Why do you think girls like ponies?

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

This is the fundamental question to  the whole MLP franchise, why do girls like ponies? (stereotypically speaking)

Why not cats, dogs, cows, birds, just horses or donkies but ponies? What's your theory?

[Lucky Bolt 35,016]

6 minutes ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

Why not cats, dogs, cows, birds, just horses or donkies but ponies?

Who says we don't like those animals and others besides ponies? Lol. In fact I'm a vet tech student my whole career life revolves around animals and I love them all.

And by "ponies"  are you referring to real life ponies or the pastel fantasy equines we all know and love? 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,561]

Societal grooming. Ponies are small and cute so anything small and cute has be "girly" while boys gotta love all that is big and cool. Grooming from the society around them is the answer to a lot of questions like "Why do X/Y kids like Y/X". Hell, even horses are advertised the same way towards kids. Horsies are all about barbie and who knows what else, but da boys have to obsess over transformers. It isn't quite as prevalent these days, but it most certainly is still there and it is still dumb. Any animal can be subject to this but it depends on what is being marketed, what the exploitation machine is churning out today.

For the record, I am talking about kids in this sense. Any gender can like anything they want, I am mostly talking about the media marketing machine.

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

I think they're cute. Dunno what else can be said x3 I like lotsa different animals though, especially cats!

I don't think I've been groomed or anything though I just like what I like

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

53 minutes ago, Lucky Bolt said:

Who says we don't like those animals and others besides ponies? Lol. In fact I'm a vet tech student my whole career life revolves around animals and I love them all.

And by "ponies"  are you referring to real life ponies or the pastel fantasy equines we all know and love? 

I mean ponies are tied to girls not boys, stereotypicslly speaking. Many people like many animals.

I'm talking about the ponies in real world because that's the reason why My Little Pony was even made in the first place.

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

56 minutes ago, Kyoshi said:

Societal grooming. Ponies are small and cute so anything small and cute has be "girly" while boys gotta love all that is big and cool. Grooming from the society around them is the answer to a lot of questions like "Why do X/Y kids like Y/X". Hell, even horses are advertised the same way towards kids. Horsies are all about barbie and who knows what else, but da boys have to obsess over transformers. It isn't quite as prevalent these days, but it most certainly is still there and it is still dumb. Any animal can be subject to this but it depends on what is being marketed, what the exploitation machine is churning out today.

For the record, I am talking about kids in this sense. Any gender can like anything they want, I am mostly talking about the media marketing machine.

Yes I agree, but I think even when any kinds of toys are freely chosen by kids, there would still be a difference between 90% of boys and girls. Many boys like robots, dinosaurs, cars, insects, lizards. My question is, why?

[Kamii 594]

Girls like cute things. Girls like miniatures of things. Ponies are cute miniature horses. Of course this is a stereotype, but that seems to be the reasons why. My Little Ponies are also colorful which is another typically girly thing.

And girls love other animals too, specially, again, if they're cute and/or small, such as bunnies, puppies, kittens, etc.

[SharpWit 2,516]

The animal themselves because they're adorable just like most compacted things, and the toys because that's what's marketed towards them. You catch your audience's attention with bright colors and demonstrate an array of possible activities to do with said item that's been ingrained in their impressionable minds, along with imagery of would-be peers having a good time. This is how it works for kids of all backgrounds but you get into the specifics with the demographic you're after.

[Justin_Case001 4,862]

2 hours ago, Kyoshi said:

Societal grooming. Ponies are small and cute so anything small and cute has be "girly" while boys gotta love all that is big and cool. Grooming from the society around them is the answer to a lot of questions like "Why do X/Y kids like Y/X". Hell, even horses are advertised the same way towards kids. Horsies are all about barbie and who knows what else, but da boys have to obsess over transformers. It isn't quite as prevalent these days, but it most certainly is still there and it is still dumb. Any animal can be subject to this but it depends on what is being marketed, what the exploitation machine is churning out today.

