I'm extremely disappointed

[Flying Whales 311]

Today my parents kind of got on me about My Little Pony. I thought my mom has known about it for awhile, I've mentioned it to her before and my dad has even seen me watching the show. I thought they knew I was into the show and just kind of left it alone which I was really happy with. But today a friend of mine mentioned it to them trying to give me a hard time, which I'm also cool with. I can take a joke. But they were completely shocked and as soon as my friend left they kept going on about how weird it was, that it was for little girls, that I'm almost 20. They mentioned something about the fandom bing pedophiles (which really got under my skin).

 

With all of that said I can understand how being a male fan almost 20 can come off as weird. But it's a great show, with a great message. It just does not seem like a big deal at all to me. It's just a TV show, and completely harmless. I can't believe the things people think of us, and my own parents at that. Have any of you guys experience something similar?

 

Sorry to be ranty, but as the topic title suggests I'm disappointed and really pissed off at them and needed to vent a bit. I hold my parents in a high esteem and they didn't even attempt to understand they just wrote this whole thing off as weird and strange.

[Arrow 236]

Haha don't feel bad, that happens all the time over there.

 

But want I would've done, is to grab your parents (not literaly) and tell them about the show and fandom. Show them some good art, fics etc, you get my point. Maybe you can even show them an episode if they are cool with it!

 

Just don't get pissed at them, that will just mess up things even more. Trust me, I've been there myself.

[Flying Whales 311]

Ah, thanks. Yeah, I tried to explain but they didn't want to hear. Like I said I'm just more mad than anything. Hopefully they won't give me a hard time though I don't think they will. I was actually pretty calm with them just because I didn't expect them just to say "sure that's cool" but I tried to explain but they weren't hearing it.

[Nohbdy 4,108]

There's a social stigma about grown men liking children's stuff, and there's little we can do about it. You should definitely talk to your parents about the series. Show that that it's not just for kids, and show them that it doesn't mean you're a pedophile.

[Flying Whales 311]

There's a social stigma about grown men liking children's stuff, and there's little we can do about it. You should definitely talk to your parents about the series. Show that that it's not just for kids, and show them that it doesn't mean you're a pedophile.

 

Yeah, to me the pedophile thing was extremely offensive to me, but yeah, I'll see about talking to them in a day or two. Let it sink in a bit, let me calm down. I think it'll be best. I'm actually watching it now on Netflix just because it clams me down. XD

[AegisReflector 886]

Your parents were raised in an age where these sort of things were deemed not part of the norm and therefore they cannot comprehend why us grown men like a show about ponies. I mean, I guess I don't expect people to, but they need to learn to grow up and accept these new forms of ideas.

 

Associating us with common pedophiles is basically like saying "Everybody on the Internet is a pedophile because most of them post false info and like to ship ponies!" and call Chris Hansen up with a snap of the fingers. Just ignore their unenlightened minds, they know not of the loving and caring that these fine members of MLPForums have. If they met anyone of us in real life, they'd probably say the same thing, regardless of age. It's a weird world, I know, but it's just something us Bronies have to live with.

 

I would have posted a longer statement, but it's 3:30AM and I feel like I've been to way too many Pinkie Pie parties, so I'll just leave you with that quick tidbit.

[jackleapp81 456]

AegisReflector is right, getting parents to understand and accept something like My Little Pony is unnecessarily difficult. They were raised/socialized to create a rigid distinction between 'childish' and 'adult' content, so when they are presented with a progressive movement supporting the belief that adults can and should be able to enjoy childish things, their natural reaction is to reject it.

 

I find it ironic that (most) adults with that mindset are perfectly okay with watching LooneyTunes or old episodes of Popeye, or Mickey Mouse. I pointed this out to my parents, and they said that those shows are "classics", so they are okay for adults to watch. Apparently, no new cartoon show could EVER compare to the "classics".

What a backwards way of thinking.

[Dimitri Hammer 3,645]

Yeah, don't feel bad. Parents will be parents. As I've stated numerous times my parents are super conservative traditional soviets.

 

My mother was un-approving at first but she has warmed up to me watching the show, I even think she likes it...

 

My father however, he was cold about it. He refused to speak to me since the beginning of July. He was making fun of me behind my back to his friends, calling me names and what not.

 

He recently apologized for it ought along with a few other choice personal things...

 

But stay strong comrade. I never let my parents think for me. I wouldn't be the bearded, tattooed, soviet professor all of you have come to love if I let them control my life.

