How many people "actually" hate bronies?

[Guest]

 

 

They are the same thing, as I've said multiple times on here: a Brony is merely a fan outside of the targeted demographic.

 

Stated by Lauren Faust herself: The show was designed for families and their kids, I.e. it's a family show. Meaning essentially that technically speaking we could all be considered part of the demographic if you really think about it.

 

Also the word is fan made. It has no legitimate meaning beyond what fans give it. That being said, if someone doesn't want to be a brony, they don't have to be. It's a made up word, it has no meaning, so therefore it means what each individual wants it to mean. Just because a bunch of people accept it having a meaning doesn't instantly make it so. I could convince 10million people that the word "pizza" now means "carnival", but that doesn't mean clowns will show up when I order from Dominos. The word is not recognized by the dictionary and has not been inducted into the English language, or any other language for that matter.

 

In short: brony can be defined a number of different ways depending on who you ask. I bet if I asked 100 people, I'd get a large variety of answers.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Stated by Lauren Faust herself: The show was designed for families and their kids, I.e. it's a family show. Meaning essentially that technically speaking we could all be considered part of the demographic if you really think about it.

 

Also the word is fan made. It has no legitimate meaning beyond what fans give it. That being said, if someone doesn't want to be a brony, they don't have to be. It's a made up word, it has no meaning, so therefore it means what each individual wants it to mean. Just because a bunch of people accept it having a meaning doesn't instantly make it so. I could convince 10million people that the word "pizza" now means "carnival", but that doesn't mean clowns will show up when I order from Dominos. The word is not recognized by the dictionary and has not been inducted into the English language, or any other language for that matter.

 

In short: brony can be defined a number of different ways depending on who you ask. I bet if I asked 100 people, I'd get a large variety of answers.

 

The target demographic is still little girls, regardless of what the writers intend that's who the people with the final say market it to and want it to appeal to. You could argue the comics are partially targeted to the older fans, but not the show itself.  

 

Exactly, and it's original meaning was "fan that's not a little girl".  

[Deesinn 393]

Most people don't fucking hate bronies, go to the mall, wear pony merch, and talk to random people.  For me, 8 times out of 10, nobody brings up the pony stuff, they don't even care.  If they do, they're just curious and want to know what I'm wearing.  So I tell them what it is and why I like it, then they usually move onto another topic, and drop it.  I have never gotten actual hate from people. 

 

Most of whatever is said on the internet by people is a load of shit, because I guarantee you the second you meet them in person, they'll be saying much different things. 

[Guest]

The target demographic is still little girls, regardless of what the writers intend that's who the people with the final say market it to and want it to appeal to. You could argue the comics are partially targeted to the older fans, but not the show itself.  

 

Exactly, and it's original meaning was "fan that's not a little girl".  

It doesn't really have an "official" original meaning because it was never defined by any kind of expert or anyone who can make such a decision. It originated on 4chan, are you prepared to say that 4chan makes choices on the meaning of words in the English language? I think not. For all we know they could intended it to troll with people. There really isn't any definitive way to know why it was coined at all.

 

However we do know one thing: The show was made for more than little girls. This was not just said by the writers, but the creator. The problem is you're trying to blanket things by extending the meaning of a word which isn't even a word simply by garnering more support for your definition which means nothing. That is a common tactic of many:

 

"You're either with us or against us, there is no in between." (Or I could be sitting on the sidelines while you two duke it out.)

"No one can like both the Rolling Stones and The Beatles." (I am sure many of men have had music tastes that were ever expanding.)

"All teenagers are punk kids." (And any who aren't I'm sure just haven't gotten the memo, right?)

 

Essentially this is a tactic that is often used in brainwashing and forced participation. Attaching things to activities that force participation in the group by extending the group through minimizing requirements. This is a common trick for cults to lure people in to make them seem more relateable to outsiders. They use words like "brother" or "sister":

 

"Fear not, we're all brothers and sisters here."

