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It's fairly easy for people (In general, I'm guilty of it to, unfortunately) to say that a group of people has a specific trait to them. It's justified by saying they're attacking the idea and not the person. The problem is ideas like the ones you mentioned seek to insult the people who hold them and not the idea itself.

 

Like when Galileo made the utterly shocking statement that the earth wasn't the center of the solar system. He was thrown in jail. Really what was being said is that they didn't like him for having the idea, not that they didn't like the idea. (They didn't like it, obviously.)

 

Rather than attacking an idea we don't like, we attack people who hold that idea. It seems to be a common trait among people.

Every time you call bronies as a group "neckbeards"...

 

Wait, what? What is that even supposed to mean?

 

Anyway, yeah, any large group of people is going to have more than their fare share of bad apples. And while I generally agree with what you've said, I've also noticed that EQ doesn't make that much of an effort to keep the site family friendly. Sure they tend to keep the more stranger (shall we say) content visibly tagged (sometimes), but the fact is that it's still there and not that hard to uncover. And when the largest fan site for the group is posting that kind of stuff, it's hard not to make broad accusations.

 

I can't comment in conventions or other fan sites since I've never been to them, but from what I've seen on EQ there's still a bit that fans can do to try and give themselves a marginally better image.

Because it's a lot easier to hate a faceless collective than it is to hate specific individuals with names and faces, even if those names and faces belong to people deserving of criticism. It's also a lot easier to get attention and "internet fame" from making sweeping, polarizing statements than it is from making rational, informed statements, sadly. This one isn't just true online, it's true in the real world too - look at how much we talk about a politician that shouts inane things about large groups of people, compared to a politician that says something reasonable and speaks eloquently.

 

People are suckers for emotional appeals, and it's a lot easier to create a strong emotional appeal and misinformation when you're working with a large, ominous "them" instead of "John Doe, the prick accountant from that one website". They can cause damage because they're hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions. John Doe is just one guy. They are dangerous because you don't know who or where they are. You know who John Doe is and where John Doe is. They create an atmosphere and environment. John Doe just stinks up a joint until he's asked to leave. The unknown they is a much more powerful weapon in an emotional plea than the easily identified individual.

 

I have a lot of other thoughts as to what causes it, but as far as the major ones go, that's a big one to me, and one of the few big ones I'm willing to share in public. They're not embarrassing, I'm just not looking to argue too many of them right now; most of the time I would, but I have finals, so I can't engage in debate over the others right now(Still open to discussion though!). I'm willing to share in PM though if people are interested.

Meh, I chalk it up to "people are bored and don't want to deal with their own flaws, so they look for them in others."

where on earth is NOT ALL MEN kool-aid man when you need him

>complains about people hating bronies because of some bad ones

>thinks all right wingers think bronies are "a symptom of the waning masculinity of society" because of some bad ones

>complains about people hating bronies because of some bad ones

>thinks all right wingers think bronies are "a symptom of the waning masculinity of society" because of some bad ones

He never said that all of them thought that, and he criticized the opposing side of the spectrum no less than the right-wing. Though I'd say that both groups have a bit of an inappropriate persecution complex at times, really....

 

>complains about people hating bronies because of some bad ones

>thinks all right wingers think bronies are "a symptom of the waning masculinity of society" because of some bad ones

He never said that all of them thought that, and he criticized the opposing side of the spectrum no less than the right-wing. Though I'd say that both groups have a bit of an inappropriate persecution complex at times, really....

 

True, but he never said not all of them are like that, for either side.

If you like MLP and happen to be a boy, there's nothing wrong with that. People are weird and have preferences and stuff.

 

It's fairly easy for people (In general, I'm guilty of it to, unfortunately) to say that a group of people has a specific trait to them. It's justified by saying they're attacking the idea and not the person. The problem is ideas like the ones you mentioned seek to insult the people who hold them and not the idea itself.

 

Like when Galileo made the utterly shocking statement that the earth wasn't the center of the solar system. He was thrown in jail. Really what was being said is that they didn't like him for having the idea, not that they didn't like the idea. (They didn't like it, obviously.)

