Are most Bronies conservative?

[ShadowSJG 62]

On Equestria Daily regarding leaks(won't say much), there was a mention in the comments on diversity and so many people were complaining about it and saying it's SJW or something. As a minority, diversity is important and representation matters and it was disheartening to see so many complaints, seeing as the show is about tolerance and friendships. So I have to ask, are the majority of bronies conservative?

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

Not so sure.  I sure as hell not conservative.  But ironically, I do see My Little Pony, especially the current series, as being diverse in a way.  We're seeing more of the non-base Pony races in Equestria: Dragons, Changelings, Griffins, Hippogriffs, Yaks, etc.  And sometimes, I really wanna see more of these other races interact with the other variations of Ponies.

 

Edit: And on a side note, I think most of the cast and crew of My Little Pony are more left-leaning.  Even original show runner Lauren Faust was more like that.

Edited January 9, 2018 by SaburoDaimando

[Kings&Hooves14 616]

1 hour ago, ShadowSJG said:

...there was a mention in the comments on diversity and so many people were complaining about it and saying it's SJW or something.

Being "anti-SJW" doesn't make a person conservative; it only means that they are wary of ideologues. 

I believe that most Bronies are probably liberal. As the OP said, Friendship Is Magic is a show about tolerance. 

I consider myself a moderate. Some of my views are traditionally right-leaning, some are traditionally left-leaning.

 

Edited January 9, 2018 by Kings&Hooves14

[Here No Longer 5,270]

I personally am very progressive on the social front, which is the opposite of what "conservative" seems to mean in the original post. In general I believe most bronies are. Though I and many others are skeptical of movements that try to make themselves seem like progressive movements, but really aren't.

 

Edited January 9, 2018 by Duzzkey
To be more on-topic.

[Jeric 46,834]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say no because saying they are conservative leaves out a lot of the nuanced truth. There are certainly large number of Bronies who have disdain and suspicion for certain socially progressive movements, but most of them appear strongly Libertarian. You won't find many Neoconservative and Paleoconservative types in this fandom.

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

30 minutes ago, Jeric said:

I'm going to go out on a limb and say no because saying they are conservative leaves out a lot of the nuanced truth. There are certainly large number of Bronies who have disdain and suspicion for certain socially progressive movements, but most of them appear strongly Libertarian. You won't find many Neoconservative and Paleoconservative types in this fandom.

Even before being a Brony, I never considered myself a Libertarian.  Hell, I'm not very strong on Libertarian ideas, ever since I learned about the fall of the Articles of Confederation.  If anyone wants to ask, that was the US Government prior to the US Constitution.  It focused more on States Rights while the constitution made a more centralized government.  But what made it fail were trade wars, the states in heavy debt, too many State-based currencies, and the Shay's Rebellion.

[Oleks 1,983]

I can only speak for myself, and I'm surely not conservative - neither politically nor generally. Furthermore, I see no point in keeping old and useless traditions and values, especially if they hinder progress.

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

I'm more of a centrist but I am more right leaning and have mostly right wing views. I don't think the majority of the fandom is right leaning though, but SJW's tend to be over the top left-wingers rather than left-wingers in general, hence the negative response you saw.

[Jeric 46,834]

Just now, Battenberg said:

I'm more of a centrist but I am more right leaning and have mostly right wing views. I don't think the majority of the fandom is right leaning though, but SJW's tend to be over the top left-wingers rather than left-wingers in general, hence the negative response you saw.

Aye. I have several friends and family that I like who fall on both sides of the ideological divide, but none of them are extreme in their view. Some are similar to me and have some left leaning or progressive views and some right leaning views. I may disagree with traditional conservatives on the transgender rights issue, while simultaneously disagree with liberals on gun control. In both cases I can understand the other sides argument even if I don't subscribe to it. 

And that is ideology. Party is another story. I am NPA for a reason.  Both major political parties need an enema!

51 minutes ago, SaburoDaimando said:

Even before being a Brony, I never considered myself a Libertarian.  Hell, I'm not very strong on Libertarian ideas, ever since I learned about the fall of the Articles of Confederation.  If anyone wants to ask, that was the US Government prior to the US Constitution.  It focused more on States Rights while the constitution made a more centralized government.  But what made it fail were trade wars, the states in heavy debt, too many State-based currencies, and the Shay's Rebellion.

And border disputes as well as the lack of adherence to treaty rules were massive issues that don't get as much discussion.

Also here is probably the best contemporary scholar on this era discussing the Articles in two Yale videos. 

But yeah, Classical Liberal (Libertarian) thinkers of the time still supported a Executive style Federal system of government -- hence Madison.

[Yellow Diamond 7,561]

I would reckon most are not. The anti-SJW sentiment is more social than strictly political. I suspect many Bronies are active on Tumblr, and that means they are likely to come into contact with so-called SJWs.

Of course, there are "ironic" fans who use MLP to promote things like #MAGA -- but you'll find that's true with some supposed anime "fans", too. It's done to troll people.

[Prospekt 10,984]

As for myself, I grew up fairly conservative, though I became a staunch libertarian as I got older.

From my personal experience, there are bronies from all parts of the political spectrum. The majority seem to be centrist or moderately left-leaning, but I've encountered the occasional communist, Republican, libertarian, anarchist, alt-right, and even neo-Nazi brony in the community. By no means are those other groups a majority. But they do exist. And in certain parts of the internet, most notably 4chan, the racists are actually pretty vocal. This fandom is truly bizarre...

[Tacodidra 59,793]

I wouldn't say most are conservative but some are (as in every group). There are a lot of liberal bronies, too (I consider myself one).

