Pegasister

[Firecloak 13]

Why would a girl prefer to be called a Brony instead of a pegasister?

 

It just doesn't make any sense to me at ALL.

[Fluttershyfan94 5,742]

I'm not sure, it's cute that might be why. It also indicates your gender though being a brony is gender neutral so I guess it's just a personal preference.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Fluttershyfan94

[TheSupremeLeaderOfChaos 1,210]

Personally, I call myself a brony because,

 

A: It's a gender-neutral term.

B: I like the way it sounds.

C: Pegasister has too many syllables.

D: Pegasister sounds really girly.

E: Brony was the first thing I heard people called, and it was how I referred to myself as a fan. I doesn't sound right to call myself a pegasister.

F: I just prefer the term brony over pegasister.

[hawkflame 3,310]

Is brony really gender neutral, though? Isn't it bro + pony?

[Dark Qiviut 22,447]

1. Because "brony" is and has always been a gender- and age-neutral term, and anyone who claims otherwise is kidding themselves. "Pegasister," on the other hand, is exclusively for females.
2. The purpose for "pegasister" is to segregate from the fandom, while "brony" is very inclusive, and a lot of female bronies refuse to use "pegasister" for this. I, as a male brony, hate the term "pegasister" mainly for this reason.
3. "Pegasister" references one type of pony, which is the pegasus. "Brony," however, is "bro" and "pony" (as in every pony regardless of species/race).

    

   And there are patches of urban culture where men, women, boys, and girls call everyone (and themselves) bros. The term "bro" is gender-neutral nowadays.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Dark Qiviut

[Firecloak 13]

 

1. Because "brony" is and has always been a gender- and age-neutral term, and anyone who claims otherwise is kidding themselves. "Pegasister," on the other hand, is exclusively for females.
2. The purpose for "pegasister" is to segregate from the fandom, while "brony" is very inclusive, and a lot of female bronies refuse to use "pegasister" for this. I, as a male brony, hate the term "pegasister" mainly for this reason.
3. "Pegasister" references one type of pony, which is the pegasus. "Brony," however, is "bro" and "pony" (as in every pony regardless of species/race).

    

   And there are patches of urban culture where men, women, boys, and girls call everyone (and themselves) bros. The term "bro" is gender-neutral nowadays.

 

 

Thanks for the good explanation.

[Envy 6,202]

 

1. Because "brony" is and has always been a gender- and age-neutral term, and anyone who claims otherwise is kidding themselves. "Pegasister," on the other hand, is exclusively for females.

 

 

Oh, right, because "bro" shortened form of "brother" is gender-neutral, but "sister" is definitely feminine and "exclusively for females".

 

I refuse to accept that premises. Masculine is not gender-neutral.

[Smarts 1,623]

Some just don't like the title is all. My guess is that they don't want to be called something else just because of their gender. They want to have the same title as the other fans.

[Mephala 2,633]

Brony is not gender-neutral. Just because girls get called "bro" does not mean that they identify with it, and it's not like they can choose when they are called that.

I don't think there's any reasons besides that it's cute and not every girl wants to be lumped in with all the boys.

[Sir Wulfington 276]

Ya brony is undeniably a male term, we really should have a gender-neutral name for our fanbase, but at this point I think "Brony" is way too ingrained into our identity for that to happen, unfortunately. But then again, do we really need a fandom name?

[Dr. Mechano 630]

Because "brony" is and has always been a gender- and age-neutral term, and anyone who claims otherwise is kidding themselves. "Pegasister," on the other hand, is exclusively for females.

 

I disagree on this point.

 

While many female fans do refer to themselves as "bronies," the "bro" prefix is still masculine and has association with maleness, which can make many female fans uncomfortable with the label. Even though many masculine terms ("you guys" for example) can be used to refer to mixed groups of all genders, not everyone necessarily likes referring to themselves using these terms and those preferences should be respected.

 

The purpose for "pegasister" is to segregate from the fandom, while "brony" is very inclusive, and a lot of female bronies refuse to use "pegasister" for this. I, as a male brony, hate the term "pegasister" mainly for this reason.

 

To "segregate from the fandom?" I genuinely have no idea how you came to that conclusion. Could you elaborate on what you mean by this?

 

 And there are patches of urban culture where men, women, boys, and girls call everyone (and themselves) bros. The term "bro" is gender-neutral nowadays.

 

It's gender-neutral in certain contexts, but not others. You said it yourself: "patches of urban culture," not all culture at large. Many women don't like to think of themselves as "bros," and for that matter, some men don't necessarily like to refer to themselves that way either. 