 

It's assuming language that is forcing people to either choose not to enjoy something, or take the other pills that come with it. In other words, you're slipping pills into the soup. People can't have the soup unless they want the pills too. "You can't enjoy the show unless you want to be a brony." This is the same mentality that got furies in the bad reputation they are buried in by assuming people who enjoyed anthro characters were inherently furies. This essentially accused anyone who had seen the Lion King of being a fury. Needless to say, it didn't end well for them.

[SomariFeyWright 776]

Most people don't fucking hate bronies, go to the mall, wear pony merch, and talk to random people.  For me, 8 times out of 10, nobody brings up the pony stuff, they don't even care.  If they do, they're just curious and want to know what I'm wearing.  So I tell them what it is and why I like it, then they usually move onto another topic, and drop it.  I have never gotten actual hate from people. 

 

Most of whatever is said on the internet by people is a load of shit, because I guarantee you the second you meet them in person, they'll be saying much different things. 

I've never had a problem with IRL hate myself, but hate over the internet is still a very real and very common form of legitimate hate. You shouldn't just pass it off as though it's nothing.

 

And to be fair, I did once have another person tell me that because I'm a brony, I'm automatically destined to be a pedophile. Though, this guy was kind of an idiot who also said "Oh, people like Gabe Newell and Andrew W.K. 'redeemed' themselves, so he was nothing worth taking seriously, but still, IRL hate IS real.

[zev_zev The outcast 415]

The victim complex it's our main enemy. We should end to positioning ourselves as a victim's.

Schoolboys hates bronies? pfff okay, kids can do everything what they want, because they're kids! Yeah yeah, I call "kids" all haters and trolls, because adult and bred person will never judge people for what they like to watch. 

Just don't pay attention to what people say, who are so ignorant that they judge and hate everything what they can't understand. Some schoolboys are haters, only because it's mainstream. 

Ignore- it's our main weapon

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

It doesn't really have an "official" original meaning because it was never defined by any kind of expert or anyone who can make such a decision. It originated on 4chan, are you prepared to say that 4chan makes choices on the meaning of words in the English language? I think not. For all we know they could intended it to troll with people. There really isn't any definitive way to know why it was coined at all.

 

However we do know one thing: The show was made for more than little girls. This was not just said by the writers, but the creator. The problem is you're trying to blanket things by extending the meaning of a word which isn't even a word simply by garnering more support for your definition which means nothing. That is a common tactic of many:

 

"You're either with us or against us, there is no in between." (Or I could be sitting on the sidelines while you two duke it out.)

"No one can like both the Rolling Stones and The Beatles." (I am sure many of men have had music tastes that were ever expanding.)

"All teenagers are punk kids." (And any who aren't I'm sure just haven't gotten the memo, right?)

 

Essentially this is a tactic that is often used in brainwashing and forced participation. Attaching things to activities that force participation in the group by extending the group through minimizing requirements. This is a common trick for cults to lure people in to make them seem more relateable to outsiders. They use words like "brother" or "sister":

 

"Fear not, we're all brothers and sisters here."

 

It's assuming language that is forcing people to either choose not to enjoy something, or take the other pills that come with it. In other words, you're slipping pills into the soup. People can't have the soup unless they want the pills too. "You can't enjoy the show unless you want to be a brony." This is the same mentality that got furies in the bad reputation they are buried in by assuming people who enjoyed anthro characters were inherently furies. This essentially accused anyone who had seen the Lion King of being a fury. Needless to say, it didn't end well for them.

 

You just read way to damn in to my statement and jumped from point A to point "What the hell" because I didn't intend any of that, I merely stated that brony doesn't mean "overzealous creep" like some people tend(even other bronies) tend to assume. You essentially went a long rant of putting words in my mouth and dumping intentions I never had on me. 

 

Also, I would assume you have full rights to define a word that you created, 4Chan created the word(which was a little but of a pun as in /b/ronies because /b/ is where it mostly took root at first) so their meaning of "any fan that's not a little girl" is the one I put the most stock in.  

