What would EqG be like if it became more "feminist"?

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 301]

When Equestria Girls was first released into the public, some feminists condemned  the  movie for its stereotypical high school premise being a bad influence to its target audience of young girls.

 

Say, if the makers decided to make EqG more "feminist" (to cater to those critics, and also to appeal to the "SJW"s of Tumblr and the like), how do you think the humanised ponies would be different?

[Lord Valtasar 12,714]

no matter what they do,they can't satisfy every single viewer, i doubt those feminists that said that were the majority of them anyway, if you ttry to please everyone you'll end up with a show thats a total fan-service fest,and then everyone will complain about that, so its an impossible task

Edited July 29, 2018 by Lord Valtasar

[Rawzy 1,302]

The characters would all be gender fluid, and the term "male" and "female" would not exist. Everyone would have about 20 piercings on their face with short hair dyed something obnoxious. They would all be overweight too because if they looked fit then that would trigger fat people. Flash Sentry would be transsexual and Twilight would be a lesbian. Timber Spruce would identify as a refrigerator.

[Gryph 36]

Well, if they complain, then they didn't really get EqG anyway. The looks of the characters have never been in the center of attention, it was always their personalities and the plot that were.

Also, what's wrong with the whole high school premise? They way I've been told by US citizens how their high schools work is almost exactly how it's shown in a lot of movies... So... I don't get the problem there.

I see the complaint of body types coming up quite often in those. So... Well, what now? Body types first don't have to do anything with feminism, I rather think those people come from the fat acceptance movement - which is, spoiler alert, a very bad thing. Being reasonably slim and having a fit and healthy body to live a healthy life should be a goal that should be taught quite early on. So there's nothing wrong with showing slim bodies and depicting that as the average body type in this universe.

 

Although I have to agree to the complaints about Applejack and Rainbow Dash, regarding their skirts. That was very weird to me as well. I would have really digged to see Applejack in a very country fashion with overalls and a shirt and Rainbow Dash as the tomboyish rebelous girl who she is.

 

But in the end, you don't have to push political or social agendas on everything, as much as those people would love to see it there. It's wrong. Not everything needs to include ALL the messages.

 

Edit: Oh my god, Rawzy, I just saw your reply. THIS IS GOLD.

Edited July 29, 2018 by Gryph

[CypherHoof 26,483]

Not sure how it even could be more feminist; every significant position of authority and every major character is female, with the occasional male ineffectual love interest or money-focussed buffoon. They don't need to strive to fit more into a male-orientated world, because it isn't one.

Edited July 29, 2018 by CypherHoof the Reblanked

[Castle Bleck 19,643]

I know what my reaction would be:

 

 

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 301]

2 minutes ago, A.V. said:

I know what my reaction would be:

 

 

No, what I meant is how would the movies of those humanised ponies be different, such as what kinds of stories do they tell instead?

[SDP40F amtrak 2,448]

Oh boy what does sjw want now 

[Goat-kun 2,532]

I will be your guide.

[Literatel 144]

9 hours ago, Rawzy said:

The characters would all be gender fluid, and the term "male" and "female" would not exist. Everyone would have about 20 piercings on their face with short hair dyed something obnoxious. They would all be overweight too because if they looked fit then that would trigger fat people. Flash Sentry would be transsexual and Twilight would be a lesbian. Timber Spruce would identify as a refrigerator.

Not to mention that they would have celebrity names, for diversity's sake.

Ex. Elevator Vin Swa Kafrafringis.

7 hours ago, Califorum said:

I don't really see why it would be. Feminists just get triggered over every damn thing and they need to stop. If it was like that, I would 100% call them out and be at their neck for it.

Would you like to hear an example? This one is absolute gold.

And then you would be charged with assault... Good luck with that.

