Why bronies are seen as ugly nerds/geeks?

[Motion Spark 7,807]

It's not a question actually, I just want to start a discussion that raised from the activity on this thread: http://mlpforums.com/topic/52981-most-handsome-brony-contest/

 

as you can see, it's "rare" (lol/wut) to find "handsome/good looking" bronies in our fandom (though I would say that ours are very similar to anime, star wars even furry etc. but this is just about the brony fandom) and when said bronies admit to "normal" people what they like, they may be like "what? but you don't look like a fat ass nerd without a life to be liking ponies. ew" <--- just to spice things up

 

catching my drift already?

 

why the stigma of liking cartoons, videogames and technology is biased towards (sorry to say that) ugly, ungroomed, not attractive people since there are a lot of good looking people that shares the same interests.

 

time to discuss, I'm out of ideas XD (sorry for this crappy first post as well, I have a headache and can't word things out correctly XD)

 

let's limit the topic to the brony fandom, even with the similarities ok.

[Cowl 128]

It's obviously because we spend 24 hours a day watching ponies. We don't have time to sleep or shower.

Anyways why would we need to?

 

We never go outside... There are no ponies outside!

 

*This is sarcasm*

[Pixel Mouse 84]

Hmmm... Hard to limit it just to the brony fandom. It's a pretty basic rule.

 

Watching cartoons and doing nothing = laziness in life generally, combined with a poor eating habits will make you fat. Doing nothing/playing video games all day also leads to depression, where people don't care about their life as much, thus don't take good care of themselves.

 

This is a stereotype that has developed for people who are in front of a screen most of their day. While mostly a false presumption, it does happen, and thus haters, for the sake of it call us fat and ugly simply because they can, and it is a very effective way to troll/flame.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Pixel Mouse

[Shiki 5,854]

My Little Pony is stereotyped as a little girl's show. 

 

Men who like things for little girls will be seen as a pedophile or creeper in general, as modern day society has yet to see the day of absolute acceptance, tolerance, and understanding. Assumptions are made about the given brony's personality, because if you like something, it obviously means you are a _______. When the said presumptuous, ignorant person thinks "little girls" and "grown men" together, they instantly apply that pedophilia concept, and when most think of a "pedophile," they get swarmed with negative images in their head of creepy men, because that is how they are presented to all in society. 

 

At least, that's what I think would be the mindset of those people.

 

As for the rest, such as Star Wars fans, I would assume that it's simply the extremists out there that ruin the image. We've all heard about this in the brony community with cloppers. It would be relatively the same thing with different details. 

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

Because they've never seen me before.

 

People naturally want to feel better than us because we like something that goes against the status quo. As a result, they'll look for any reason to justify their feelings of superiority, including believing such unfounded stereotypes.

[Zygen 6,065]

I see you actually did make this thread . Woohoo .

 

As for the reason, I don't really know, I mean I certainly don't consider myself to break that sterotype of tradition, because to be honest I'm pretty sure I'm quiet nerdy and ugly looking . I'm not going to be winning anybody with my looks lets just say. .

 

Maybe its because they assume that all nerds are people who sit inside and just do nothing but watch Anime or play video games or do all that type of thing, and they assume that means they don't bother to try and look good and maybe they even end up looking less stylish because they spend no real time trying to look good or something, and therefore they don't? Maybe they also assume they don't go out in the sun and thus that makes them look more "Nerdy"? I guess?

 

Maybe since nerds are also stereotyped as not being buff and rather spending time doing.. Nerdy stuff? Or maybe they're just portrayed that way by the media, or something, doesn't explain where that comes from, maybe its because they assume you can only have brains as a nerd but not the looks.

 

I assume since being a brony is considered a not exactly normal thing its considered nerdy, and thus sterotyped to nerdy looking people, kinda like how for a long while it was considered quiet nerdy and weird to play video games.(Not that it still isn't sometimes)

 

I dunno the exact way it started though. And unfortunately I can't say I break the stereotype really.

 

I assume the nerdy stereotype kinda got jump started by the media somehow, most of them end up that way. And it just got pushed to bronies because someone thought it seemed nerdy idk .

 

Yeah I'm not very good at explaining am i?