[Guest]

You just read way to damn in to my statement and jumped from point A to point "What the hell" because I didn't intend any of that, I merely stated that brony doesn't mean "overzealous creep" like some people tend(even other bronies) tend to assume. You essentially went a long rant of putting words in my mouth and dumping intentions I never had on me. 

 

Also, I would assume you have full rights to define a word that you created, 4Chan created the word(which was a little but of a pun as in /b/ronies because /b/ is where it mostly took root at first) so their meaning of "any fan that's not a little girl" is the one I put the most stock in.  

I apologize, you should be more specific next time.

 

None the less, just as you say the word doesn't mean "overzealous creep", anyone could also define it as such and they would not be factually wrong, but you can hold the opinion that it is wrong. Someone could define bronies as "creepy overzealous fans of MLP' and it technically isn't incorrect.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

I don't hate bronies. We can be a pretty cool fandom. I do however, hate the people that make the fandom look bad. You know the people who bring ponies into everything on the internet even if it's not pony related and the people who react so negatively when someone insults the show. 

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

I apologize, you should be more specific next time.

 

None the less, just as you say the word doesn't mean "overzealous creep", anyone could also define it as such and they would not be factually wrong, but you can hold the opinion that it is wrong. Someone could define bronies as "creepy overzealous fans of MLP' and it technically isn't incorrect.

 

You could say that of any word, because all words are made up by someone down the line and take on meanings over time. I can't just say my phone is a Zebra because I want to use the word that way. 

[Guest]

You could say that of any word, because all words are made up by someone down the line and take on meanings over time. I can't just say my phone is a Zebra because I want to use the word that way. 

Unless the word "Zebra" was adapted in the dictionary to mean cellphone, then you'd still be wrong to call your phone one and anyone doing so would only be using slang, which isn't proper English anyways. You're arguing ridiculous points at this point. If you want to go along in your fantasy world thinking that any word can mean anything you mean it to be and that bronies actually have the authority to give words a definitive meaning, then you enough calls on your zebra and grafoofling your notch and stick ball.

 

The rest of us will live in the world where a cellphone is a cellphone, slang is not proper English, and bronies have no authority to create real words.

 

Unless you have anymore actual points to make beyond "I could do this, and I could do that" which lead to ridiculous claims and arguments, perhaps it's best you leave your input at that? Honestly you are more or less arguing absurdity now which is derailing and missing the point. You're insisting that we accept the meaning of a word just because, then when I point out it's not a word, you say we can interpret it as we please, but so long as we don't interpret as A, B or C, and then when I point out we are perfectly game to do so, you more or less say "well I could call cellphones zebras too, but you don't see me doing that!" as if it suddenly makes the argument hold water.

 

I could go around saying all bronies are pedophiles and not many non-bronies would bat an eye at my description, but if I started calling my cellphone a zebra, I'm sure I'd get sent to the loony bin. Sure the word could eventually have slang meaning if it caught on, but slang is slang. It's not definitive English because it's temporary language. The meaning of slang changes over time and it changes much more rapidly than the language itself. Brony may eventually be accepted as a slang word (provided it lasts that long) but you can never argue it beyond that. Slang is the best it can hope for.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Unless the word "Zebra" was adapted in the dictionary to mean cellphone, then you'd still be wrong to call your phone one and anyone doing so would only be using slang, which isn't proper English anyways. You're arguing ridiculous points at this point. If you want to go along in your fantasy world thinking that any word can mean anything you mean it to be and that bronies actually have the authority to give words a definitive meaning, then you enough calls on your zebra and grafoofling your notch and stick ball.

 

The rest of us will live in the world where a cellphone is a cellphone, slang is not proper English, and bronies have no authority to create real words.

