily as you can laugh about other people and their own quirks (to this day I still find the obsession with Football that a lot of society has to be quite silly).
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby LunchBagMusic » 01 May 2012 04:53

AlicornBob wrote:(Also: Why can't I love?)
Seriously. I want to ask this girl out so badly, but I'm just not sure if what I feel is strong enough to be acted upon in good conscience.


Dude, relationships are often way more complicated than they need to be.

Ask her out, and then if it doesn't work, accept it and move on. That's why people date. You don't go into a relationship with this deep bond, you develop it over time. With dating. So ask her out. YOLO



NB: Not everyone will be called gay for liking ponies, But ChromoChaos is worried that he is
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby CWeissRun » 01 May 2012 10:31

LunchBagMusic wrote:
AlicornBob wrote:(Also: Why can't I love?)
NB: Not everyone will be called gay for liking ponies, But ChromoChaos is worried that he is


At the Calgary Comicon, one friend was mildly surprised that I bought a piece of nude artwork "mostly because of, y'know, the ponies and all. No offence, it's just a little unexpected". :P
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby ChromaticChaosPony » 01 May 2012 14:52

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Last edited by ChromaticChaosPony on 01 May 2012 15:07, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Big AppleDoom » 01 May 2012 15:00

Whitetail wrote:(to this day I still find the obsession with Football that a lot of society has to be quite silly).

Me too.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby ChromaticChaosPony » 01 May 2012 15:10

Ok, I fixed my string of crappy posts by partially deleting them. I hope nobody read them before I removed them, otherwise this thread might have gotten derailed.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby ph00tbag » 06 May 2012 18:25

It's pretty simple, really. We don't fit into any pre-existing pattern of what people expect from a random dude on the street. No one can look at us and go, "oh that's a brony--I know what to expect from him." Part of it's just lack of exposure to the culture and part of it is the general novelty of the concept.

Look at it this way. We're all artists here, so most of us probably have pretty eclectic friends. Even if we might not make the decisions ourselves, we probably know someone who goes around wearing Black Sabbath t-shirts and heavy gauged earings, with spiked hair. We don't consider this odd because we're exposed to the culture, and if we saw some other guy out on the street looking like that, we wouldn't find it particularly out of the ordinary. But to one of the snappy dudes in business suits, this guy is a punk, a rebel, he doesn't fit into the dude's model.

We're kinda like that guy with the gauged earrings, except there's even fewer people who aren't exposed to our culture. Even people who don't necessarily conform to what mainstream society tells them they should be aren't guaranteed to know much about bronies. So when they see a dude walking down the street wearing a brightly colored shirt with Pinkie Pie cheerfully offering free hugs (a shirt which, if it doesn't yet exist, must be designed ASAP) doesn't fit into any cultural model they have, so they think we're weird. They may even try to shoehorn us into some culture they know exists, but that they don't know much about, which is why everyone seems to think we're gay, even though the ponies we're physically attracted to aren't even male.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby colortwelve » 06 May 2012 18:39

ph00tbag wrote:even though the ponies we're physically attracted to aren't even male.

I lol'd.

But seriously, I do like that explanation a lot more than 'society is conformist,' etc. It really meshes well with my extreme hatred of cynicism. People aren't bad, they're just uninformed.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Ed Viper » 06 May 2012 20:42

Indeed. Ignorance =/= stupidity. Also, if anyone hasn't seen bronies get mentioned on ESPN yet, here's the video:



Now, this is a classy way of recognizing the fandom. Regardless of whether or not the guy really likes My Little Pony, the term "brony" is used in less of a mocking tone and more like a passing joke. Like if you called someone a "trekkie". Even though the young guy is clearly a bit uncomfortable discussing the topic, it's still done without disrespect to anyone. Fox News can learn a bit from ESPN - but that's not the point I'm making here.