Absolutely true, but I'll just add that I think horses and ponies are pretty/cute.  The marketing and societal grooming surely has a major effect on the popularity, but you wouldn't be able to market sloths and platypuses like that.  Although, I have a duck billed platypus plush puppet, and that little guy is freaking adorable.

[Fluttershyfan94 5,739]

No idea really, my country doesn't even have ponies we have horses that said a lot of girls are into horses as well so I mean is possible that they are a lot like an entry level horse that said I know nobody that has ever had ponies and if you talk about toy ponies usually that was more just because they are horses. Then again, horses are seen as a gender neutral hobby if you can call an animal that more referring to horseback riding it is a lot like the car scene really people that simply know everything about horses similarly to how a car person often knows everything there is to know about cars and engines. Yet I think it is more the marketing, horses have always been at least in American movies I feel marketed to girls and ponies are horses so yeah who doesn't like horses though. Girls I've talked to have all liked horses because they are horses pretty much so ponies are liked by girls maybe because they are horses but they are also cute and small horses so they would like them more. I don't get why someone would choose a pony over a horse though, often people name their horses here after old norse gods or anything relating to norse mythology therefore it is somewhat more a masculine interest here like often people name their horse "Sleipnir" which as everyone knows is Odin's horse eight legged horse that was conceived by Loki having took on the form of a mare that mated with the stallion Svaðilfari there are many more names that are related to norse mythology so you have a lot of men that like horses too.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Fluttershyfan94

[Splashee 28,540]

3 hours ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

This is the fundamental question to  the whole MLP franchise, why do girls like ponies? (stereotypically speaking)

Why not cats, dogs, cows, birds, just horses or donkies but ponies? What's your theory?

Hmm... There is something about horses that girls just like. I cannot tell what it is, but when I grew up, all the girls in my class were into horses. Not just MLP, but real ones. They wanted to own horses, and ride horses.

I would say it was opposite to what boys wanted. Very few boys were into horses, mainly because it was considered a girl thing.

 

Interesting question, and I hope there is an answer somewhere other than just being stereotypical.

[Goat-kun 2,511]

This is one of the rare cases where woke buffoons may have actually managed to stumble upon a product of culture, even though they have unfortunately retained their belief that biological sex doesn't have great influence on toy preferences. Girls tend to prefer things with faces they can care for. However, they are incapable of taking care of larger or more aggressive animals that do demand strength and authority. Thus little purse puppies, hamsters, and even ponies come into play. Hmm, did I just refute my own original point and demonstrated that this product of societal pressure actually stems from not one but two biological features of little girls. However, I shall refute that girls only like ponies. They like kittens too. And puppies. And all the other standard-ish pets. It's why we have Littlest Pet Shop. The "I want a pony" thing is probably just a myth passed down from one TV show to another.

[Splashee 28,540]

4 minutes ago, Goat-kun said:

The "I want a pony" thing is probably just a myth passed down from one TV show to another.

It seems to be effective though, even in other countries that don't have English as native speaking.

 

I remember my fake sister... Well I had two fake sisters while growing up (one on mom's side, and one on dad's side), and they both wanted a pony/horse more than anything, or at least expensive riding lessons (which they didn't get). It wasn't an "I want a pony" thing though, but rather, when being asked if they liked horses (when I asked), they got to the conclusion, all by themselves, that they wanted to own a horse some day, and it was the most important thing. By that time, the English TV shows hadn't gotten a grasp of the main stream households yet, so I am not so sure about it having its origin from that. It could though! They might have watched some horse movies (The Black Stallion is a 1979 American adventure film based on the 1941 classic children's novel of the same name by Walter Farley), or even MLP G1 at one point.

[Goat-kun 2,511]

15 minutes ago, Super Splashee said:

It seems to be effective though, even in other countries that don't have English as native speaking.