 

Rather than attacking an idea we don't like, we attack people who hold that idea. It seems to be a common trait among people.

Listen to this being. He speaks truth.

[Double posting is not allowed. If you have more to say then just edit your previous post/comment -Takuma Nuva]

 

Yeah, not all bronies are weirdos and pervs and what have you. But it's not "just a few that ruin it for the rest of us". There are A LOT OF THEM. A BIG, SIGNIFICANT CHUNK. It's not a handful of people, it is a laaaarge community. Trust me, I've seen em all, all over the net, and all over the streets. I spent a while going to Brony Meetups in my city, attended BronyCon 2012, and was a moderator on an MLP forum with over 10K registered members for half a year, and was a regular member for longer. The brony community is full wonderful, innocent people, and my friends and I, both online and offline, have had a lot of fun doing stuff related to the show. Also I LOVE THE COMICBOOKS THEY'RE REALLY COOL. And I'll admit I have a shelf of little pony figurines they are so adorable.

But there are a lot of us who are just... no. Just a big ol' NO. There's a reason people think bronies are "neckbeards" and misogynistic brutes and like all the other things you listed, and it's because time and again they have shown that they compromise a really big chunk of the fandom. And they are loud and obnoxious and self righteous and they are so so so unpleasant. There's a lot of content out there unsuitable for the target audience and it is messed up. THERE IS SO MUCH. AND IT IS SO MESSED UP. GEEZ. A few people can't possibly mkae that much content. It's armies. Entire armies. And they have GIANT victim complexes, and a lot of issues to deal with. I'm not even getting into it, but there are nice lovely bronies and there are just arrogant, rude, messed up, very very mean bronies, and they aren't a tiny problem that misrepresents the whole. You have to understand that when people say the things they do, it's cause they've seen or heard terrible things from and about those bronies and they tend not to see the good, mostly cause if you're a chill person you're probably not gonna be obsessed with shoving MLP into everyones faces when its uncalled for. I can talk about it forever. FOREVER. It's ridiculous.

So, yeah. We're long past the point where people look down on you 'cause you watch "a girly show", it's at the point where people are very familiar with the very, very wrong aspects of the fandom and all the vile filth and nonsense and annoying internet drama and flamboyant narcissism and all that. We raised thousands and thousands of dollars to make a documentary about bronies, that nobody except bronies would even be interested in watching, and it does nothing but pat ourselves on the back for being special. "I am proud to watch a girls show-- but I'm not gay!" is something way too many of 'em had to say, which is just building up this whole blurring of gender stereotypes thing and then throwing that wall up again in the same sentence. Blah. Like I said, I can talk about it forever. I get carried away. I stay away from the fandom, I haven't even watched any new episodes since Season 3 ended though that's partly because I didn't have the time. The fandom kinda ruined it for me anyways. It's just... it was a pleasant experience and a lot of fun, for sure, but there was just way more of the nastiness and the unpleasantness. I have immense respect for the show, and everyone involved in its production, and am so so glad I got to meet most of them, and I do think it is a wonderful show and I do know that obviously not everyone is a terrible person, some people just enjoy it within the confines of human decency. I just understand 300% why people do not like bronies as rule, and only make an exception once they get to really know you.

That being said, just chillax about it. If you don't think their hate should apply to you, then you're probably not one of the people they hate. Don't act guilty. It's not directed directly at you, no need to be offended. Don't feel responsible for the whole group.

 

Another big thing is that they are the peripheral demographic. The show isn't even directed primarily at bronies, but they claim it as their own thing and do as they please with it and make so much nasty content and make the internet just such a horrible, horrible place for the target demographic to try and enjoy their cartoon.