Not everyone in mainstream society will look down upon/discriminate against/hate bronies. I feel that the majority of people, after really thinking about it I'm sure that most people won't really care about bronies. Yeah, we watch My Little Pony, so? It's not as if we're planting bombs at the super bowl or shutting down websites, so people will learn to, if not accept, then tolerate us.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Pashoo » 06 May 2012 22:30

It's been brought up several times, and probably will be, again, but in truth, it all boils down to the same theme: Stereotyping. Now, it's human nature to seek knowledge, and to learn. We fear the unknown because it is the lack of knowledge, lack of security. To know a person, learn about them, is to know their intentions and assess one's own standing with them, whether they are a friend or foe. Eventually, you as a person can assess the proper courses of action to ensure a favorable outcome. This ties together the pursuit of knowledge (understanding a person) and the security of knowing (to know how they can affect you.) Security in knowledge.

To know every person, their intentions, hopes, dream, their personality and tendencies, provides a sense of security, that you know each person's potential and tendency to change the world around them, to change your world. Of course, knowing every person in existence would be silly, if not downright impossible to achieve in one lifetime. Then, of course, human nature dictates that we would be forced to live in constant fear of the strangers in our life, torn between regarding them with extreme caution, or familiarizing with them, learning about them. This indecision eventually led to the creation of stereotyping. By observing the most superficial traits of a being, we draw conclusions. We feel like we know them without actually having interacted with said individual. We infer that this person must be the same as all the others with the same superficial traits and create for ourselves a false sense of security in knowledge. After all, every stereotype has a basis, no matter how small. Essentially, stereotypes are a way for us to get to know a person without having to get to know them, thereby reassuring ourselves in our lack of knowledge.

That being said, bronies, deviate from most common stereotypes. We're something different, unknown. Because of this, the fear of the unknown makes itself apparent, without the safety net of stereotyping to fall back on. In an attempt to 'know' the entirety of bronydom, some people gather what they can of already existing stereotypes, that gay people like girly things, or that only freaks like children's toys (of course, while these stereotypes aren't always necessarily true, they already exist.) According to these two assumptions alone, if they were true, then that would mean that all bronies were gay freaks.

Some bronies ARE gay, and maybe some of us ARE freaks, and maybe some of us really ARE gay freaks, but we're all people (or ponies) the likes of which many of these people have never truly gotten to know.

Now, I'm not saying stereotypes are necessarily a bad thing. Like I said, all stereotypes have some basis, regardless how small. But on that same note, the reason some people look at bronies so oddly is because of the fact that stereotypes exist.

But when someone looks past all preconceived notions, past the coke-bottle glasses of a nerd who spends his time library because he can't face his parents at home, or the concentrated stare of a jock in math class, desperately trying to keep up his grades so he can pursue the sport he loves, when someone can look past all the Pinkie Pies in your sketch pad and see the person behind the wall of pretense, well...

It just makes it all the more worth it.

</philosophy> aaaaaaa wall of text.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Ed Viper » 06 May 2012 23:33

Despite the wall of text, I read it (because I'm an intellectual type like that, yo) and I really think you said what I was trying to say in my posts in this thread, but smarter.

Also, your sketchbook needs more Fluttershy.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby NytMayr » 05 Jun 2012 08:10

I'm not going to type out a wall-of-text, because my answer to this is nice and simple:

My Little Pony has been around for a few decades at this point, and for the vast majority of its lifespan, it was actually quite girly. A reputation like that isn't the easiest thing to shake off.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Facade » 05 Jun 2012 08:15

NytMayr wrote:My Little Pony has been around for a few decades at this point, and for the vast majority of its lifespan, it was actually quite girly. A reputation like that isn't the easiest thing to shake off.

so true
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Trillionage » 05 Jun 2012 09:54

It's completely unfortunate that something being girly is a point of contention. It's worse because it very often has a basis. Most "girly" shows seem to solely revolve around tween romance or the characters just seem vapid and its primarily a marketing decision. Slice of life shows targeted for a female audience, more often than not, solely focus on socially inadequate, stereotypical teenage 'ugly' girls whose primary concern seems to revolve around her social life (boys, shopping, her appearance, which we keep getting told is "plain") rather than the interactions between the characters. Some shows actually used that in a more realistic way ("As told by Ginger" was kinda good on that from my point of view), but it still feels vapid.

Female oriented action shows (as in shows that are actually aimed at girls and not "shows with a striperrific 'empowered' female character) are quite uncommon and most of them are imports. If its an action show produced in the U.S, it very likely would either be marketed to boys or all genders (but still with emphasis on boys).

