So how girly is Friendship is Magic?

[Jennabun 1,579]

 

 

"Feminine" means it will generally only appeal to women, which is not what MLP:FiM does. Likewise, "masculine" means it will generally only appeal to men.

 

Okay, even using your reasoning, MLP can still be considered feminine. I think it is extremely easy to argue that MLP was made generally only to appeal to women. I mean, that's way the brony community is so fascinating to people -- it's a large amount of male viewers who enjoy a show made primarily for women and girls. If bronies were simply men who liked a "gender-neutral" show, people wouldn't find this phenomenon so rare or interesting.

 

MLP (a show that: features a female protagonist; consists of a core female supporting cast; primarily focuses on the role of female friendships; explores female identity; was made to sell toys and dolls to little girls; frequently mentions fashion, cupcakes, cute fuzzy animals, princesses, etc.) is feminine. But that doesn't mean men can't or shouldn't enjoy it. I think male fans feel the need to justify their enjoyment of MLP by emphatically claiming "but it's NOT a girly show!!!" But that's not true. Men just don't feel comfortable admitting they like something feminine. Men could improve society and open some minds by openly and proudly enjoying a show FOR its femininity instead of trying to insist that the femininity isn't there.

 

Men liking MLP doesn't mean MLP suddenly isn't feminine anymore. It just means men happen to like something feminine (which is totally fine, despite what society tried to say).

[Espurr 449]

It's not really girly at all. You might as well have asked how much on a scale is Pokémon for guys and allowed me to be super offended, Pokémon fan here. There is no girly things or boy things anymore. The lines between the genders are fading as more people begin to speak out. Genders, sexuality, it all fades into a swirling pile of gray in the bottom of a bowl. It gets all mixed up.

 

Then there's that one guy/ girl who attempted to pull gender 'roles' back out of the mixing pot and finds him or herself with an odd lump of something, something that is no longer girly or a guy thing, but both. Then he/ she realizes that there is nothing left to mess with and throws it back into the swirling lump of gray.

 

That's kind of what's happening here. The world isn't just black and white anymore. It's really gray.

[Zerbu 72]

Okay, even using your reasoning, MLP can still be considered feminine. I think it is extremely easy to argue that MLP was made generally only to appeal to women. I mean, that's way the brony community is so fascinating to people -- it's a large amount of male viewers who enjoy a show made primarily for women and girls. If bronies were simply men who liked a "gender-neutral" show, people wouldn't find this phenomenon so rare or interesting.

Intentions and actual outcomes aren't the same thing. Just because it was "intended" to be a feminine show doesn't mean it is one, and that's only even true to an extent (it was intended to be feminine, but downplayed from previous generations). You can intend for a lame story your making to be "hardcore" but that doesn't make it hardcore.

 

Personally, I agree with others that the show was generally more feminine in the first season and got less that way after that, possibly due to Lauren Faust being less involved (and not at all after season 2).

 

 

MLP (a show that: features a female protagonist; consists of a core female supporting cast; primarily focuses on the role of female friendships; explores female identity; was made to sell toys and dolls to little girls; frequently mentions fashion, cupcakes, cute fuzzy animals, princesses, etc.) is feminine. But that doesn't mean men can't or shouldn't enjoy it. I think male fans feel the need to justify their enjoyment of MLP by emphatically claiming "but it's NOT a girly show!!!"

 

• If The Powerpuff Girls isn't automatically labelled "girly" or "feminine" for having female protagonists (except by people who don't watch the show or know little to nothing about it) then I don't see why MLP:FiM should be.
• They just seem like "friendships" to me. I don't see what exactly makes them gendered.
• I don't know what you mean by "female identity", please elaborate.
• I mentioned "intentions" above, plus the writers' intentions are not always identical to Hasbro's. In fact, MLP:FiM is known for subverting the idea of being nothing more than a toy commercial.

There may still be some feminine elements on the show, but that doesn't make the entire show feminine anymore than the action scenes make it masculine. You can say I'm "just looking for a way to justify it" all you want, but it could very well be that you're the one trying to cherry pick why it is feminine because it makes you feel good.

 

Men liking MLP doesn't mean MLP suddenly isn't feminine anymore. It just means men happen to like something feminine (which is totally fine, despite what society tried to say).

 

Femininity is defined by being associated with women. If it's not associated with women, it's not feminine. At most, masculinity and femininity are changing.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Zerbu

[JonasDarkmane 19,789]

I don't really believe in separating gender like that, however, if I am to answer according to the stereotypical view, it would be around 7-8. 

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

I would say its either a two or three. Sure its all pink, but in the olden days pink was a boys colour. I know im talking about the 18th century, but who cares? Most people i know dont think of pink as a girls only colour. Referencing OPs comment about teaching us about love and friendship, most of the cartoons i watched in the 90's preached the same message. Captain Planet, Rocket Power, Hey Arnold, Transformers(although i think that was an 80's version i saw)...OH...powerpuff girls too. Speaking of Power Puff Girls, this generation of MLP is like that show. First glance it seems like girls cartoon show then you watch it for a few minutes and realise it totally kicks butt.

I would say this MLP is gender neutral completely but it makes me fangirl squeal so im giving it  two or three.

[Zerbu 72]

I gave this a bit more thought and realized just how pointless it is to argue over this. It's obvious just by looking at the replies to this thread that not everyone is even going by the same definition of what's "girly" or "feminine" as everyone seems to have totally different opinions. Honestly, though, it doesn't change the show no matter what words you use to describe it.