My best friend's little sister went on google images once to find a picture of a pony so she could use it as reference. He found her drawing later it as definitely not BZP friendly, to say the least. She was really little, she didn't really understand. But imagine if she spent even another minute scrolling? What horrible things would she have seen? What terrible links could she have found herself clicking? It's really freaking messed up. Because the bronies don't even consider the consequences of what they're doing and frankly they don't care, and they don't understand why that's bad, and that's what's so messed up. They create a hostile environment. Even at cons, there are often little girls and boys running around having a jolly time. Big ol' nerds like me are wearing MLP themed constumes and stuff. And two feet away are a pair of teenagers talking about not-BZP-friendly stuff really loudly, whether it's of the adult nature or just like, really vivid violent descriptions of fanfics or whatever. Oh geez, the gore. Several people went to the con I was at in like, Cupcakes themed constumes, complete with like chainsaw props and blood everywhere. Why? Yeah, you look hilarious. There's a seven year old girl RIGHT THERE. DO YOU EVEN CARE?

Obviously not. It only takes one doofus to completely ruin something lovely for a child.

That's why everyone is extra hostile to bronies and have these really bad views of 'em. Cause of all the weird fandoms, they tend to be the most visible and do the most damage and then act proud of it.

It's alright for guys to like My Little Pony. I watched the first few seasons and I think it's a legitimately enjoyable show. However, that doesn't give large portions of the adult male fandom the right to basically go and ruin it for the little girls it was originally aimed at. The "bronies" that are referred to as a group are the bad ones.

 

Some people really do hate all bronies - as in, literally want to kill any male who enjoys it in any way - but these people, though crazy, are an extreme minority.

 

I personally don't care for generalizations because they nearly always lead to more harm than good, but bronies have done a lot of messed up stuff and I can understand the motivation behind regarding bronies with skepticism. They think it's because they like MLP, when in reality it's because a major portion are just totally messed up people.

Okay, people, let's tone things down a couple notches here.

First, keep the politics out of this. You've all been told numerous times it isn't allowed so please desist.

Second, this is a site for kids. We can't be bringing up "mature" topics here.

Third, watch what you say more closely, Pomegranate, 'cuz I don't want to see this entry devolve into yet another mess because of false facts. I watched the documentary and, indeed, even helped back the project. There were parts where individuals stated that they were labeled as gay or homosexual as a means of insult as well as the fact that such people would likely be unwelcome in a given geographical area. However, "but I'm not gay" is not something "too many" of them said. It is something that none of them said, implied, or alluded to in any context whatsoever throughout the entirety of the film. In fact, no part of the film commented either way on the issue. That said, if somebody can actually provide concrete evidence to the contrary of what I just said I'll retract my previous statement. But I'm 100% certain that's not the case.

Now then, carry on about your business, morsels.

 

Edit:

 

 

The show isn't even directed primarily at bronies

 

Wrong. Bronies aren't the only demographic but they are a target. You need only look at the numerous references to things like Bioshock Infinite, Star Wars, Metal Gear Solid, James Bond, Lord of the Rings and the million other things that young children aren't even going to understand.

 

 

My best friend's little sister went on google images once to find a picture of a pony so she could use it as reference.

 

I'm not denying the fact that the stuff you're talking about is vile and repulsive. I completely agree. However, this is the case with everything on the internet and, no, children should not even be using the internet without adult supervision or at the very least some kind of capable filtering software/parental controls. Anyone who thinks otherwise is irrefutably a moron. This also goes hand in hand somewhat with your comment about the convention(s). If a parent is going to bring their young children to a convention they should probably be sure of just what it is they're getting themselves and their children into. Now, granted, even I'll admit that it's not exactly inexcusable for a parent to not consider such given the subject matter. There are, in fact, still a lot of people who've never even heard about this whole brony thing yet. People who frequent the internet, at that. I know this because I've met them personally in my IT courses.

 

I can understand where you're coming from and I don't blame you. When it comes down to it, though, it isn't all that much more polluted than any other given fandom out there. It just stands out more because a) I dare say it is currently one of the largest fandoms out there, b) it's against the societal norm, and c) its bar for "mature content" is set extremely low. This sort of stuff happens just the same with, say, an M-rated video game series. In such a case, though, there's already blood/gore/whathaveyou so it isn't such a large leap to get to the "unsavory interpretations".

 

Takuma Nuva

Sorry, it's been a long day and this topic gets me really steamed. I tried to tiptoe around the stuff I shouldn't mention, I'll be more careful. That quote wasn't meant to be an example from the documentary, more poor wording there, my bad. I meant it's just something I saw a lot in general, like, all over the place, too often.


