What are your thoughts on this "Feminist" MLP fandom site?

[Dr.RedundantPh.D 60]

Note: Feminist was not put in quotes to render insignificant the concept of feminism. Don't get on my case or lecture me about it.

 

So I was roaming around cracked.com, followed a link in an article, and from there to this site, http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oGdXi5x0pQ8g8Arq7BGOd_;_ylu=X3oDMTE0aGlhdHBvBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA1RBQjAwMV83MQ--/SIG=11vqvnlk0/EXP=1347106873/**http%3a//feminist-mlp.livejournal.com/profile I just want to know what others opinions on it are. I'm honestly a little confused. I know some of us don't like the term brony, or dislike aspects of the fandom, and usually understandable reasons are presented for both. But the people on this site are against the main fandom and the term Brony because they perceive it as misogynistic. I don't have a livejournal account, and even then access to the group is modded, so i can't hear about the reasons behind their views directly from them. Can some one shed a little light on why the perceive the fandom in such a negative light?

[Lightning Fluttershy 1,844]

More extreme feminists... It really isn't that big of a problem. Besides it's irrelevant because we have a term for women who do not want to use the term brony. Pegasisters. So I'm gonna guess it's just a bunch of extreme feminists trying to harp at something for no reason.

[Prince Lightning Da Cute 616]

The whole thought of watching My Little Pony, which is commmonly thought as a show for little girls is a Taboo, as in, it goes against the mainstream in terms of content, and is thought too girly and overly feminism. We all know this is not the case, but they dont.

[Ad Foedera Cresco 188]

I think that those people against the term "Brony" or the fandom are taking it way too seriously, because to be honest, the Brony fandom is known to the main public as a huge community of guys who watch My Little Pony. It's much more misleading and unexpected than a girl watching Mlp, and also that it's the first term used to label someone who's a fan of the show and who partakes in the fandom. "Pegasister" developed after the Brony community was created I think, and it'd be weird if the fandom took out the title "Brony" for something else.

Anyways, these feminists are just taking things way too seriously in my opinion.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Ad Foedera Cresco

[Marceline 187]

-Facepalm-

If people want to help rid us of gender inequality, don't get in such a huff over terms like "brony." I've said before, brony is a unisex term, and I find it very ironic that in a fandom that tries to get rid of and not follow gender stereotypes, we had to establish another word for fans, just because their gender or sex was different.

 

That livejournal thing just screams hypocrisy.

Hardcore feminists stain the true feminist way. Original feminists were called such since men were so far ahead in terms of freedom, but what they fought for was equality. Now you see feminists who want the whole world to be Amazonian. It's ridiculous. Just. Augh. All my rage.

[Castoro Chiaro 181]

I can't really judge the content of the site because I can't see it, but judging by the Welcome entry...I'd say this is actually a good idea for a community.

 

Hear me out.

 

A problem I've noticed in "Brony culture", and I think what this site is referring to, is the need to "masculinize" the fandom and tailor it to suit a male audience; for example, some clop art that's more suited to male gaze that fetishizes women and lesbianism. Some people don't like that, but are usually told by the vocal majority they're taking it too seriously and, from what I've heard, called a slew of pretty horrible names. Think back to the Derpy drama and how people were misgendering Yamino and sending death threats because she expressed an unpopular opinion.

 

So I think it's a good idea to have a safe space where they can freely express those opinions.

 

...also you guys are drawing some pretty wild conclusions based on the fact they just said they didn't like the term "brony"...they never said "NO MEN ALLOWED!!!11" just that they didn't like the term/culture.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Castoro Chiaro

[RockinRarity 1,605]

I can't really judge the content of the site because I can't see it, but judging by the Welcome entry...I'd say this is actually a good idea for a community.

 

Hear me out.

 

A problem I've noticed in "Brony culture", and I think what this site is referring to, is the need to "masculinize" the fandom and tailor it to suit a male audience; for example, some clop art that's more suited to male gaze that fetishizes women and lesbianism. Some people don't like that, but are usually told by the vocal majority they're taking it too seriously and, from what I've heard, called a slew of pretty horrible names. Think back to the Derpy drama and how people were misgendering Yamino and sending death threats because she expressed an unpopular opinion.

 

So I think it's a good idea to have a safe space where they can freely express those opinions.

 

...also you guys are drawing some pretty wild conclusions based on the fact they just said they didn't like the term "brony"...they never said "NO MEN ALLOWED!!!11" just that they didn't like the term/culture.

 

I think that you raise an interesting point, but as a woman, I don't see how the brony culture in itself is exclusive to women, when I feel just as welcome as anypony else. The reason why people make a big deal about "masculinizing" FiM is because men get all the crap about liking MLP - it's perfectly OK for women to like it. I collect pony toys and trading cards, and while my dad thinks it's childish and a bit of a waste of money, he doesn't care so much. If I were one of my brothers, however... it might be a different story.

 

Women are ALREADY accepted into the fandom by default - it's socially acceptable for women to like the show. It's not socially acceptable for men to like it, at least not yet. To claim that women are being excluded from the fandom just because people make a big deal about guys liking the show is a bit ridiculous. It's like saying that men were excluded from being lawyers because people made a big deal about women becoming lawyers back in the 70's. That sounds a lot like jealousy to me.