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

I'm going to make what may sound like an odd guess and say that perhaps it has a lot to do with modern advertising.  Think about it: advertisements use almost exclusively good-looking people.  Therefore, we learn that good-looking people are the ones who are outside, happy, and doing the cool things.  Where does that leave the ugly people?  Obviously, all of them must be sitting in their mother's basements in front of a computer screen watching Star Wars/hacking websites/eating Cheetos/and of course, playing with ponies.

 

Then again, that's probably just another wild conspiracy theory with zero credible facts to back it up.

[Scootalove 10,685]

People just see us as that because of stereotypes. It is just a dumb stereotype in my opinion, I already can tell how haters do feel. I mean people don't judge anyone who plays Call of Duty all the time, (mostly). I just think that, just because we watch a girls show does not mean we are nerds or geeks. It's pretty sad how stereotypes are made.

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

Mostly because ignorant people associate fandoms with ugly nerds. They have it in their mind that since these "ugly nerds" can't find friends or mates they invest their time in a community of other people with the same social problems. It works vice versa too; The ignorant mass often perceive fandoms as a meeting ground for fat nerds. This is just a psychological view. 

 Of course looking at the picutures in the mentioned thread i feel like everyone here is a model. I seriously though Ryan Gossling started the thread. -_-  

[PoniesPlease 365]

Well I am Ugly, Ungroomed and Unattractive, so I guess the stigma fits! Stereotypes always have an element of truth to them. How big an element that it, is up to the fandom.

[~Master~ Button Mash 2,307]

I really don't know. Seems kinda illogical to me, given how absolutely diverse this fandom is, as well as the Internet as a whole. It's probably just people making assumptions about the unknown.

 

I'd like to think people are telling the truth when they call me handsome, and in fact, as a "handsome Brony", I make an extra effort to be as good looking and well mannered as possible when I wear pony merch, because I DO want to help buck (no pun intended ) stereotypes. When I wear merch, I feel like I am a representative of the fandom, and as such I want to carry myself as well as I possibly can.

Edited March 11, 2013 by AtomicBassCannon

[Soultensionb 18]

Probably because people think its funny like before it was anime or comic book fans now its bronys just because we are an easy target 

[Just some guy 1,070]

It's easier to make fun of people when you imagine them as "inferior" to you.It'd be harder to make fun of a man with chiseled abs and an epic jawline or a woman with vulpoltuous curves and a giant bosom,wouldn't it?

 

Since bronies are considered to be a subtype of nerds,it's not that much of a stretch to apply the "fat neckbeard living in their mum's basement" stereotype to us and just add "and also obsess over ponies" to complete the first statement.It's how some people blow off steam and make themselves feel superior to others,as unfortunate as it is for us.

[Skygunner 352]

To be frank,   most people are ugly or weird looking.   There are very few social groups you can't say  "Why are all ____ so weird looking"  and not have it be a sorta valid statement.

[Champion RD92 8,655]

Cool, you made the thread

I think bronies are stereotyped as being geeks/nerds because the fact is, a lot of them are.

However, there are definitely bronies that don't really fit that "ugly nerd" stereotype. I honestly have never thought of myself as a nerd or as ugly, so there you go.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Champion RD92

[Nah 3,181]

It's just something made up by society because "perfect" people are not geeks, nerds.

 

It's used to generalize and stereotype people who don't live by society's accords.

 

I for one, am not overweight, but have poor eating habits, very low self-esteem, am very depressed, not that athletic, and anti-social. Plus I don't really care how I look, I barely comb my hair, brush my teeth, or just take care of myself, I don't let people judge who I am.

[Motion Spark 7,807]

It's just something made up by society because "perfect" people are not geeks, nerds.

 

It's used to generalize and stereotype people who don't live by society's accords.

 

I for one, am not overweight, but have poor eating habits, very low self-esteem, am very depressed, not that athletic, and anti-social. Plus I don't really care how I look, I barely comb my hair, brush my teeth, or just take care of myself, I don't let people judge who I am.

I really don't care much about these, but at least you must brush your teeth and clean up yourself a little >.> seriously Kristen Stewart, one thing is to not care about your appearance at all and another thing is to be a stinky sloth.

I wonder how do you look so flawless on the red carpet :s

[ColtofPersonality 855]

Beauty is in the eye of the behold. Honestly the skin is nothing more but the wrapper the real prize is the candy beneath the skin. (Your brain,heart, soul. Whatever floats your boat.)  but that's just me.

