Why don't the mares have any stallion friends in canon?

[RainbowTashie 378]

how come you never see RD chilling with thunderlane or Rarity being friends with a Gok Wanish style pony? the closest thing to a mare/stallion relationship is between AJ and big mac. You would've thought a show aimed at kids would've hinted that it's okay for different sexes to be friends. The cms have interaction with featherweight and snips and snails i guess but I wouldn't call it friendship :S and cranky doodle donkey befreinded Pinkie well kinda but i feel like it doesn't happen enough!

[Cipher Splash 5]

derpy was chilling with time turner

 

 

then dinky came along, now all the mare's are scared XD

[spade 88]

The only thing about this show that irks me is the portrayal of male characters. Iron Will is pushy, Yankee dooddle is grumpy, dischord is trouble, snips is annoying, flim and flam are connivingetc. Big Mac is the only well respected male. I'm all for strong female characters. It is a little girls' show after all. But why does that mean there can be no strong or at least respectable male characters. I get that all the characters have flaws but they all have significant reframing qualities except the males (and diamond tiara). And there is no real reason why they can't be friends.

[Nameless Knight 1,001]

Because they are strong independent Mares and they don't need no Stallion!

 

 

mm hmmm

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

Because most of them aren't interested and are too close together. Rarity crushed on a stallion but she ended up getting unrequited love. Pinkie Pie was also friends with Cheese Sandwich. By the way, AJ and Big Mac are siblings hence why they seem so close.

[RainbowTashie 378]

derpy was chilling with time turner

 

 

then dinky came along, now all the mare's are scared XD

but that's not canon background ponies chillin' together doesn't count

The only thing about this show that irks me is the portrayal of male characters. Iron Will is pushy, Yankee dooddle is grumpy, dischord is trouble, snips is annoying, flim and flam are connivingetc. Big Mac is the only well respected male. I'm all for strong female characters. It is a little girls' show after all. But why does that mean there can be no strong or at least respectable male characters. I get that all the characters have flaws but they all have significant reframing qualities except the males (and diamond tiara). And there is no real reason why they can't be friends.

i'm agreed here big mac IS the only decent character that has an almost decent role in the show. I wonder if they did this on purpose or not :/

Because most of them aren't interested and are too close together. Rarity crushed on a stallion but she ended up getting unrequited love. Pinkie Pie was also friends with Cheese Sandwich. By the way, AJ and Big Mac are siblings hence why they seem so close.

i know they are siblings i meant relationships in general. But i'm mostly on about friendships not a romantic relationship.With due respect i forgot about cheese sandwich but the ones you have listed still aren't a lot really

[Cipher Splash 5]

but that's not canon background ponies chillin' together doesn't count

i'm agreed here big mac IS the only decent character that has an almost decent role in the show. I wonder if they did this on purpose or not :/

 

maybe the other mares cant take time off from the show where the background ponies can

 

they have a few fillys and colts while they go ofstage XD

[VitalSpark 1,830]

 

 

i'm agreed here big mac IS the only decent character that has an almost decent role in the show. I wonder if they did this on purpose or not :/

 

Although he doesn't appear in many episodes, Shining Armor is portrayed in a positive light.

 

And don't forget Spike. He's not a stallion of course, but I'd say he's on par with the mane 6 in terms of the quality of his character. (Mostly portrayed in a positive light, but he has issues just like they do.)

[RainbowTashie 378]

Although he doesn't appear in many episodes, Shining Armor is portrayed in a positive light.

 

And don't forget Spike. He's not a stallion of course, but I'd say he's on par with the mane 6 in terms of the quality of his character. (Mostly portrayed in a positive light, but he has issues just like they do.)

i forgot about shining armour as well good ol' spike we all have issues ;D

maybe the other mares cant take time off from the show where the background ponies can

 

they have a few fillys and colts while they go ofstage XD

Is she your fave pon-e by any chance?