 

Besides, saying stuff like this? "If you like referring to yourself as a brony, or don't see the problem with the term, this is not the place for you." Whelp, guess I'm not a proper feminist MLP fan. Guess I can't join your little exclusive group.

 

That's the irony about this whole thing. They are criticizing anyone who calls himself a brony or is OK with the term brony, because they believe that it is exclusive. What they are doing is creating an issue out of almost nothing and becoming even MORE exclusive. If this group were large enough, it could create war among the fandom. And for what? A word? A word that is gender-neutral at best and refers to men-only at worst (when there is always the female substitute pegasister anyways).

 

I understand that stuff like clop fics and lesbianism and whatnot are prominent sub-fandoms within the fandom. But these sub-fandoms were created by fans, and if you don't like it, create something that you do like. I don't like sexualizing ponies myself, in fact I don't like the idea of objectifying women like that period, but I choose to ignore it because there's no sense in creating war over the issue. I'll put my opinion out there, but I don't go barging into clopping communities and tell them that their methods of enjoying the show are wrong, because it wouldn't be very receptive. It's like standing on a soap box preaching that everyone is gonna go to Hell unless they give their lives to Jesus. People get turned off by that blunt scolding by strangers. Rational, personal discussion is far more effective than judging and finger-pointing.

[null1 606]

This is a special trait of Radical Feminists, they find something normal, then they make up some f@#$king ridiculous theory of said "normal" thing and portray it as intolerant and misogynist, because when some people are having a good time, they answer the call of duty to ruin it any way they can. Just like PETA.

[Cakesplat 38]

This is one of those things where I'm not sure if I'm looking at a group of crazy people or trolls. I've seen examples of sexism in some fandoms and subcultures, but I've yet to see anything in the MLP community.

 

It's not the wildest claim I've heard and realized people were serious about.

[RockinRarity 1,605]

On a related note, the reason why I joined this site in the first place was because I wanted to join an MLP Forum and pretend that I was a guy, and wanted to know if anyone would actually believe me. Then I joined here and felt bad for lying, so instead I remained gender-neutral and didn't tell anyone one way or the other, kinda-sorta pretending that I was male.

 

Eventually I got tired of playing the game and just admitted to being a woman. I realized that it didn't matter if people thought I was a guy. It's the Internet. It's not like people would have kicked me off the site if I had been lying about it the whole time anyways.

[Castoro Chiaro 181]

I think that you raise an interesting point, but as a woman, I don't see how the brony culture in itself is exclusive to women, when I feel just as welcome as anypony else. The reason why people make a big deal about "masculinizing" FiM is because men get all the crap about liking MLP - it's perfectly OK for women to like it.

 

Men get crap about liking MLP because it's girly. So, in response to this, Brony culture, or what they're referring to here, caters to straight men. They insist it's totally a manly thing, when it's not. It's girly. And that's okay. Girly =/= bad.

 

The term Brony was originally created for guys to single themselves out as fans of the show, again as totally manly, NOT girl fans. It might be gender-neutral now, but that's how it started, and that should be acknowledged. I still think it's really unfair to say they're bad people when we don't even know what the community itself is like.

[Demiurge 108]

I believe the very fact that men are even watching MLP proves that we're not sexist. Plus we as a fandom have never discriminated against women and the term "brony" was created because of the surprising amount of men watching the show, not because we're excluding female viewers. Even the word "bro" isn't exclusively for men anymore.

The line between genders is slowly getting thinner and thinner until it will (hopefully) disappear. There will however, always be people that take things too far.

[Ink 191]

I would love to say this is yet another satirical site, but it looks pretty damn genuine. Seriously embarrassing to know that such websites exist - as Demiurge said, bronies are the definition of anti-sexist.

[HungryTroll 137]

I'm not sure that I get all that thing right, we not really familiar with feminism here, so I have image only from internet and books. But...

As I know term "Brony" was born not from Bro + Pony, but from /b tread + pony, so I can't see a problem at all.

All this fuss because fandom called "Brony-fandom" and they trying to tell that "Brony" term for males so it's like this fandom only for males or what?

If we speaking about equal rights for males and females, I think we should start with putting more male characters into MLP.

[Discovery Dream 592]

I can't seem to see the website, but from what I've heard it doesn't seem to be a big deal. So what if they don't ,like the term 'brony'? Don't give anyone crap for expressing their unpopular opinions. Personally I do not agree with them, but i think everyone is being just a tad too judgmental. Let them be, it isn't your business anyhow.

[Stallionofdarkness 0]

Ok so they want to be treated equal. That's all fine and dandy. If men and women are equal then why do they have to create a group that is against the term "brony". You don't see me creating a group against the term pegasister do you? One word of advice...

Get over yourself.

(this is just my opinion and I hope that you will respect that)

[Patrix 3]

I say let them have the site. Yes, in my opinion it's pointless, but if they want to be called something besides "brony", let them. It's just more ways of dividing us up as a population, driving us further from equality, which feminists constantly cry for. It makes no sense to me, but that's just the way they are sometimes.

[Radiance64 7,052]

Uh, don't those people know of the term pegasister? No one said they have to call themselves bronies. I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous...

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

Wonder, let's draw even more freakin' lines in the sand in a fandom based around love and friendship. Those people are hypocrites and part of the problem of people trying to drive wedges in the fandom. This should be the one group were labels don't matter and we all get along.

 

Also, is wanting to make something more "feminate" kind of counter productive to the point feminism?