And Still Parents Are Ignorant About Males Liking This Show

[Mutilated Moogle]

I was listening to talk back this morning and a little boy had, in the past, mentioned he liked MLP and to his mother she thought it was a joke or an off handed remark or something so she didn't think much of it BUT she was one of those woman who think that boys these days should play with girl toys and girls with boys so I thought that she was right, start at home though just in case however she didn't. The woman sent her little boy of about five or six to school with a MLP gen 4 backpack and of course he was fine with it as he liked the show (though his mother thought he would hate it/teach him that boys can like girl things as well etc) and the host wanted people to ring up about gender specfic toys and if you would give your son or daughter the opposite gendered toy which is why this woman rang up.

The host, during it, was all 'now what on earth would make you want to do that?! It is wrong to do that to a little boy, he is going to get picked on' etc and my mother was all 'that is really really cruel! They are going to torment him and be cruel toward him and make him an outcast! You can't do that!' And I was just 'it isn't wrong at all, if he liked the show then why shouldn't he have a MLP backpack? we have 50 year old men who love the show and probably are happy to walk around with a MLP backpack flung over their shoulder' and I just got the whole 'if there are 50 year old men that like this show, even 20 year old guys, then there is something wrong with them, it is a GIRLS thing not a boys and especially NOT a guys!.'

I swear, some parents/adults are just so damn ignorant about MLP these days that they still think that MLP is just for girls, it is no longer the cartoon it was from the 80's it has evolved into the wonderful thing we know as Gen 4, Lauren made it so that boys and men alike can watch it without feeling like they are dirty or perverted or whatever to like a little girls cartoon but heaven forbid these close minded adults don't take a step back and just support their child for liking the show, this woman wanted to make a point but she is close minded because she thought her son would hate it, one day I hope they will learnt that it is no longer just a show for 6 year old girls.

[Eii-kun]

I hear ya... I have a huge Applejack collection on a shelf hanging above my bed... my parents nark me about getting rid of them..
whats worse.. is that we moved into this new house.. like.. what?.. maybe a year ago now?... she does a tour through the house for all the family members that havent seen it yet... and she always avoids my room due to the eye catching large AJ collection...
I guess I shouldnt be surprised... I dont think they hate me for it.. they keep telling me to grow up...
Im 23 years old.. its also difficult trying to find a new girlfriend nowadays..
its tough.. but im too much of a Brony to stop.. and frankly.. pfft.. I dont want to
Ive avoided chatterbox from the extremley harsh words Ive been getting... just a few hours ago I was told I dont deserve life...
I mean... jeeze.. really?

[Mutilated Moogle]

The CB is a bad place in general though so...

And i am a female and my mother STILL doesn't want me showing off MLP to anyone, if we sell the house she wants me to put the toys away and not let the potential buyers know that her 31 year old collects MLP toys, as if it will devalue the house if I leave them up.

I was in a department store the other day and I saw a collectors MLP tin with cookies and whilst I didn't care about the cookies (would of eaten them but I wanted the tin mostly) the tin was cute and my mother told me in a loud whisper to put it down and looked around to see if anyone was watching so her 31 year old daughter didn't embarrass her.

I swear parents just keep thinking that toys for 6 year old girls can't ever be for 20 year old males, regardless if the show is geared toward both genders or not, if the show originally was for girls then it will always be for girls, they need to read up on Lauren and try and understand why she did what she did with the show.

And you will find someone, you just need that perfect girl who will accept your likes and there are a lot of us out there you just need to keep looking, you will find someone some day and who knows, it may even be a brony or, if not that, we may have a closet Barbie collector or something, it will work out perfectly!

[Paper Gears]

Eh If my parents were worried about me liking weird things or I'd be bullied they'd be more on me about watching anime and stuff when I was in middle school. I think parents shouldn't totally protect your kids from everything, those kids have to learn about themselves sometimes too. When Anime was made fun of something was thrown. I threw it.

I don't understand this thing that boys doing stuff that normally attributed to girls makes them weird or something. It comes off to me as creepy and weird when someone says something along those lines. Like if someone said they don't eat Chinese food because they are American.

Sure the show might be for kids but sometimes adults need immature stuff too, like stupid you-tube videos or really cute pens.

[Mutilated Moogle]

Paper Gears

Eh If my parents were worried about me liking weird things or I'd be bullied they'd be more on me about watching anime and stuff when I was in middle school. I think parents shouldn't totally protect your kids from everything, those kids have to learn about themselves sometimes too. When Anime was made fun of something was thrown. I threw it.

I don't understand this thing that boys doing stuff that normally attributed to girls makes them weird or something. It comes off to me as creepy and weird when someone says something along those lines. Like if someone said they don't eat Chinese food because they are American.

Sure the show might be for kids but sometimes adults need immature stuff too, like stupid you-tube videos or really cute pens.

YES!