[Thrond 3,272]

I actually took a look at those posts and they seem to mostly relate to the toys, which I don't know very much about. I figure that, if Hasbro were to make toys more in line with what these people want, they'd be somewhat less slender and pretty and have somewhat more exaggerated proportions - in other words, something less traditional, with less glitter and makeup and stuff. I'm sure a lot of people would be way more interested in toys like that. 

And, here's the thing, Hasbro actually did that. You ever see those "Minis" dolls? Those things are adorable, and nobody's gonna view them as sexualized. 

The first blog does relate to the character designs, and it predates the first movie. Again, Hasbro has done much to fix this; the characters still have similar models, because DHX can't be bothered, but the proportions have become more sensible, and the clothing choices have become more dynamic and reflective of individual character personalities. 

So if they were different, I guess you'd see more significant differences in models. Maybe some characters would have broader shoulders or a wider torso, or their heights would differ somewhat. I still don't feel any of them would be chubby or particularly muscular or anything like that, but that would be the logical end point, and frankly, that's probably what the series would look like were it just a normal show and not a particularly good glorified toy commercial. 

I don't know what's best for kids, and I don't have the market research that Hasbro does. But that's my guess as to what this show would like with more "feminist" character design.

[Sunlight Glisten 369]

I'd say it already is feminist. 

-lead female characters 

-finding what's special about you not just conform to the crowd

-no male support required (or existant) 

Ok so they all wear skirts (except in everfree) woopty do.

My daughter loves the EG's and I think they are good rollmodels to look up to. My son also loves them, not cause a 3 year old thinks they're hot but because he wants to be rainbowdash cause she's cool. 

Outside or Ray in star wars I can't think of a stronger independent female character lead show. 

-

[Castle Bleck 19,643]

On 7/29/2018 at 2:43 PM, Goat-kun said:

 

Actually, I think she looks adorkasexy.

 

ThunderCats Roar's character designs, on the other hand? Yikes.

[Goat-kun 2,532]

13 hours ago, A.V. said:

 

Actually, I think she looks adorkasexy.

 

ThunderCats Roar's character designs, on the other hand? Yikes.

Well, if you're into humans with congestive heart failure with a bit of liver damage on the side. I don't judge. Do realize though that the form is irrelevant. It is the probability of appearance that is being mocked along its uncanny ability to serve as a marker for specific political agenda.

 

[Denim&Venöm 22,101]

Is there any move out there that has a mostly positive reception, broke even at the box office, got a national release and still received approval from the "feminists?" 

[AlbaTross 1,586]

It would look like the Arden Hayes books.  Read the description on the back of the book for Rainbow Dash Brings the Blitz.  As a bit of a spoiler, that book ends up being every bit the story it sounds like it's going to be, until the last six or seven chapters when it tries to deviate from being one big trope, only to inadvertently cause the book to climax too early.  That said, it still contains as much feminism as you think it's going to, and then some.  In contrast it's worth noting that EQG and FiM in general is actually surprisingly void of blatant feminist writing.  I've come across more feminist-flavoured cringe from Marvel than I have from FiM.  

Note, I'm SJW as heck, but when an entire story is a feminist PSA, or at least that particular element is an elephant in the room throughout, I tend to get less enjoyment out of a particular work.  I'm all for portraying capable female characters, and in fact, I prefer when female characters are portrayed in that light, but there's a difference between that and making it the moral of the story.  A hero or group of heroes can be female, and that's cool.  Their strength doesn't have to come from the fact that they're female, and they don't have to show up an antagonist or supporting character who's a blatant misogynist.  A character in general is more relatable to everyone if their identity isn't the source of their strength, or the thing that's at odds with someone who's portrayed as a jerk, if not downright evil.  The Mane Six work as characters because it's their personalities that take centre stage, not their gender.

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

On 8/3/2018 at 5:54 PM, Denim&Venom said:

Is there any move out there that has a mostly positive reception, broke even at the box office, got a national release and still received approval from the "feminists?" 

Wonder Woman?