[[NULL] 906]

I'm pretty sure that at least one of them is bound to have at least one male friend. (Besides Spike, Big Macintosh, Braeburn, Soarin, Bulk Biceps, Discord, Mr. Cake, Cranky, Cheese Sandwich, and Shining Armor. Wow... I just remembered all their names. Time to go rethink my life. Again.) The focus of the show has been on the friendship of the main six. I don't see how giving them some random male friend for the sake of giving them a random male friend will improve the story.

Edited January 20, 2015 by SpaceOnion

[Cipher Splash 5]

i forgot about shining armour as well good ol' spike we all have issues ;D

Is she your fave pon-e by any chance?

 

EYUP

 

Jumps on the rooftops during the Smile Son

[RainbowTashie 378]

I'm pretty sure that at least one of them is bound to have at least one male friend. (Besides Spike, Big Macintosh, Braeburn, Soarin, Bulk Biceps, Discord, Mr. Cake, Cranky, Cheese Sandwich, and Shining Armor. Wow... I just remembered all their names. Time to go rethink my life. Again.) The focus on the show has been on the friendship of the main six. I don't see how giving them some random male friend for the sake of giving them a random male friend will improve the story.

it won't, All i'm saying is there should be more male involvement.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Because of the MATRIARCHY!

[spade 88]

Although he doesn't appear in many episodes, Shining Armor is portrayed in a positive light.

 

And don't forget Spike. He's not a stallion of course, but I'd say he's on par with the mane 6 in terms of the quality of his character. (Mostly portrayed in a positive light, but he has issues just like they do.)

Shinning Armor for the win.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

It's not just stallions, they hardly have any other friends at all. For all their talk about friendship, and for all Pinkie's bluster about being friends with everyone, they only ever picnic with each other, party with each other, go to events with each other... The mane 6 is a very exclusive clique.

[sweetolebob18 728]

IMO, it's a marketing decision by Hasbro.  The target demographic is girls 2-11.  I think they think boy characters just won't sell as well.  (Hey, who sells better Ken or Barbie?).  Going clear back to the G1 ponies, most of them have been male (G1 had The Big Brother Ponies, Danny, & original Spike, no more IIRC)

 

The current generation just reflects 3 decades of marketing

[Eloquence 2,076]

I think the mane six are really just close friends with each other, which makes sense to me. I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't tend to have more than five close friends at a time. It's hard to find a lot of people (ponies) you click with on that level.

 

As for guy/gal friendships though, there are still a few. These two are friends.

 

 

And these two are shown acting like good friends when they're together

 

(bonus points for platonic relationship between very feminine mare and very masculine stallion)

 

And this one's just speculation but I'd like to think that these two are bffs who hang out all the time and make each other friendship bracelets and stuff

 

[RainbowTashie 378]

It's not just stallions, they hardly have any other friends at all. For all their talk about friendship, and for all Pinkie's bluster about being friends with everyone, they only ever picnic with each other, party with each other, go to events with each other... The mane 6 is a very exclusive clique.

that's true mind you if i had 5 good friends i'd be happy ;S

IMO, it's a marketing decision by Hasbro.  The target demographic is girls 2-11.  I think they think boy characters just won't sell as well.  (Hey, who sells better Ken or Barbie?).  Going clear back to the G1 ponies, most of them have been male (G1 had The Big Brother Ponies, Danny, & original Spike, no more IIRC)

 

The current generation just reflects 3 decades of marketing

yeah i suppose :/ what's wrong with Ken ?

I think the mane six are really just close friends with each other, which makes sense to me. I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't tend to have more than five close friends at a time. It's hard to find a lot of people (ponies) you click with on that level.

 

As for guy/gal friendships though, there are still a few. These two are friends.

 

 

 

And these two are shown acting like good friends when they're together

 

 

(bonus points for platonic relationship between very feminine mare and very masculine stallion)

 

And this one's just speculation but I'd like to think that these two are bffs who hang out all the time and make each other friendship bracelets and stuff

 

 

Bulk Biceps and flutters is just adorable not that i really like BB but it's funny ;P

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

Because this is a girls/children's cartoon and stallions have cooties.