Romance and the like are not bad. They work perfectly when handed well. So do "girly" characters. Rarity is by far one of the best feminine characters, mostly because she has more depth to herself. She has all the vapid traits you would expect from the fashionista archetype (obsession with fashion, haughtiness) but she also has more traits that make her more well rounded (she actually is shown to work and worry about her profession; she can be greedy and manipulative, but also selfless and helpful to those that need her). She seems like a character you could actually know in your social circle.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby LunchBagMusic » 06 Jun 2012 02:13

God Rarity annoyed me so much in Season 1.

Now, not so much. I'm not sure who's mellowed out; her or me?

Maybe I'm just embracing the sassy.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Spark » 10 Jun 2012 05:59

LunchBagMusic wrote:God Rarity annoyed me so much in Season 1.

Now, not so much. I'm not sure who's mellowed out; her or me?

Maybe I'm just embracing the sassy.


I feel for ya, dude. At first, I was a bit annoyed at Rarity, too (I'm not too big on girly girls). But then, as I watched more of her misadventures in the show and how fans portray her, I realized that Rarity can be an awesome, sometimes even a badflank, pony.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby wu long cha » 10 Jun 2012 06:53

Trillionage wrote:It's completely unfortunate that something being girly is a point of contention. It's worse because it very often has a basis. Most "girly" shows seem to solely revolve around tween romance or the characters just seem vapid and its primarily a marketing decision. Slice of life shows targeted for a female audience, more often than not, solely focus on socially inadequate, stereotypical teenage 'ugly' girls whose primary concern seems to revolve around her social life (boys, shopping, her appearance, which we keep getting told is "plain") rather than the interactions between the characters. Some shows actually used that in a more realistic way ("As told by Ginger" was kinda good on that from my point of view), but it still feels vapid.

Female oriented action shows (as in shows that are actually aimed at girls and not "shows with a striperrific 'empowered' female character) are quite uncommon and most of them are imports. If its an action show produced in the U.S, it very likely would either be marketed to boys or all genders (but still with emphasis on boys).

Romance and the like are not bad. They work perfectly when handed well. So do "girly" characters. Rarity is by far one of the best feminine characters, mostly because she has more depth to herself. She has all the vapid traits you would expect from the fashionista archetype (obsession with fashion, haughtiness) but she also has more traits that make her more well rounded (she actually is shown to work and worry about her profession; she can be greedy and manipulative, but also selfless and helpful to those that need her). She seems like a character you could actually know in your social circle.


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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby senntenial » 25 Jun 2012 19:00

the reason it is considered weird
is because it is weird.
weirdos.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Indigo Spectrum » 25 Jun 2012 19:51

piedoom wrote:the reason it is considered weird
is because it is weird.
weirdos.

bronies are weird
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby 3Earl » 30 Jun 2012 03:55

because sometimes if other people who like ponies are bad then you are bad and you should feel bad

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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Freewave » 30 Jun 2012 08:03



I just loved the interview with John de Lancie where he really gets into a discussion about us and what it all comes back to (really interesting). But the fact that even older adults are now "discovering" the show and the fanbase and coming to terms with or becoming part of the herd is really quite refreshing. This fanbase is still very young and even small and insulated compared to trekkies, for example, but as time passes and more people are exposed we'll see that change. The documentary could possibly be one of those documentaries that gets really noticed by the public at large and create some real discussion. As someone has been to Starcons and the San Diego Comic Con really we're just at the tip of the iceberg still in size.
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby Captain Ironhelm » 30 Jun 2012 14:55

The color schemes (hearts and swirly designs everywhere), the fact that (almost) all the characters are female. It just looked like it wasn't geared for my audience.

Without any knowledge, it can easily come across to be just another Barbie show where she goes on a date with Ken to the ice cream shop. (No, never seen any, just made that up.)
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Re: Why is liking ponies considered "weird"

Postby xadobex » 11 Jul 2012 00:05

Because its a show that consists of colored ponies (of which most are female), and because it was originally created for little girls, and because people don't like to accept the idea of males watching a show that was originally intended for children.

What's funny is that most of them haven't even watched the show.

Many of my friends are brony haters. A few were but then I forced the show upon them, and they didn't become bronies but they did accept it more. So many reasons as to why watching the show is considered weird.
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