I wrote the following in response to a post on Tumblr, I felt it necessary to share here. The post in question can be found here.
"Isn’t it amazing how a group of adult men can completely take over a show meant for little girls; making it virtually impossible to search or do anything related to the show without being exposed to over-sexualized, misogynistic, sexist crap, and they get a documentary that praises them for stepping outside of their perceived gender roles? Meanwhile 45% of the gaming community is comprised of women and I get dick pics and rape threats if I try and go on xbox live."
Do not take what I am about to say as unsympathetic with the plight of female gamers. We have seen, especially in the last year or so with the gross overreaction to someone like Anita Sarkeesian daring to show that maybe game companies have relied too heavily on damsel in distress tropes that misogyny does still run rampant on the Internet.
However, the original author’s conflating of THAT issue with the fact that there are less than desirable pictures on Google image search of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is shortsighted, outrageous and downright insulting. I don’t deny that there is that element of the fandom that DOES exist, but at the same time I like to believe that that’s not the vast majority of Bronies that are out there. I will put it out here now. I hate stories like ‘Cupcakes’ or ‘Rainbow Factory’, graphical violent and dark natured stories that range on the absurd as to why anyone could ever come up with ideas like that in the world of Equestria. I hate things like the members of the fandom comparing Princess Celestia to a tyrant or a dictator because of interpreting her actions in the show a certain way. I hate videos done by MisterDavie on Youtube taking one of the BEST songs from the series and making one of if not THE most insulting video to the Brony community that I can think of and it BAFFLES me how that has over 4 million views on Youtube. The .MOV series of videos could be seen in a similar vein, but the creators of that series were never trying to make the characters in it like the characters in the actual show.
At the same time however, I realize the people that make the things I hate in the fandom, are only a small number compared to the majority of Bronies that have provided music, animation, fan art, stories and slick inclusions of ponies in real life, seriously one of my favorite series of Brony videos on Youtube. They are also folks that have opened up their hearts to try and prove that this group of young men are doing more than just liking a show meant for little girls, they’re trying to spread the message of friendship, love and tolerance around.
The response by fans to the story of 11-year-old Michael Morones, who attempted suicide after being constantly bullied at school for liking the show, should give any critic of the Brony community pause. A goal of $20,000 was set on a gofundme site, it quickly got over $70,000 and that’s just the biggest example considering that some news organizations are talking about Morones in the same breath as University of Missouri linebacker Michael Sam.
I don’t like the fact that those pictures that the original author wrote about are on google image search where any kid can see them, but lets face reality, its not just the the MLP fandom that has created works that are not made for children. Do I need to talk about the absurd amount of pornographic Japanese doujinshi created based on shows like Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon, Naruto, Pokemon, multiple magical girl shows that could take up much more space down below. Not only that, try searching how long it takes to find a suggestive or explicit pic with safe search even on with any of these series and see how it compares to MLP. MLP may be easier to find stuff like that of because it is an ongoing show and the fandom is still very active, but don’t act as though it doesn’t exist for other shows made for kids. I guarantee it exits for stuff like Dora the Explorer, Nihao Kai-Lan, Littlest Pet Shop and other shows that are explicitly made FOR children.
Again, I am not trying to sound unsympathetic to the people that deal with the tone deaf misogyny, racism and bigotry online, I just take offense when it sounds like I’m getting lumped in with people that make stuff for the fandom that I am uncomfortable with.