[KatonRyu 1,033]

Wasn't Flash Sentry going to get a role in season 5? I recall hearing about that somewhere. I mainly remember because based on his movie character I wasn't too pleased with the news.

[Justin_Case001 4,896]

The thing I've always loved most about FIM is the strong female cast, which is actually very rare to find in entertainment.  I wouldn't want that to change, but I definitely think they could throw in one or two more males that are portrayed in a positive light.  It would be cool to see the mane 6 casually interacting with a few more males here and there.  It wouldn't take much, either.  A few cameos and the occasional comment like, "Where's Rainbow?"  "Oh, she's at the swimming hole with so-and-so male character" would go a long way.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

 

(bonus points for platonic relationship between very feminine mare and very masculine stallion)

 

 

Like Julie Brown, Fluttershy likes um big and stupid!

 

 

 

 

[Coco before Pommel 679]

This got me thinking about how many m/f friendships there are in MLP, hmm...off the top of my head, I can think of:

Twilight & Spike

Fluttershy & Discord

Twilight & Discord

Applejack & Big Mac

Twilight & Shining Armor

CMC & Spike

Rarity & Spike

Celestia & Discord

Fluttershy & Bulk Biceps

Rainbow Dash & Soarin
Rarity & Fancy Pants

CMC & Featherweight

Pinkie & Cranky Doodle Donkey

Pinkie & Cheese Sandwich

Braeburn & Little Strongheart

Flitter, Cloudchaser & Thunderlane are often seen hanging out together, if they count

 

Even considering a lot of those are one-episode wonders or cameos (or for the ones involving Discord, slightly rocky, but arguably count as friendships at this point), that seems like a pretty decent amount to me. There aren't that many significant non-intra-M6 friendships with mares either, really - as others have pointed out, we don't see them hanging out with others than each other very often, unless they're part of the plot, because that's pretty much how ensemble shows work. Pinkie claims to be friends with everypony in Ponyville (although obviously not as close as the M6), but we obviously can't see her hanging out with all of them, we just assume she does it off-screen. I can see Ponyville as one of those small towns where everyone tends to be at least friendly acquaintances, so I've never really noticed a significant lack of mare/stallion friendships, apart from there just being fewer stallions than mares in general.

 

One thing I don't get though is when people complain that all the male characters are "bad" in some way...Spike is arguably as well developed as the M6, or at least the CMC, which means he has flaws but is far from a bad character, or just there for comic relief. Discord may have started out as a villain but that doesn't, IMO, demean the importance of his friendship with the M6 now - his friendship with Fluttershy is his main character arc - and it's not like all the villains are male either: there's a pretty even distribution of female and male villains (Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Sombra, Tirek) and more minor antagonists (Trixie, Flim & Flam, Iron Will, Gilda). Pretty much all the other male characters, though they may get less screentime, are portrayed positively and, in the case of Big Mac and Shining Armor, have a notable role in the plot and/or character(s) of the M6. So yeah

 

(I'd like to see more Spike/CMC episodes, personally! I think they're adorable together and could have lots in common that hasn't been explored yet )

[Dulset Tarn 441]

@@Coco before Pommel

I think honestly most of that sentiment comes from things like Snips and Snails, the pegasus bullies, the dragon teens, etc. Can't really deny that a lot of their behavior seems to be boy-centric.

[Banul 3,831]

Well we have Spike, whose friends with all the mane 6.

Fluttershy and Discord are close.

I'm sure Big Mac is on good terms with most of them, Shinning Armor too.

Pinkie and Mr. Cake are probably friends.

Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy seemed like friends as well.

Dash is probably closer to Soarin' after Rainbow Falls.

Rarity probably keeps in touch with Fancy Pants.

Applejack probably keeps in touch with Braeburn.

 

 

 

Because of the MATRIARCHY!

 

Don't you mean the MAREtriarchy?

 

I'll see myself out.