Princess.. Why not Prince?

[Brokenwings 85]

So the princess rule Equestria.. But what about a prince..

Does a prince even have Royal dutys like a Princess?

 

e.g. Prince Blueblood (not my favorite colt but still a prince) why is he not an alicorn?

And what if he gets married with somepony like.. rarity, would she also become an alicorn?

 

[Silver Letter 1,832]

I assume that males can't be alicorns for whatever reason. Maybe princes have some sort of function somewhere that has not been addressed yet but we are not aware of what it is right now.

[Pinkamena-Pills 6,839]

Prince Blueblood is only a Prince by bloodline if i recall,also its just how the world works in the show. Much like how men dominate most positions of power in our world,it is the opposite in Equestria. 

 

Also that photo of alicorn Blueblood was painful to look at,yuck! 

 

(Blueblood photo is gone,but Pinkie's yuck still remains!)

Edited July 3, 2014 by Pinkamena-Pills

[Dattebayo 2,850]

Blue Blood was supposed to be a duke before Hasbro got their mitts on him, 'sos....

[Fhaolan 4,476]

We've seen a non-alicorn princess before... mind you, it was in a semi-historical play, but still.

 

The big issue is that 'prince/princess' in Equestria seems to have a different meaning than the modern RL one. Being an alicorn traditionally makes you a prince/princess, but you can be a prince/princess without being an alicorn. Like RL titles, this can get really complicated.

 

I wrote up an essay on this kind of thing awhile back. Yeah, here it is: Always a Princess, Never a Queen

Edited July 3, 2014 by Fhaolan

[Spartan 433]

I think Shining Armor has a bit of authority in the Crystal Empire..

 

but we havent seen any other male characters that are in power..

 

watch, theres going to be a male alicorn that is the real ruler of Equestria, but allows his sisters to be the 'face' of Equestria.. i dont know

[11111111111111111111 146]

Well if we look at the way their government works we can deduct a few things. 1, There have only ever been female rulers of equestria. and 2, there are no male alicorns. It seems that ponies have a very female dominant society, while I don't think ponies are sexiest, but it does seem that only female ponies control the largest positions of power. 

[Teller 360]

Because princes don't sell as well as princesses.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

We've seen a non-alicorn princess before... mind you, it was in a semi-historical play, but still.

:wub: :wub: Princess Platinum  :wub: :wub:

 

And as for my answer to the question, it's likely because it's a matriarchal society. Females are dominant and in charge, and are likely more powerful with magic and, obviously, decision making.

 

That's gotta play a role in it

 

Edited July 3, 2014 by ghostfacekiller39

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,159]

Well, Twilight refers to Shining Armor as "Prince Shining Armor" when they start up the crystal fair in the S3 premier.

 

"Hear ye, hear ye, Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor..."

 

Something like that.

[Espurr 449]

I don't think that princes would sell so well in the toy section.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

Because princes don't sell as well as princesses.

Yeah, this is something I find quite interesting, given that modern media still generally favours male characters. Actually, Japanese media is a great example of the predominance of princess characters. It's not uncommon to see a hime(princess) in a Japanese film or series, yet I can't remember the Japanese term for prince, mostly because I only recall seeing it in one of my Japanese dictionaries, when I happened to look it up out of curiousity, and not because I can think of any prince characters off the top of my head, while a number of princesses come to mind. Of course, that's not just true in Japan. Disney's Princess line is a big seller, and the majority of prince characters in Disney films are generic love interests who are more like plot devices than characters. Of course, MLP is also a girl's show, so there's that.

[Fhaolan 4,476]

Because princes don't sell as well as princesses.

That may be true overall, but...

 

My wife and I run a booth at a variety of craft shows, ren faires, and the like, and once in awhile a friend of ours gives us some hand-made dolls to sell, usually in some kind of fantasy gear.

 

And the Knights and Princes actually sell better than the Princesses. Probably because they can't get anything like them from the mass-market. Princesses are a dime a dozen in the toy aisles, but finding a Prince is difficult without wandering over into the truly abysmal quality stuff.

 

Mind you, if there were more Princes available I don't know what the sales would look like. Just that there seems to be a gap in the market currently.

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

It wouldn't sell any toys I'm assuming none of the male princes are worthy. I mean, would you really want Blueblood ruling Equestria? I think not 

[Flutter's lover <3 8,205]

Because Hasbro. And target audience.

 

Little girls want to become princesses, so that's what gets put into the show. Just like how nearly every animated Disney movie had a Princess in it, or had someone get turned into a princess. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine...etc.