 

My stance is that the terms "brony" and "pegasister" are both equally valid fandom labels, and that fans should choose the one that they feel best identifies them. I myself simply consider myself an "MLP fan" rather than a "brony," which is also fine. So apply whatever label you want to yourself! We're united by our shared hobby, not what we call ourselves, after all.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Dr. Mechano

[Guest90210 3,569]

Is brony really gender neutral, though? Isn't it bro + pony?

 

technically i guess but if a female wants to be called a brony i don't see a problem

I myself simply consider myself an "MLP fan" rather than a "brony,"

 

I'm curious, why exactly do you not consider yourself a brony?

[Thrashy 2,800]

Girls who opt for brony as a gender-neutral term (even though it's not, from a linguistic standpoint), obviously, reject the inherently feminine connotation of the term pegasister. And that's fine.

 

Some girls, however, have no problem with embracing that feminine connotation and prefer pegasister over brony, not wanting the inherently masculine nature of bro- to contradict their own sense of femininity. And that's also fine.

...Don't see a problem, personally. Just call yourself whatever you wanna call yourself.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Lowline Champ

[Dark Qiviut 22,447]

@@Dr. Mechano, @@Envy, Actually, "brony" has always been gender- and age-neutral, and part of it has to do with the origins. "Brony" came from 4chan's /co/ under the title, "/b/rony." It wasn't just older males adopting it. Both males and females regardless of age adopted "/b/ronies." Once the fandom expanded beyond the message board, the // were dropped while others stayed behind in /mlp/, leaving only "brony" or "bronies." That's it.

 

While "bro" has masculine tendencies and origins, the gender construction of that term has been slowly broken down in many parts of Western culture to a point where many boys and girls are now starting to address each other as "bro" colloquially. The gender construction for "guys" is mostly dissolved (with exceptions); and "bro" is slowly becoming the same, sometimes gone completely depending on the neighborhood. Where I live and whenever I travel around the city, I see people regardless of gender address each other as "bro" all the time. It may be a bit different in some other parts of the West, but not here.

 

I read comments from a lot of female bronies (hundreds to thousands) who absolutely loathe the term "pegasister," and the most common reason is how it divides the female bronies from the rest of the fandom. Besides only referencing one pony race, "pegasister" isolates the females from the rest of the fandom and makes them feel like they don't belong. "Brony," on the other hand, creates unity and makes them feel like one with the fandom, and the term is ambiguous enough to use it.

 

If you want one former FIM title with exclusively male origins, I can give you one: "/co/lt" (referencing "/co/" and "colt"). Needless to say, both male and female bronies weren't too comfortable with the term for obvious reasons, and it quickly faded away. "/co/lt"/"Colt" is as equally divisive as "pegasister" and far more divisive than "brony." (And like what @@Flash Fire addressed below, "pegasister" — and "colt" — is sexist.)

Edited January 16, 2014 by Dark Qiviut

[Flash Fire 386]

I rather dislike the term. All the reasons list in posts above are valid, but mostly to me it's sexist. 

No other fandom feels the need to split thier title due to gender. Using such a title would feel like I am flaunting my gender about instead of just being an idividual who happens to like the same show as others in said group. 

[Dr. Mechano 630]

I'm curious, why exactly do you not consider yourself a brony?

Aside from my issues with its dubious gender-neutrality, I've simply never been too fond of fandom nicknames in general, as a matter of personal preference. I like Star Trek, for example, but don't refer to myself as a "Trekkie." I don't have any contention with fans who do, but it's just not for me.

[FaZe Vinyl 521]

I have no problems with women using the term Brony. You like what you like, and what you call yourself doesn't matter to me.

 

 

 

But saying you're doing it because you don't want to have a gender specific role is completely ignorant.

 

Bro (brother) + pony = Brony. Brony is a gender specific role for males, but as I said earlier, if you want to use that term instead, more power to you.

Edited January 16, 2014 by OpTic Lunar

[Thrashy 2,800]

@@Dr. Mechano, @@Envy, Actually, "brony" has always been gender- and age-neutral, and part of it has to do with the origins. "Brony" came from 4chan's /co/ under the title, "/b/rony." It wasn't just older males adopting it. Both males and females regardless of age adopted "/b/ronies." Once the fandom expanded beyond the message board, the // were dropped while others stayed behind in /mlp/, leaving only "brony" or "bronies." That's it.