 

Unless you have anymore actual points to make beyond "I could do this, and I could do that" which lead to ridiculous claims and arguments, perhaps it's best you leave your input at that? Honestly you are more or less arguing absurdity now which is derailing and missing the point. You're insisting that we accept the meaning of a word just because, then when I point out it's not a word, you say we can interpret it as we please, but so long as we don't interpret as A, B or C, and then when I point out we are perfectly game to do so, you more or less say "well I could call cellphones zebras too, but you don't see me doing that!" as if it suddenly makes the argument hold water.

 

I could go around saying all bronies are pedophiles and not many non-bronies would bat an eye at my description, but if I started calling my cellphone a zebra, I'm sure I'd get sent to the loony bin. Sure the word could eventually have slang meaning if it caught on, but slang is slang. It's not definitive English because it's temporary language. The meaning of slang changes over time and it changes much more rapidly than the language itself. Brony may eventually be accepted as a slang word (provided it lasts that long) but you can never argue it beyond that. Slang is the best it can hope for.

 

My entire point just flew right over your head, didn't it?

 

I'm making a point that words are just made up sounds we use to communicate, and several made-up words have been added to Webster after wide-spread use("Derp" was added a while back for example). The "it's a made up word so it has no real meaning" argument doesn't, as you say "hold water" because everything started as a made-up word until it took on general meaning, and the general meaning of brony from day one has been "fan that's not a little girl", that's the way it's always been used and any fighting over is just drawing more needless lines in the sand and separating people in the fandom even more over petty semantics. If you want to go with the "hardcore fan/real fan" argument then that is just elitism.   

 

You're the one that used the "made up word" argument, and I'm pointing out that you could make that claim about any word, because all words were "made up" at some point. Many things we take for granted like the informal use of the word "cool" to mean neat started as slang. As far as I'm aware that there's no entity in charge of language unless you count being put in Webster as a seal of approval.    

Edited February 10, 2014 by Shoboni

[Yellow Diamond 7,569]

This thread appears to be related to the My Little Pony franchise and/or the Bronydom in general. Thus, it has been sentenced to Sugarcube Corner.

 

This is an automatically generated message, by the way.

[Zhortac 1,474]

I was gonna make a thread about what I'm gonna say, but I figured it would work here too, so no need to waste forum space.

 

I thought about it for awhile now, and I really think that the MLP fandom needs two terms for the fans. I've been debating if I even fit what would be called a "brony", which is what lead me to this thought. Alot of other fandoms have two terms for their fans; one for general fans, and one for the hardcore fans. For example:

Star Trek has "trekkie" and "trekker". "Trekkie" are the general fans, who know the show, enjoy it, talk about it, and know everything based around the show itself. "Trekker" are the people who have expanded knowlage beyond what is in the shows, and have read alot of the novels, tech manuals, and such to know nearly everything in that universe.

Gundam is another good example (Although, I have no idea the terms used for the fans). You have your general fans, who are just usually refered to as fans, who know the show, watched different series of it, and enjoy it. Then there's what I call the "Gundam Fanboys", who know the ins and outs of the show, know the fine details of each pilot and mecha, and could explain in detail how each one works, and the capabilties of each mecha.

 

I'm not sure if "brony" would construde being a general fan, or the term for the hardcore fans, and another term be used for the general fans of the show. It's not to discriminate, it's more of discribing factor. Like in my Star Trek example; if you want to know about an episode, usually a Trekkie will know. If you want to know the battle capacity of say...the USS Defiant, then a Trekker would more then likely know that. I think it would help in a way, so if you're not one of those people who want to know more then beyond the show itself, then you're not mistaken as such.

 

Who knows, maybe with the collected thoughts of people here, we can come up with a second term for fans, and maybe fit it in. I know we could just be cliche, and be called "mlp fans", but come on...we can be original!

[Guest]

I was gonna make a thread about what I'm gonna say, but I figured it would work here too, so no need to waste forum space.