[Guest]

Hey, c'mon, obviously we're all pedophiles here right? I'm a card carrying pedophile for pete sakes... :V

 

My parents did the same thing when I told them, they said it was below my standing to watch the show. My mom assumes that anyone on the internet is a pedophile anyway, so that didn't really matter. I just keep doing stuff with MLP anyway, as long as it doesn't get in their face they leave me alone.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

I feel for you, FW. I'm sorry they upset you so much. Not all of us are lucky enough to have parents who "get" it. My father would, but we don't really talk anymore...and I'm certain my mother never will. She was cordial when I first mentioned it, but probably because my aunt and cousin were in the room. I doubt I'll be talking much with her about the show. You guys are all I have, basically. ^^

 

I would also be offended by the pedophile thing, because it's completely without logic. Of all the deeply misused words in the language, right up there with "irony" is "pedophile." Most people who say it have no idea what it really means.

 

Luckily no one has ever given me a hard time about bronyism or my being one. Unless you count a few people here who have pissed me off, but that's what a miraculous feature starting with "I" is for!

[Flying Whales 311]

Ah, thanks guys. I know my parents are good people, and they really don’t understand, like with all new things that are a shock it’ll take time to accept. I guessed it upset me because I thought they were better than that, but of course, they grew up in a much different time with a different set of morals and values.

 

I’m feeling better about it now though got to vent and sleep it off, thanks, all of you.

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

Obviously they don't know the relative age of these ponies. Unless you read clopfics about Scootaloo and SweetieBell, reading clopfics about Twilight and Luna is anything but paedofillic. Heck, Luna is AT LEAST a thousand years old. Unless they think the word "paedo-fillic" indicates an attraction to "fillies", which is a gross misunderstanding of the English language.

 

PS: I only know of one person who has said to me bronies are a bunch of paedofiles, and he jumps to conclusions anyway. I never actually admitted to the show, but he assumed I watched. Of course I admitted to it afterwards, but after making it clear that logically and scientifically, I never provided him with enough evidence to reach that conclusion.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Smokin'HotRarity

[Lost Profile 644]

And that's why I moved out...

 

I don't need to take all the bitching my focks give me... And they don't give a shit about what I'm a fan of...

 

And I don't plan on seeing them for a long time...

Nor do they plan on visiting me...

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

Oh man join the boat dude because i've been through the same thing. It just something i never understand about parents that they actually go out of thier way and critize thier own child about something they WATCH. Its something that really annoys me about other peoples parents (and specifically my own)

 

All i can say i just ignore any hateful comments they might have but dont be afraid to joke about it from time to time. (For example one of your parents make a friendly joke about your bronyisim then thats fine) Or if they really dont like you watching the show just watch it in secrecy that's what i do.

[Flying Whales 311]

And that's why I moved out...

 

I don't need to take all the bitching my focks give me... And they don't give a shit about what I'm a fan of...

 

And I don't plan on seeing them for a long time...

Nor do they plan on visiting me...

 

I hear that, I should be able to transfer to a university next year. I’m ready to get out of my house. Don’t get me wrong I love my parents but I’m sick of having to tiptoe around who I am in my own house, it’s not just MLP it’s a lot of the stuff I’m into.

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

While my parents have been understanding and even very supportive of me insofar as my involvement with this fanbase, they can be very impressionable people. They're inclined to accept many things they hear on TV or read in the paper as true, and if something else comes along contradicting it they'll stick with what they originally heard or get confused and give up on understanding. It helped me in that I introduced them to "bronyism" before anybody else could, but I've learned how to sway their opinions over the years.

 

 

Whenever anybody spouts some nonsense like bronies being pedophiles, I don't bother with a rebuttal. I ask them why they believe whatever it is they just said. Most of the time I can also ask for a why to their response. And sometimes a why to that. It breaks everything down until we're left with the foundation of most of their beliefs regarding societal norms and how they came to espouse them. By that point they're forced to admit that they have no idea what they're talking about or haven't even put any thought into whatever it is they're vehemently attacking or defending. There's a bit more to it than that, but the gist of it is I'm forcing them to think, which is something they obviously haven't done. The question "why" can often be more effective than a counterpoint.

 

Your parents were raised in an age where these sort of things were deemed not part of the norm and therefore they cannot comprehend why us grown men like a show about ponies. I mean, I guess I don't expect people to, but they need to learn to grow up and accept these new forms of ideas.