(I could go back and edit out that whole rant and replace it with a few concise, neat sentences without getting so wordy and graphic and worked up, if anyone would prefer that ^^ )


I'm just speaking from my own extensive experience to explain why bronies get hate as a group. I guess I should add that if the helpful, kind things bronies do got more attention it would definitely start to help counter all the negative stuff everyone sees right away

Sorry, it's been a long day and this topic gets me really steamed. I tried to tiptoe around the stuff I shouldn't mention, I'll be more careful. That quote wasn't meant to be an example from the documentary, more poor wording there, my bad. I meant it's just something I saw a lot in general, like, all over the place, too often.

 

 

(I could go back and edit out that whole rant and replace it with a few concise, neat sentences without getting so wordy and graphic and worked up, if anyone would prefer that ^^ )

 

 

I'm just speaking from my own extensive experience to explain why bronies get hate as a group. I guess I should add that if the helpful, kind things bronies do got more attention it would definitely start to help counter all the negative stuff everyone sees right away

 

 

I was more-so referring to other people when I made that statment. Also, I can understand a case of poor choice of words; heaven knows I've done the same thing. My only intention is to make you aware of it so you don't suffer the consequences in the future.

 

Yes, it would be nice if bronies got more attention for the good things. The amount of charitible things they've done is nothing short of phenomenal. The problem is, in general, people aren't interested in hearing about the good in the world; just the bad. You only need to turn on most any mainstream news media program to see that.

Takuma Nuva

Yeah, not all bronies are weirdos and pervs and what have you. But it's not "just a few that ruin it for the rest of us". There are A LOT OF THEM. A BIG, SIGNIFICANT CHUNK. It's not a handful of people, it is a laaaarge community. Trust me, I've seen em all, all over the net, and all over the streets. I spent a while going to Brony Meetups in my city, attended BronyCon 2012, and was a moderator on an MLP forum with over 10K registered members for half a year, and was a regular member for longer. The brony community is full wonderful, innocent people, and my friends and I, both online and offline, have had a lot of fun doing stuff related to the show. Also I LOVE THE COMICBOOKS THEY'RE REALLY COOL. And I'll admit I have a shelf of little pony figurines they are so adorable.

 

But there are a lot of us who are just... no. Just a big ol' NO. There's a reason people think bronies are "neckbeards" and misogynistic brutes and like all the other things you listed, and it's because time and again they have shown that they compromise a really big chunk of the fandom. And they are loud and obnoxious and self righteous and they are so so so unpleasant. There's a lot of content out there unsuitable for the target audience and it is messed up. THERE IS SO MUCH. AND IT IS SO MESSED UP. GEEZ. A few people can't possibly mkae that much content. It's armies. Entire armies. And they have GIANT victim complexes, and a lot of issues to deal with. I'm not even getting into it, but there are nice lovely bronies and there are just arrogant, rude, messed up, very very mean bronies, and they aren't a tiny problem that misrepresents the whole. You have to understand that when people say the things they do, it's cause they've seen or heard terrible things from and about those bronies and they tend not to see the good, mostly cause if you're a chill person you're probably not gonna be obsessed with shoving MLP into everyones faces when its uncalled for. I can talk about it forever. FOREVER. It's ridiculous.

 

So, yeah. We're long past the point where people look down on you 'cause you watch "a girly show", it's at the point where people are very familiar with the very, very wrong aspects of the fandom and all the vile filth and nonsense and annoying internet drama and flamboyant narcissism and all that. We raised thousands and thousands of dollars to make a documentary about bronies, that nobody except bronies would even be interested in watching, and it does nothing but pat ourselves on the back for being special. "I am proud to watch a girls show-- but I'm not gay!" is something way too many of 'em had to say, which is just building up this whole blurring of gender stereotypes thing and then throwing that wall up again in the same sentence. Blah. Like I said, I can talk about it forever. I get carried away. I stay away from the fandom, I haven't even watched any new episodes since Season 3 ended though that's partly because I didn't have the time. The fandom kinda ruined it for me anyways. It's just... it was a pleasant experience and a lot of fun, for sure, but there was just way more of the nastiness and the unpleasantness. I have immense respect for the show, and everyone involved in its production, and am so so glad I got to meet most of them, and I do think it is a wonderful show and I do know that obviously not everyone is a terrible person, some people just enjoy it within the confines of human decency. I just understand 300% why people do not like bronies as rule, and only make an exception once they get to really know you.