 

I thought about it for awhile now, and I really think that the MLP fandom needs two terms for the fans. I've been debating if I even fit what would be called a "brony", which is what lead me to this thought. Alot of other fandoms have two terms for their fans; one for general fans, and one for the hardcore fans. For example:

Star Trek has "trekkie" and "trekker". "Trekkie" are the general fans, who know the show, enjoy it, talk about it, and know everything based around the show itself. "Trekker" are the people who have expanded knowlage beyond what is in the shows, and have read alot of the novels, tech manuals, and such to know nearly everything in that universe.

Gundam is another good example (Although, I have no idea the terms used for the fans). You have your general fans, who are just usually refered to as fans, who know the show, watched different series of it, and enjoy it. Then there's what I call the "Gundam Fanboys", who know the ins and outs of the show, know the fine details of each pilot and mecha, and could explain in detail how each one works, and the capabilties of each mecha.

 

I'm not sure if "brony" would construde being a general fan, or the term for the hardcore fans, and another term be used for the general fans of the show. It's not to discriminate, it's more of discribing factor. Like in my Star Trek example; if you want to know about an episode, usually a Trekkie will know. If you want to know the battle capacity of say...the USS Defiant, then a Trekker would more then likely know that. I think it would help in a way, so if you're not one of those people who want to know more then beyond the show itself, then you're not mistaken as such.

 

Who knows, maybe with the collected thoughts of people here, we can come up with a second term for fans, and maybe fit it in. I know we could just be cliche, and be called "mlp fans", but come on...we can be original!

I don't think we need a term at all. I never saw the point in it/

 

Also I have conducted this survey with a ton of people now, and I encourage you all to put it out there more. Over 37 people have taken the survey thus far (and that's not nearly enough to make an accurate survey, but it's certainly a start). Here are some key points:

 

 

-51% of people identified as a "brony", and around 40% identified as casual fans, the other 9% said "other". 

 

What does this tell me? That not as many people prefer the term "brony" as bronies seem to think. Granted this is a small survey and I am sure the results will change with more people, but this certainly shows that out of 37 people, almost half don't want to be considered "bronies"

 

 

- Around half of the people surveyed answered yes to Question 3: "Have you ever been teased/made fun of for being a fan of MLP?"

 

Out of everyone, half of the people surveyed said they have never been made fun of for being a brony. Please note this survey was passed around to other sites as well. To be precise, 51% said they have never been made fun of for being an MLP fan.

 

 

- Question 4 asked the frequency of these incidents. Not a single person surveyed said "all the time" or "very often". 18% said "sometimes" and 15% said "very rarely" and "almost never".

 

This implies to me that people are not being made fun of or ridiculed as much as they claim if they only feel it's "sometimes".

 

 

- Question 5 was to determine the nature of this ridicule. The results were not very surprising:

40% of people said they were called gay, but not very often.

Only 25% said they were teased for an extended period of time "but not very often".

Only 5% said that physical harm befell them "once".

No one said they were stalked so they may be harassed at home.

No one said they had contemplated suicide.

No one said they were denied entry to establishments or facilities.

15% said they were ridiculed for an extended period of time, once.

 

 

What does this say to me? Well it says that the majority of this "great hate" that bronies get is they are called gay, and apparently it's not that often either.

 

 

-Question 6 was to establish how often people run into people who pick on them in these manners. A majority (over 55%) said "rarely". Combining "all the time" and "very often", only 16% said that was the frequency.

 

Apparently these people who are "brony haters" are not as rampant as people make it out to be.

 

 

-Question 7 asked people if they felt they were teased more for being a brony than anything else. Be it being gay, looking different,  etc. Almost 91% of people said no.

 

It looks like people are making fun of you for other reasons more than being a brony.

 

 

-The Final question asked if you felt that bronies receive more hate than other groups. 41% said yes, 32% said no, and the rest said "not sure".

 

So not even half the people surveyed felt that bronies were too hated.

 

 

 

What does all of this tell me? Well it's hard to say so early in, but this definitely is painting the picture of the "hate" being exaggerated.