Edited March 11, 2013 by GolgoXIII

[Titan Rising 2,156]

Because people are weak and want to see nothing but outer appearances.  Well, I suppose a thread saying people look good is just as vain as a person who says a group of people look bad.

 

The cool people might as well just group everything they don't like about the world together and apply it to everyone that is different from them.  Easier to keep track of all the inferior beings that way.

 

 

Eye is in the beauty of the beholder. 

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder???

 

Not sure if you made that mistake or were just joking lol

Edited March 11, 2013 by Hollowshield

[Shanks 10,811]

I think it is because a lot of them are kind of nerdy and there is nothing wrong with that, I have got my nerdy side but as you can see from the picture I posted in that other thread I don't exactly look like the stereotypical "nerd". But stereotypes are just that stereotypes some of them may have a tiny bit of truth to them but they of course don't apply in all cases. And I might add that there are some people that look slightly nerdy but are also still fairly attractive it really depends but ultimately physical appearances really don't tell you who someone is inside. You could be as ugly as sin and be as kind as Mother Teresa or be the most attractive person ever and be a total jackass it is really what is inside that should count.

[Beta 42]

I think it is seen that way because, well, it's pretty true. Any of the fandoms described are liked mainly by geeky people who never fit in to mainstream society so they developed unique interests in MLP, Star Wars, anime, etc. I also think it has to do with the same house-dwelling people who love being on the Internet all the time developing interests that others they meet on the Internet have.

 

Not that any of that really matters to me, love and tolerate, right? It doesn't really matter to me what the stereotype is or if I believe that the good-looking bronies are fewer because that's not really what this is about anyway.

[GeekBrony 85]

Heh, Iunno if I am ugly, but I have meh eating habits. I am somewhat antisocial, but I make up for it by going to meetups. :3 I have made a few friends, but at school, I have over 9000 people who judge me every day.

 

One is like: You like horses? (Weird face)

Another: Your really close to gay.

The rest think I am a pedo/low-self-esteem/clopper

[Clover Heart 978]

To be frank,   most people are ugly or weird looking.   There are very few social groups you can't say  "Why are all ____ so weird looking"  and not have it be a sorta valid statement.

I was actually just gonna say that.

 

Beyond that, we have a very skewed view of what people are supposed to look like, though. While most people aren't that great looking, the people we put on TV and in advertisements are. And if you think about it, we get a lot more exposure to that than we tend to get of real people. Well, maybe it depends on your job, but media exposure happens a lot more than you'd think. As a result, we expect everyone to be like that, when actually, almost nobody is like that. I think it's also been stated above that the people in these ads, on TV and in the media are portrayed as cool and sophisticated, so naturally, the chain of logic follows that people who are cool and sophisticated are good-looking and people who are nerdy are ugly. Direct correlation. However, if you realize these things, as well as actually having an iota of exposure to these communities, you realize that that's not the case.

 

Also, people tend to be especially venomous toward bronies. Moreso than other subcultures. Sure, you have people who make fun of other groups, but it's kinda more like an "Oh, youuu" kind of attitude, whereas people seem to genuinely hate bronies. Why, I don't know, but that's just what I've observed. Given that, I think that people just spout off insults, and that just happens to be one of them. "I hate bronies. They're so annoying and stupid and ugly and they're all a bunch of jerks." See? Stock insults that don't really mean anything other than "This confuses me. Must use embarrassingly puny brain to try and think of insults."

Edited March 11, 2013 by Clover Heart

[ColtofPersonality 855]

 

Because people are weak and want to see nothing but outer appearances.  Well, I suppose a thread saying people look good is just as vain as a person who says a group of people look bad.

 

The cool people might as well just group everything they don't like about the world together and apply it to everyone that is different from them.  Easier to keep track of all the inferior beings that way.

 

 

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder???

 

Not sure if you made that mistake or were just joking lol

 

Never post while your still half asleep..but fixed thanks for pointing that out dude. o_O Wouldn't want people to start ripping eye balls out.

[indeable 0]

this argument is not one of why but is easyer to understand when you realize people are unacepting of new things or ideas if everyone around you was a butterfly you would want to be a butterfly and shun the grasshopper. its all a  of what people define as the status quo. if little girls shows where ponys are used in combat or by menmen. i have a feeling there would be a group of football watching men in our position.

Edited March 11, 2013 by indeable