 

That being said, just chillax about it. If you don't think their hate should apply to you, then you're probably not one of the people they hate. Don't act guilty. It's not directed directly at you, no need to be offended. Don't feel responsible for the whole group.

 

Edit: Of course I finish my response after we're told to all cool it. If anyone actually wants my in-depth response let me know, but I'm not dumb enough to ignore a staff member telling people to chill, so for now it's nixed. Takuma, if you'd be willing to look it over in a PM or something to see if it's okay to put back up here, I'd appreciate it.

 

 

My best friend's little sister went on google images once to find a picture of a pony so she could use it as reference.

 

I'm not denying the fact that the stuff you're talking about is vile and repulsive. I completely agree. However, this is the case with everything on the internet and, no, children should not even be using the internet without adult supervision or at the very least some kind of capable filtering software/parental controls. Anyone who thinks otherwise is irrefutably a moron. This also goes hand in hand somewhat with your comment about the convention(s). If a parent is going to bring their young children to a convention they should probably be sure of just what it is they're getting themselves and their children into. Now, granted, even I'll admit that it's not exactly inexcusable for a parent to not consider such given the subject matter. There are, in fact, still a lot of people who've never even heard about this whole brony thing yet. People who frequent the internet, at that. I know this because I've met them personally in my IT courses.

 

I can understand where you're coming from and I don't blame you. When it comes down to it, though, it isn't all that much more polluted than any other given fandom out there. It just stands out more because a) I dare say it is currently one of the largest fandoms out there, b) it's against the societal norm, and c) its bar for "mature content" is set extremely low. This sort of stuff happens just the same with, say, an M-rated video game series. In such a case, though, there's already blood/gore/whathaveyou so it isn't such a large leap to get to the "unsavory interpretations".

 

Takuma Nuva

 

Ok, but here's the thing: the vast majority of fandoms do an extremely good job of keeping things that are NSFW, gore, etc. (things that the MLP target demographic should not be seeing), hidden and hidden well. I just did two google searches with safe search on (of "My Little Pony", "Applejack", and "Pinkie Pie"), and a second search on deviantArt with safe search on, and within seconds I found nudity, gore, and multiple other things that would be considered NSFW and highly inappropriate for a child to see under any circumstances.

 

To check this to see if other things came up with other fandoms on google, I also did searches for "superhero", "Spiderman", "The LEGO Movie", "Ninjago", and "Sesame Street". All things are things that the average 4-8 year old would be interested in/my 3-4 year old students are raving about at the moment. None of those came up with anything that would be even remotely inappropriate for a 4-8 year old to see.

 

The My Little Pony fandom does not do a good job at keeping their inappropriate content away from the target demographic. If a parent takes their child to a convention that is dedicated to a line of children's toys, they should not have to be on the constant lookout for inappropriate content. They should be able to take their children to a safe place where they can enjoy something they love.

i think youre forgetting one

Screw you people with the "not all men" images. I'm getting really sick of this and all the other social justice junk I have to deal with. I consider myself to be fairly progressive, and I'm tired of being lumped in with horrible people because of the shows I like, the people I associate with, or, god forbid, the sex I was born with.

Some people may think that turnabout is fair play, but I dealt with tons of bullying, stereotyping, and hate growing up (despite being, by most relevant measures, part of a privileged class), and I just don't see how turning that hatred back on people who mistreated me helps anything (especially through broad stereotypes that affect more than just the people who are actually to blame).

I'm just about ready to give up on Tumblr, and I'd hate to have to do the same with BZPower. But continuously being told that my problems aren't valid just because I'm not gay or female or part of a designated minority wears me down.

Everyone needs to take a deep breath here and calm down. To help with that, I'm locking this entry.

 

Also a reminder that image-only comments are not allowed and will be deleted.