[Zhortac 1,474]

The problem with online surveys is that the results, are sub-par at best. It's hard to reach the desired number of people for proper results, and of course there's the people that will use proxies and give multiple results. It's hard to get proper results anymore, and alot of the time they're skewed just to get attention.

[Guest]

The problem with online surveys is that the results, are sub-par at best. It's hard to reach the desired number of people for proper results, and of course there's the people that will use proxies and give multiple results. It's hard to get proper results anymore, and alot of the time they're skewed just to get attention.

Yes, but some research is better than none. At least we have something to go off of over nothing.

[Jokuc 8,174]

Well there are people who actually hate us. However I am pretty sure that most haters just "hate" us because they think it is weird and is uncomfortable with it. Though I think that the biggest reason to why the fandom gets hated is because if a few people hates it, more will do the same even if they don't truly hate us. It's kinda the same thing was with Justin Bieber. Now I know he's been stupid and all that and we have a reason to hate him now, but if we go back a few years, everyone was hating on him for no good reason and people kept on hating just cause everybody else was doing it.

 

So I do believe that there are a bunch of people who actually hate us, but not near as many as the amount of people who say they do.

[Guest]

Well there are people who actually hate us. However I am pretty sure that most haters just "hate" us because they think it is weird and is uncomfortable with it. Though I think that the biggest reason to why the fandom gets hated is because if a few people hates it, more will do the same even if they don't truly hate us. It's kinda the same thing was with Justin Bieber. Now I know he's been stupid and all that and we have a reason to hate him now, but if we go back a few years, everyone was hating on him for no good reason and people kept on hating just cause everybody else was doing it.

 

So I do believe that there are a bunch of people who actually hate us, but not near as many as the amount of people who say they do.

Errr... A lot of people hate Justin for legitimate reasons now... In fact more so now than ever...

[Commander Tangent 861]

I Personally would say not a lot. At least not a lot that I have met. Most of them seem to be trolls or bullies just trying to yank a negative reaction out of someone.

[Kyobona 75]

I actually think it may be a bit exaggerated.  Every fandom gets hate, and I think people just overreact about MLP getting hate because mainly guys like it.  I have never gotten teased/bullied/etc. for liking MLP (I'm a girl, but still).

Everything get's hate. People will dislike something to dislike it. Also, girls will most likley never get bullied while guys will get bullied because they think liking it makes you gay because 'its for girls' which is idiotic on so many levels. 

[Twilight Mist 54]

Hmm, let me see. The fact that a small number of us sexualize a wholesome family show. Or the fact that a lot of us put down fans of the earlier generations. Or it could even be the fact that a lot of us feel the need to ponify everything. Want me to go on?

[Kyobona 75]

Hmm, let me see. The fact that a small number of us sexualize a wholesome family show. Or the fact that a lot of us put down fans of the earlier generations. Or it could even be the fact that a lot of us feel the need to ponify everything. Want me to go on?

Yes, I would like you to go on so I can see your point.

[Twilight Mist 54]

Yes, I would like you to go on so I can see your point.

Go to MLP arena and you'll see what the older generation think of us!

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Hmm, let me see. The fact that a small number of us sexualize a wholesome family show. Or the fact that a lot of us put down fans of the earlier generations. Or it could even be the fact that a lot of us feel the need to ponify everything. Want me to go on?

 

That one is a two way street, it's just as common for pre-G4 fans to dislike us for coming in on "their thing" and to hate G4 all-together for the way it completely re-tooled the franchise. I remember a interview with someone in the classic community(I think the head of one of the old-school pony fairs) that had a complaint about it getting popular that pretty much amounted to "it's popular now it sucks" because their hobby wasn't a super-underground cult thing anymore and more people were getting into it.  

 

Also, we may joke about the older gens, but most of us really don't hate any of it(well, maybe the trainwreck that was G3.5)

Edited February 15, 2014 by Shoboni