13 minutes ago, AlbaTross said:

Note, I'm SJW as heck, but when an entire story is a feminist PSA, or at least that particular element is an elephant in the room throughout, I tend to get less enjoyment out of a particular work.  I'm all for portraying capable female characters, and in fact, I prefer when female characters are portrayed in that light, but there's a difference between that and making it the moral of the story.  A hero or group of heroes can be female, and that's cool.  Their strength doesn't have to come from the fact that they're female, and they don't have to show up an antagonist or supporting character who's a blatant misogynist.  A character in general is more relatable to everyone if their identity isn't the source of their strength, or the thing that's at odds with someone who's portrayed as a jerk, if not downright evil.  The Mane Six work as characters because it's their personalities that take centre stage, not their gender.

That's pretty much how I feel about this sort of thing. I know "pandering" is a very dirty word these days, but I can think of just as many girl power movies that DON'T feel like pandering.

Ironically enough, an "Aliens" meme made it into this thread. For me, Ellen Ripley is still the best feminist character ever. She throws her weight around, goes off the rails at whoever she needs to, speaks her mind, is tough as nails but also has a touching motherly side. She easily fits the definition of "bossy" that men claim to hate so much, yet I've never come across ANY guy who doesn't like her. Why is this? Because there was no need for the writers to go out of their way and say, "Look, see what we did there? Pat us on the head and give us more money for being progressive!" She simply is who she is. She has 'ascended' above gender, and if you look at the original screenplay for Alien, the character was written without a gender in mind at all.

And yeah, I think you nailed the subtle difference with MLP. It so easily could have been overly labelled as "girl power," but it didn't need to. It's "friendship power" and it's all inclusive, unbound by group dynamics, and E.G. has no problem making that point.

[Denim&Venöm 22,101]

1 hour ago, bornAgainEquestrian said:

Wonder Woman?

Sure about that? She falls in love with a guy. And I heard feminists really hate that. 

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

4 hours ago, Denim&Venom said:

Sure about that? She falls in love with a guy. And I heard feminists really hate that. 

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2017/06/06/feminists-respond-wonder-woman/

[Vlazamal 338]

The show is already feminist, as the writers have said. Women are independent, all the lead roles and administrative roles are taken by women, men are background characters generally. The only way you could make it more feminist is by having an oppressive matriarchy where males are cast down?

[RDDash 19,375]

Half of the episode dedicated to the bashing of the male gender? Hopefully not, I don't think that anything good would come out of it

Edited August 21, 2018 by R.D.Dash

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

On 8/20/2018 at 7:57 PM, R.D.Dash said:

Half of the episode dedicated to the bashing of the male gender? Hopefully not, I don't think that anything good would come out of it

If any show could pull it off without it feeling like the stereotypical idiot dad of pretty much every sitcom ever, it would be MLP. Not always the case, but a lot of the lessons are pretty covert without coming off as being too preachy. It would still be a hard sell though because Equestria seems to have moved past the mysogyny problem, if it ever had one in the first place. Also, all the rulers are female, (the only exception was Sombra who was an evil tyrant), so there's much more evidence of a Matriarchy. The only example I can think of offhand for someone who might need a bit of a feminism injection is Zephyr.

[Singe 2,111]

Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games established how very dominate the female characters are in every field shown. The problem nowadays is that these kinds of  characters need an edge roughly that tends to appear unfair, exaggerated attributes, or a major shortcut to stand ahead of others.

 

[Sepul-Coloratura 765]

On 7/29/2018 at 8:57 PM, HorsesandMOARGaloar said:

When Equestria Girls was first released into the public, some feminists condemned  the  movie for its stereotypical high school premise being a bad influence to its target audience of young girls.

 

Say, if the makers decided to make EqG more "feminist" (to cater to those critics, and also to appeal to the "SJW"s of Tumblr and the like), how do you think the humanised ponies would be different?

It is always an awful choice to put anything other than the movie's quality first.

Edited September 18, 2018 by Sepul-Coloratura