 

I remember my fake sister... Well I had two fake sisters while growing up (one on mom's side, and one on dad's side), and they both wanted a pony/horse more than anything, or at least expensive riding lessons (which they didn't get). It wasn't an "I want a pony" thing though, but rather, when being asked if they liked horses (when I asked), they got to the conclusion, all by themselves, that they wanted to own a horse some day, and it was the most important thing. By that time, the English TV shows hadn't gotten a grasp of the main stream households yet, so I am not so sure about it having its origin from that. It could though! They might have watched some horse movies (The Black Stallion is a 1979 American adventure film based on the 1941 classic children's novel of the same name by Walter Farley), or even MLP G1 at one point.

Sometimes someone just wants to have horses. I can tell you that there are dozens of little girls in my area with small dogs. My post can't explain all individual instances, but that does not mean it can't explain preferences of little girls in general.

[Latecomer 438]

Don't have an answer miself, but I do have a suggestion - this thread in particualr might be enhanced bi each poster clarifying their gender and whether or not they like ponies. (For the record, I'm a male who's fairly indifferent towards them, MLP aside.)

[Misty Shadow 7,302]

Girls, generally speaking, appreciate cuteness and fashion more than boys and horses have always been a big part of Western culture. Making a horse fashionable has always been a dream for many girls, the same way boys dream of having a fashionable car.  

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

Thematically, this is a feminine show. Most of the main characters are female, the rulers are princesses, issues are usually resolved with dialogue and mutual understanding rather than action and violence, taking emotionality into account. It is not a matter of the animal but the mindset the information is presented with.

[Fluttershutter 2,188]

10 hours ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

This is the fundamental question to  the whole MLP franchise, why do girls like ponies? (stereotypically speaking)

Why not cats, dogs, cows, birds, just horses or donkies but ponies? What's your theory?

Well they do but I think especially in rural settings something to ride gives a girl more freedom. Smaller ponies, as opposed to horses, are cuter and fit young girls better. That's how the girls and ponies thing got started.

[ShadOBabe 18,986]

The “girls like ponies” thing, in its current stereotypical form, is a modern day thing, manufactured by franchises like MLP.

Certainly, women throughout history could like horses. But they were often more thought of as a dude thing, since they’re big, strong beasts of burden and taking care of them is animal husbandry.

But culture has more and more frequently depicted them as beautiful, magical animals, with glorious flowing manes and with saddles and bridles decked out in jewels and gold and flowers. Not to mention unicorns, who have a long standing mythology about only allowing maidens anywhere near them.

And then the 80s hit, and BAM, My Little Pony becomes a huge phenomenon, with adorable, brightly colored little talking equines and a bunch of collectible toys. Ponies are irrevocably associated with MLP, a “girl show”, and thus ponies are cemented as a “girl thing”.

[Pentium100 2,061]

6 minutes ago, Bas said:

Why do you think grown up men like ponies?

But do they like actual real-life ponies and not just the cute cartoon ones? I am not a big fan of real-life horses or ponies for example.

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

1 hour ago, Bas said:

Govern the male brony phanomena the topic title might should have been Why do you think grown up men like ponies?

My question is more connected to why Hasbro made a franchise revolving around ponies targeted towards girls in the first place. Some grown up men MLP fans got intrigued it because it was a girls thing.

[Latecomer 438]

2 minutes ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

My question is more connected to why Hasbro made a franchise revolving around ponies targeted towards girls in the first place. Some grown up men MLP fans got intrigued it because it was a girls thing.

Some background might be found here, despite a claim of no relation.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PonyTale

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllGirlsLikePonies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_book

[Goat-kun 2,511]

9 hours ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

My question is more connected to why Hasbro made a franchise revolving around ponies targeted towards girls in the first place. Some grown up men MLP fans got intrigued it because it was a girls thing.

It wasn't so much of a girls' thing than it was one woman's thing. MLP was created by Bonnie Zacherele who was fascinated with horses.

[Pony Flutters 530]

It might be because of their size, but I guess the recognition of this franchise pre-FIM and the public perception of it initially may be the cause of it. I’m not sure if the stereotype was around before MLP existed though. 

[Splashee 28,540]

12 hours ago, ShadOBabe said:

But they were often more thought of as a dude thing

Like the Wild West and cowboys. Yea, makes sense! And that was not so long ago either.