I haven't read the EqD comments myself, just the ones here. But regarding diversity. I agree with what you said here:

4 hours ago, ShadowSJG said:

As a minority, diversity is important and representation matters and it was disheartening to see so many complaints, seeing as the show is about tolerance and friendships.

I think they have handled it well in G4 with the pro-tolerance messages in several episodes. However, the incorporation of diversity has to be done well. There are some series where a character was introduced to make the cast more diverse, but the character in question wasn't particularly interesting, funny etc. (a complaint I have often seen about Lola Bunny in "Space Jam"). I think this is what many are worried about. I support diversity, but it shouldn't be the only thing defining a character. For example, Spike is the only male main character in FIM, but there's more to his character than that.

Edited January 9, 2018 by Tacodidra

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

1 hour ago, Prospektlicious said:

As for myself, I grew up fairly conservative, though I became a staunch libertarian as I got older.

From my personal experience, there are bronies from all parts of the political spectrum. The majority seem to be centrist or moderately left-leaning, but I've encountered the occasional communist, Republican, libertarian, anarchist, alt-right, and even neo-Nazi brony in the community. By no means are those other groups a majority. But they do exist. And in certain parts of the internet, most notably 4chan, the racists are actually pretty vocal. This fandom is truly bizarre...

If anything, I know that Nicole Oliver is not very fond of Nazis of any kind.  Can't blame her when she was made aware of images of Princess Celestia decked out in full Nazi Gear.

[Tacodidra 59,793]

Just now, SaburoDaimando said:

If anything, I know that Nicole Oliver is not very fond of Nazis of any kind.  Can't blame her when she was made aware of images of Princess Celestia decked out in full Nazi Gear.

I understand that completely. While there's a lot of MLP art that I don't like myself but have nothing against other people doing so (e.g. ones with graphic violence), the Nazi art sickens me. But it's probably mostly trolls creating those. How else could one go from the magic of friendship to Nazism?

[Guest]

I'm more conservative these days, but I wouldn't say FiM's fan base is colored by any political or ideological position. The fandom is large enough to be wholly ubiquitous of those kinds of things, but even if it weren't, the message we've all chosen to take from it has been love and tolerance. The only times you see that not being applied is when topics like political and ideological preference come up and at that point it really doesn't matter what community you're in. It may be that the majority of fans lean one way or another, but it really doesn't matter until you make it matter. The only reason a person's feathers would be ruffled by the positions of other people in the fandom they share is if they themselves are on the extremist end they claim to stand against.

Then again, satire seems to be dead these days and everyone takes everything far too seriously. I can't wrap my head around that so maybe my position belongs where it is, well removed from the majority.

[Colt 45 148]

I don't think there's much of a correlation there. Watching a kid's show doesn't have anything to do with politics and that's what bronies are. They are people who enjoy a show. I've seen many discussions on this site about politics and other issues and I've seen a mix of political views here. I would even say more than half of the people here are more left than right wing from what I've seen.

[ShadOBabe 18,984]

Like others have said, being anti-SJW doesn’t equal conservative.

And while I personally am super conservative, I think more bronies in general are slightly left leaning. Not because of the show itself, but just because it attracts more people of that particular demographic. That said, conservative bronies are not uncommon at all.

As a conservative I’m don’t mind diversity in media if it appears. For example, I think it’s really cool in Breath of the Wild how there are now dark skinned Hylians and light skinned Gerudo. Makes the world feel like it’s populated by a ton of actual individuals.

But I DO mind if a creator gets flak for not including just the right arbitrary amount of minority representation. Sometimes it just wasn’t what they wanted to show in their work and that is their right. It doesn’t mean anything more than that.

Edited January 9, 2018 by ShadOBabe

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,049]

I don't really know about you but I don't feel like one, and the people I've met either. Being conservative has nothing to do with being a brony or not if you ask me.

[The Kaeya Simp 13,953]

I, myself am not anywhere near conservatives politically (Quite left leaning) but I can say that from my obvervations of this topic, most (if not all) bronies aren't conservative

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

Most people here have said no to the question and I feel the same way they do. I'd say most bronies are liberal-minded in their thinking and beliefs though I'm sure there are some who are conservative. Me? I identify myself as a liberal though I almost never talk about it because of how sensitive political talk can be especially these days.

[Props Valroa 26,039]

I myself don't agree with any established political party, I disagree with both 'conservative' and 'liberal' if you are talking about the Americanized version of it. Generally I do not like politics, especially American politics. It is worthless, hinders our progress and is a distraction from what really matters.

[The Kaeya Simp 13,953]

especially American politics. It is worthless, hinders our progress and is a distraction from what really matters.

Thats the point of "Americianised"

[Props Valroa 26,039]

Just now, Sherbert Music-Guard said:

especially American politics. It is worthless, hinders our progress and is a distraction from what really matters.

Thats the point of "Americianised"

Exactly. Really, what I want to see is for the wars to stop, humanity to unite, and for more space exploration and scientific development, aswell as technological improvement, and infrastructure improvement and going 'green'.

[The Kaeya Simp 13,953]

1 minute ago, Califorum said:

Exactly. Really, what I want to see is for the wars to stop, humanity to unite, and for more space exploration and scientific development, aswell as technological improvement, and infrastructure improvement and going 'green'.

Just no where, where there's life, They'd be enslaved by humans

[Props Valroa 26,039]

Just now, Sherbert Music-Guard said:

Just no where, where there's life, They'd be enslaved by humans

Well, yeah. Though enslaving by the time we get into space, I hope is not a thing.