Bronies

There has been a lot of talk on the topic of Bronies lately, and it’s such an interesting topic people don’t seem to know how to react to it. I accept it with open arms mainly because to me it’s showing that the genders are slowly becoming more and more equal and neutral, and things should not be separated as strictly for men or strictly for women. If the writing and art is good why can’t guys think of “My Little Ponies” as an awesome TV show? It seems as though it is more socially accepted for women to like "manly" things, but the first reaction I hear when I mention this topic to people just hearing about this new “brony” phenomenon is, “Are they gay?” Perhaps some are, but even if they are or are not, who cares? They’re not hurting anyone with what they like, are they? Only if they throw a plush of Rainbow Dash at you, I suppose, but even then, they’re harmless. When I was young I used to watch a lot of “Ninja Turtles” and no one really stopped me. I think girls liked to watch it because, well, turtles are cute animals, they may be a bit slimy, but that personally has never stopped me from finding turtles fascinating as creatures. Also, the ninja thing has always made me happy. Not for the violence aspect but mainly for the self-defense part, which I believe every woman should know. I think boys enjoyed it because; well turtles are really cool creatures as stated above, they have shells which are pretty much like built in armor so they don’t easily get hurt. Plus, they’re ninjas who fight robots (in the cartoon version anyways, which I watched a lot as a kid) and what’s not to like there? It was just an over-all cool show…which, if Michael Bay has any say, will be ruined soon enough. Anyways, I used to hang out with some boys after school that my mom would babysit and I also had brothers that I frequently saw so it was inevitable that I came out the way I did I suppose, which is being a very confused girl who is a tomboy that has no problem with acting and dressing girly whenever she wants to. Now, the brony thing doesn’t shock me much like it seems to be doing to everyone else and I’ll tell you why. When I was watching Ninja Turtles with these boys after school, one of the boys who was younger normally watched them with me and we played with the toys and all of that jazz, but his mom one day bought a bunch of little ponies for me to play with. I think she always wanted a daughter and probably felt bad that the boys were “forcing” me to play all these “boyish” games. I loved “My Little Ponies” they were my “girly” toy. It definitely outshone Barbie, which (though she had more jobs then Ken) seemed like a stereotype of a girl that I was supposed to grow up to be but couldn’t bring myself to want to be. Well, that boy who was younger, quickly took possession over the ponies his mom bought, telling me they were his. His mom had intended them to be kept there for me to play with in case I didn’t feel like playing with "G.I. Joes" but he insisted they were his. At first I worried that he would grow up to be “girly” himself, but that was a reaction of being brought up where it’s ok to be a tomboy (as my mom stated she was one when she was little) but the boys in my family were strictly brought up to be men. This seemed to be very ignorant of me. I even thought as a young child that it was wrong to think that way. I let him play with the ponies, after all, why are certain animals mainly a “girly” or “boyish” thing? Horses have been ridden by men and women. Women stereotypically love horses as much as men love cars I suppose, but men have been known to love and ride horses just as much as women have been known to love and drive cars. Look at cowboys and jockeys, I know that “Brokeback Mountain” movie made Westerns now seem “gay” but there are a slew of very cool movies and books on cowboys that are incredibly “manly”. Why can’t people accept the fact that men can like “My Little Ponies” and be perfectly straight? There’s nothing wrong with him watching it and being gay, but I actually, personally know a few gay men who like the original series rather than the new one. One said, and I quote, “The drawing style is freaky and kind of even babyish.” So therefore he refused to watch it. It’s just a new style that I guess can be hard for some people to grasp. The writing is really rather wonderful though and I think the creator of the reboot, Lauren Faust, meant to make the show less boring as a lot of shows directed towards girls have been in the past and that’s why Networks very rarely go for a show meant to be for a female audience. Girls aren’t as into those kind of cartoons and with the ratings so low why bother spending a ton of money into something that won’t generate any money? The show is packed with such colour, and energy, and adventure and excitement, and even some character development so why wouldn’t people watch it? It has everything a show needs to survive. So what does all this have to do with my comic? Well lots, this show (like my comic) has strong, cool, but still flawed characters. Not only that but in a new plot-twist I have written that Tobey becomes a “Brorsey” (which is technically a “Brony” but I had to change the name of the show so that people knew what I was doing but it doesn’t disrupt this fictitious world I have created that’s not too unlike our own). Why can’t Tobey be a “Brony”? He’s has the right characteristics to be one. Someone comfortable enough with himself to like what he wants to and not care what others think of him, even if it does cause Tara to make fun of him. He can easily laugh at himself and shrug things off, which I think is a really strong trait to have that others may confuse for weakness. I love that men are breaking stereotypes just as much as women are, and are blurring the line between what the genders are supposed to be about. Why can’t “Bronies” be accepted with open arms into our society? I, for one, think this is a refreshing change for the better.

Tobey as a pony.