Yeah, I think that's the biggest reason for their attitudes, but I don't think it let's them off the hook. I was born and raised in a very hick area, for the most part isolated from civilization and the goings on in the rest of the country. Everything I knew about culture and what was acceptable and what wasn't came from adults and the elderly who were raised in a certain way, and anything that was the slightest bit different from how things were back on the farm where they grew up was dead wrong according to them. I thought they were wrong. As the theme song to Diffren't Strokes says, "The world don't move to the beat of just one drum. What might be right for you may not be right for some."

 

So here I am watching My Little Pony. :\

[dad george 105]

I'd just shrug it off. Parents are in this case just your avarge hater, only dumber. Not that your parents are dumb, they just know less about the internet and the weird people that dwell within it. It's a natural reaction really. People are afraid of things they don't understand. And believe me, especially for older people (no I'm not implying your parents are old people), an adult liking a show for 5 year old girls is really hard to understand.

[Betez 1,734]

That really sucks, man. Have they ever seen the show for themselves? I'm sure their opinions would be different if they did.

 

I think the hardest part is getting people to actually watch the show.

[RD82 28]

That's cool. That's pretty cool. That's nice. That's fairly nice. That's fairly cool. Interesting. Good opinions guys. I will keep reading.

Edited May 22, 2015 by RD82

[With A Bang 23]

My dad doesn't actually know that I'm into MLP: FiM, and I have no plans on telling him or my sisters any time soon. One day I used our communal computer to look up some pony pictures because I wanted to draw a bit. Later on my dad came to me (he had looked through the history) and asked why I was looking up those kinds of pictures. I told him I wanted to practice drawing, and he seemed to accept it. However I could tell he was weirded out by what I did and since he can be a bit thick headed about some things, I've decided not to mention it to him. As for my sisters, well, they would just mock me mercilessly, as we all do in my family when someone does something weird or makes a mistake. So I've decided not to really share with any of my family, and I can understand how you might be upset by the lack of acceptance your parents showed.

 

 

Personally, I think people jump to the whole 'pedophile' thing because its a kids show. I just find that it makes no logical sense because we are not actually interacting with the original audience the show was intended for. All the bronies/pegasisters are adults and they only ever host cons, or interact online with other fans around the same age. But because the audience is supposed to be younger, people make snap judgements. That's my way of thinking about it, anyway.

[Retro*Derpy 3,185]

Hints why I will never tell my parents. That would give them a reason to ship me off somewhere, and I am quite comfortable where I'm at. But yeah that sucks, at least you didn't do what I would do, which would of been saying "Do something about it" or something across those lines.

 

I think what irritates me most is when they just ignore your reasoning, and try to act like a stero-type.

[Zygen 6,066]

We'll i'm a closet brony if you want to refer to it as that, so i obviously have no experience with this kinda thing. However with how little your parents probably understand about modern day things growing up in a totally different generation its probably going to be near impossible for them to understand. So don't stress if they don't seem to understand and totally shoot down the idea.

Theres nothing wrong with it obviously considering how many of us watch the show, besides who cares what suppose to be for what age or gender? Whos to say we can't watch MLP? I don't know of any laws anywhere against it, so why not?

 

People are just set in their ways. Some more than others.

 

Again your parents probably won't be able to understand though. Things have changed since they where kids. If its really bad just watch it in secret like I do. I do that because I'm pretty sure my parents or anyone I know would either hate or find it very strange. I doubt they'd accept or even give it a chance.

 

Good luck though, hope you can get them to atleast tolerate it or something.

[Flutterdasher 115]

I'm really sorry they reacted that way. I don't understand why some people think that cartoons are only for children. I know a lot of people who would prefer to watch cartoons than anything else that is on tv nowadays. Just don't let them get you down and do what you love. As you said you are almost twenty so they can't do anything about it anyway.

[SonOfTheNorthe 412]

I know that feel bro.

My parents were sitting there, watching the elections, when I ask them who they voted for. They said Romney.

I died a little inside.

[With A Bang 23]

I know that feel bro.

My parents were sitting there, watching the elections, when I ask them who they voted for. They said Romney.

I died a little inside.

 

Oh. Oh, my dear friend. Do you want a hug? *holds arms out wide* They're free! And I promise not to tickle you. Unless you want to be tickled. In which case I will.