I was watching a video the other day from Seven Super Girls or something, just a video i came across and was curious about and being bored I decided to watch it, and after the girl in it asked 'what would you do if you had to spend a day without electronic devices?' and I wrote a comment about how I was born in 83 and that I never had the technology the girl does in the video (and she is a girl that comes from money because her house is massive, it has like half an acre of backyard, a swimming pool, looks like she has a tennis court also somewhere on her property) etc and some idiot comments back going 'are you not a bit too old to be watching 12-14 year old girls?' And other smart a** stuff and I was going to comment but someone did in my defense but at the time I was thinking 'if only you knew that I still watch Disney Jr (far better then the normal Disney channel) and watch My Little Pony and Jem and the Holograms etc, you would probably think I was some ***** trying to get into the minds of children or something.

[ksflametail]

I just want to say that I'm 27 and I love MLP. I don't have any merchandise though. I have recorded all the episodes on my DVR. I don't think guys are weird for liking the show or being bronies. I have a young son who isn't quite old enough to watch tv just yet but when he gets to be that age I will NOT tell him he can't watch MLP or Dora or Princess Sofia or anything else just because it's been labeled as a "girl's" show. I think that's a whole lot of bs. I'm still not sure about letting him collect the merchandise though, but that's because I'm afraid I'll want it all for myself. xd

[Pawlas Cathena]

Luckily my parents and most adults in my life are completely accepting of me enjoying MLP.

[Red-Zan]

'if its fun then why not watch it...it also has helped people become more brave and get friends smile

The fandom does have some pretty nice qualities to it and Im happy to be a part of it.

[Lumenuisance]

Sounds like parents need a lesson in the magic of friendship.

[Queen of Memories]

I'm a 20 year old female with a 19 year old boyfriend.

I got my boyfriend into mlp just before we started dating.

I have parents that are highly supportive and pretty much like almost anything I like. Save for my mom when it comes to music/religion but that's a different story. My dad is like a big kid so he'll pretty much be interested in anything that I share with him. I started watching MLP and he started liking it just as much and would watch it with me when the new episodes would come out.

My boyfriend's family will rag on him for it but are pretty much chill about it. I mean he's got a Big Mac jacket that he had commissioned from etsy that is his biggest contribution to the fandom. I don't understand how people can be so negative about it when it comes to the kids that are in like middle and high school that can totally stand up for themselves and say what they like. When it comes to little kids, I can get it. But there's the lesson where you go and tell them that some times people don't like things. Its almost a lesson in itself and not a "boys should like this and girls should only like this" kind of thing.

[Gorath Tsu]

There's no reason that girls can't like things that are aimed at boys and why boys can't like things that are aimed at girls, there's nothing wrong about it whatsoever. A little girl can like G.I. Joe toys, and a little boy can like Barbie... What does it matter? It hurts no one. So yeah, I agree with that.

However, I do think that a child must be careful. A little boy can like My Little Pony or Barbie or whatever, but bringing a backpack with those characters on it to school may not be the best idea. It's not because it's wrong but because, sadly, the other children aren't going to understand. Society has drilled it into most children that "boys toys are only for boys" and "girls toys are only for girls" and that they can never cross over, and chances are the kid will get teased about it. If a boy likes MLP he shouldn't be ashamed about it by any means, but he also needs to be careful about it.

When I was a little kid I had a few Barbie things, not much, but a few, and while I liked playing with them (usually in conjunction with G.I. Joe toys), I would never, ever bring them to school, or even mention them to the kids in school... Not because I was ashamed of what I played with but because I knew that I would get teased and tormented for it. It's sad but that's just how it is. People aren't very accepting.

[They call me Darrin]

I don't think the mom was wrong in what she did. She was trying to protect her son from ignorant/prejudiced people. Boys DO, in fact, get harassed by other boys for openly liking the shop or parading their MLP merch around their school. Mum understood that, and did something compassionate by shielding her boy from being a target of that kind of thing.



edit: Oh, I'm stupid. I didn't read carefully. It said a host of a get-together was criticising a mother for giving her son a MLP backpack.

But, everything else I said still stands.

[Cammy the Fire Wotch]

Why should it matter if the interests of people young and old cross the stereotyped gender line? There is nothing wrong with people have an interest on things regardless of what side of the gender line those interests fall on.

I don't see what is so wrong about boys liking stereotyped girls stuff such as Hello Kitty, glitter and MLP nor see what is so wrong about girls liking stereotyped boys stuff such as cars, science and videogames.

If a girl wants to be a female car mechanic when they are an adult why should they be denied the chance to play with toy cars as a child due to gender stereotyping?

If a boy wants to be a male chef when they are an adult why should they be denied the chance to play with toy ovens as a child due to gender stereotyping?

[tarfaglia]

reading all these responses makes me sad.
both closed-minded parents and others have no idea how it must feel being told that you should die or you don't 'deserve life' or that you're a freak if you watch a cartoon.
i feel lucky that my parents didn't really care. my mom just walked in on me watching an episode, asked what is was, then said 'well at least it's better than your satan anime'.