 

While "bro" has masculine tendencies and origins, the gender construction of that term has been slowly broken down in many parts of Western culture to a point where many boys and girls are now starting to address each other as "bro" colloquially. The gender construction for "guys" is mostly dissolved (with exceptions); and "bro" is slowly becoming the same, sometimes gone completely depending on the neighborhood. Where I live and whenever I travel around the city, I see people regardless of gender address each other as "bro" all the time. It may be a bit different in some other parts of the West, but not here.

 

I read comments from a lot of female bronies (hundreds to thousands) who absolutely loathe the term "pegasister," and the most common reason is how it divides the female bronies from the rest of the fandom. Besides only referencing one pony race, "pegasister" isolates the females from the rest of the fandom and makes them feel like they don't belong. "Brony," on the other hand, creates unity and makes them feel like one with the fandom, and the term is ambiguous enough to use it.

 

If you want one former FIM title with exclusively male origins, I can give you one: "/co/lt" (referencing "/co/" and "colt"). Needless to say, both male and female bronies weren't too comfortable with the term for obvious reasons, and it quickly faded away. "/co/lt"/"Colt" is as equally divisive as "pegasister" and far more divisive than "brony." (And like what @@Flash Fire addressed below, "pegasister" — and "colt" — is sexist.)

 

It would seem you're basing your argument on your own personal experiences and anecdotal evidence. I could counter with the equally anecdotal claim that there are still plenty of women in the world who do take issue with being referred to as "bro", "dude", or anything else that can be construed as inherently masculine, thereby making your implication that the term "bro" has been considerably watered down of its inherently masculine connotation dubious at best.

 

That said, just because many people use brony as a gender-neutral term doesn't mean that it is - as long as the root word of brony comes from "brother", there will always be people who will view it as inherently masculine, as is evidenced by the fact that a not-so-insignificant portion of our fanbase does, indeed, prefer "pegasister".

[Shift 4,272]

I really don't care if people call me a Brony or a Pegasister.

 

Mostly because I say 'Cool story bro' and 'Come at me bro' way too much.

[Scootalove 10,689]

They just choose not to be labeled as one, even if it is a group in the fandom they don't want to be identified as a pegasister. Plain and simple.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Oh, right, because "bro" shortened form of "brother" is gender-neutral, but "sister" is definitely feminine and "exclusively for females".

 

I refuse to accept that premises. Masculine is not gender-neutral.

 

Actually(sadly, the term has a bad origin) it's brony as in /b/rony because the term was unfortunately coined on /b/. Sad, but true. It's based one the meme use of bro more than the real-world one. 

 

 

On topic, I've seen several girls actually denounce the term "pegasister" because they think it's stupid to separate themselves like that and rather be called girl-bronies. I can kinda see both sides of the argument here though.

 

I personally have no strong feelings either way about whether it should be used or not, I'm just laying the facts out there. Whichever term they wish to use is fine. 

Edited January 17, 2014 by Shoboni

[RED20 289]

Honestly, both terms are kind of stupid. Plus you don't have to give yourself a title just because you like something.

[Dark Qiviut 22,447]

 

That said, just because many people use brony as a gender-neutral term doesn't mean that it is

And just because some people think "brony" isn't gender-neutral doesn't change the fact that it is. "Brony" is equivalent to Trekkie, Twihard, Gamer, and Whovian. The only reason it isn't perceived as gender-neutral is the belief of the lie that "brony" is anything but.

 

If people think "brony" was objectively divisive, then you would have the majority of female bronies ditching "brony" in favor of "pegasister" rather than having thousands of female bronies spit on it because it's that offensive.

 

And then there are the 4chan origins, which I explained earlier and @@Shoboni clarified. "/b/rony" was adopted by FIM fans regardless of who you talked to, and the // were dropped once the Internet fandom migrated. ANY fan regardless of age, gender, or culture was a brony once they became a fan of FIM. The only reason "pegasister" started/was revived is the outrageous misconception that "brony" is exclusively for males, and the media eats it up because the idea of grown men liking a boisterously saccharine, feminist product is very out of the ordinary in so many parts of society.

 

"Pegasister" originated and exists for no other reason than to divide female bronies from the rest of the community. That makes "pegasister" discriminatory and sexist to the core.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Dark Qiviut

[Flash Fire 386]

Oh, right, because "bro" shortened form of "brother" is gender-neutral, but "sister" is definitely feminine and "exclusively for females".

 

I refuse to accept that premises. Masculine is not gender-neutral.

Masculine is the default of the english language. Many things with maculine connitaions are gender nuetral. 

[Judgement 445]

I don't care what girls call themselves. Calling yourself a pegasister rather than a brony is fine by me. I mean, when an anti-brony says "brony" they always group "Adult male" with it. To me it isn't about what we call ourselves, but instead how haters have defined "brony".