Edited July 4, 2014 by :Flutterdash:

[oceandeath 22]

From what we can see, Equestria operates on an egalitarian matriarchy. Mares are the majority, but the rights of the minority (stallions) are protected.

 

This is similar to how in American government, a woman could become president, but it hasn't happened yet.

 

Princesses live a very, very long time, so this makes it much more difficult for a stallion to head Equestria (but it isn't impossible).

Edited July 4, 2014 by oceandeath

[Deathstroke 1,564]

Well you have king sombra 

[~ Dr. Ocsid ~ 690]

Well you have king sombra 

Who is a tyrant and therefore probably self-proclaimed. 

[Deathstroke 1,564]

Who is a tyrant and therefore probably self-proclaimed. 

In the comics he came back as a good guy i think? Also i thought of a male ruler that's why i mentioned him

Edited July 4, 2014 by Desert guardian

[~ Dr. Ocsid ~ 690]

In the comics he came back as a good guy i think? Also i thought of a male ruler that's why i mentioned him

Yes, he is good in the comics, but even if they are canon, this happens in a different universe. The conditions can be completely different there.

And although he indeed is a male ruler, I don´t think tyrants count. A tyrant changes the rules completely. Look at Tirek, for example. I would say he ruled Equestria for a short time. But since he is a tyrant....

[Deathstroke 1,564]

Ok you have shining armor

[~ Dr. Ocsid ~ 690]

Thats a better example. Good point. Yes, I think he is one.

Although he got his title through marriage rather than coronation.

Also his whole role has "prince" labeled all over.

[Princess Lona 382]

From a practical point of view, it's the toy thing. However, the role the princesses in Equestria take has nothing to do with selling toys. I can't be sure exactly how it happened with FIM, but in most cases where a toy line gets a show, the toys are designed first and then the writers get to make up their stories. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were two characters the writers were given to work with. Given that Faust has gone on record saying that she intended to show to be an empowerment tool for little girls, it's no wonder she took what the toy makers no doubt believed would become a "Pretty Pony Princess" character and turned the stereotype on its head.

From there, Cadence and the Crystal Empire play set had to get sold, and of course Twilight had to become a Princess just in time for Christmas.

I think that if the writers are ever given an alicorn Prince to work with, they will do him justice. I'd kind of like to see it happen, if not for the fact that we already have too many alicorns.

[Vixor 80]

From what we can see, Equestria operates on an egalitarian matriarchy. Mares are the majority, but the rights of the minority (stallions) are protected.

 

This is similar to how in American government, a woman could become president, but it hasn't happened yet.

 

Princesses live a very, very long time, so this makes it much more difficult for a stallion to head Equestria (but it isn't impossible).

I can see why someone might say that after taking a glance at the show, but all things considered, I really don't think it's any sort of matriarchy, at least socially; maybe their government could be considered a matriarchy in technicality since all of the current alicorns are female, but I see no reason to believe their society is. I think it's totally egalitarian, or at least close since totally perfect is probably unreasonable; either way, I think they'd have a better state of equality than we currently do. But really, there's no way to know for sure either way, as we don't know anything about Equestria's culture or politics and the tiny tidbits you can scrape from the show are not enough for any sort of definitive answer. Also, 'egalitarian matriarchy' is kind of an oxymoron. A patriarchy or matriarchy by definition is not egalitarian.

 

And mares are the majority? It's a possibility, but I wouldn't put too much faith into the background pony crowds that are pretty much copy pasted and filled with clones, so I wouldn't say that can be claimed canon. 

 

Anyway, the two princes we have did not earn their title like the princesses did(Blueblood can't be certain there, but it does seem likely that he inherited), which is probably why they aren't alicorns, because it's been shown that alicornhood is earned. I cannot take the "Stallions can't become an alicorn just because they are male" theory seriously. It just sounds silly and unjustified.

Edited July 4, 2014 by Vixor

[SCS 7,485]

From what we've seen in the show so far, I think gender is wholly irrelevant in regard to whether or not one becomes an alicorn. Whether or not one becomes an alicorn seems to involve one's spirit and inner nature. 
 
Interestingly, unless I am mistaken, the alicorn amulet from season 3 features a male alicorn. Additionally, there was a statue of a rather imposing male alicorn head in the library in the castle in the Everfree Forest, from season 4 episode 3, Castle Mania. If all alicorns have been female, why are these depictions male? Additionally, why do the depictions of male alicorns always seem to be frightening in nature?
 
I wonder if the abstract concept of an alicorn became used to represent power in a neutral or potentially negative manner, or if there were male alicorns in Equestria's past. 
 
Hopefully further insight regarding these matters will be found as the show continues to progress.