How my little pony became a male fetish
The world is richer than imagination - this is convincing not only the animated series My Little Pony, aimed at girls from 2 to 11 years old, but also its giant fandom in the face of men from 20 to 35. Wonderzine studied the phenomenon of male insanity in the big-eyed infantile big-eyed horses.
The animated series based on the Hasbro toys appeared in the early 80s and three years ago it was restarted once again under the heading "Friendship is a miracle." The creators took into account the relevance of family cartoons, which should cause delight in children and their parents. But few expected the fathers to show such interest. At the root of the epidemic stood image 4chan, the impact of which on Internet culture can be compared only with the influence of "Lepre" in Russia. The magical power of friendship and the magic of Princess Celestia did their job, and together with the melodies in the depths of 4chan, the male movement of TV series fans began to call each other “armor” (from “bro” and “pony”). Both the trolls and the site administration went to war with the armor - it came to a ban on the word "pony." But soon 4chan had to surrender. As one fan says: "Armor is the only group that could go against 4chan and win. Once, 4chan went against the FBI and won. So you can say that My Little Pony is more influential than the FBI."
The love of men for the inhabitants of Ponyville spread to other forums, social networks and blogs, taking not always innocent forms (if the fighters for the rights of animals took care of painted horses, they would have to google dark brony). The producers of the series politely welcomed the appearance of the community armor, making it clear that the target audience for them is primarily children. At the same time, the authors of the cartoon do not forget to insert into the new series the so-called "Easter eggs" - unexpected allusions, memes and reminiscences that only devoted adult fans can take. In order to stir up interest in the series, the writers sometimes flirt with armor, bringing, for example, popular episodic characters to the forefront, as happened with the universal favorite - the cross-eyed pony Derpy.
If women can go to meetings of fandoms with a sword and a visor, why can't guys choose something about friendship, loyalty, albeit a bit pink and sparkly?
The scale of the phenomenon is amazing: two years ago, the first BronyCon took place in New York, where only 100 people came, and the last - already 8 thousand. Among the first open reservations were the US military: a group of people called up for armor service on Facebook had 9,000 subscribers. Musicians Andrew W.K., MC Chris, actors Seth Green and Robert Pattinson were noticed in sympathy for ponies. Ryan Gosling sang a melody from the My Little Pony animated series to the interviewer's question what music is in his head right now, and Bill Clinton correctly answered all the questions about the My Little Pony characters in the playful blitz of one of the shows. Sociologists are fighting over the phenomenon, and studies impartially report that a typical armor is heterosexual from 15 to 30 years.
There are several common versions of why heterosexual guys fall for the animated series intended for their daughters. Perple Tinker, the founder of BronyCon, considers this a manifestation of male feminism. Women today have the right to choose their own identity from a wide range of both male and female occupations, and for men, sympathy for women's hobbies is still considered reprehensible. If women can go to meetings of fandoms with a sword and a visor, why can't guys choose something about friendship, loyalty, albeit a bit pink and sparkly? Culturologists say that armor is a special case of new sincerity: a manifestation of fatigue from cynicism and sarcastic perception, which is characteristic of postmodernism. According to psychologists, men who are addicted to My Little Pony are in need of socialization, escapism and the presence of some kind of internal or external conflict.
Write off the armor on the immaturity of the Western world and harmful liberal values will not work. It’s hard to believe, but along with MDK there are Russian-speaking communities in VKontakte (almost 50,000 participants in the main), where the guys discuss the loss of the cross-eyed pony Derpy, the explosive nature of Pinkie Pie and the mistakes of the Russian voice of the animated series. We signed off with five Russian armor and learned from them, wtf.
I found out about the reservation from the network after I watched the first season of the show. With a subculture, I do not identify myself - I consider myself just a fan of the series. The younger brother introduced me to the show itself, I decided to give the show a chance. Liked. Everything is done very professionally. Hooked, probably, exactly that. There is some special pleasure in telling friends about the series with a serious face, where colorful ponies solve everyday problems with the magic of friendship. I would formulate the idea of the series as follows: "No matter how unusual you are, you will always find a place, and your abilities will be appreciated." I like Pinky. An optimist, slightly insane, loves sweet - I love this character. "Pony Przhevalsky" - Russia's first armor group. For me, this means that we work within the same subject and for a specific audience. This is not something new in the world of music. For example, the band Blind Guardian was probably better known for its music based on the "Lord of the Rings". We do something similar, albeit on a smaller scale.
The cartoon is very kind, family and funny. Probably the most I like Rainbow Dash - she is a very bright, catchy pony. In fact, the idea that friendship is most important is the main engine of the cartoon. In St. Petersburg, among the armor, there is even a small general amount for participants: if something suddenly happens, this money can go to his aid. Somehow I was driving in the subway and saw a bearded man who played in the MLP. In the community of armor is considered normal, if you see yourself like that, come up, say hello and perform the so-called "brooch" - punch each other. I patted him on the shoulder, asked: "Are you armor?" - "Not". Put on headphones and continued to play with the pony on. When we buy some things, many people cannot admit that they are buying themselves: they say, I buy my sister or daughters. And I'm not making excuses. I have a large collection of small figures (blind bag), some armor wear costumes with hooves. My mother knows about my hobby, she lives in the USA, and I order part of the goods through her. Russian armor does not like the voice of the First Channel: they translated everything wrong, some of the names were transferred (which is wrong), some did not. For example, there are Rainbow and Sparkle, Flatershay and Applejack. A lot of swearing was connected with the First Channel: for example, a duck was allowed on the Internet, that the main translator’s machine was doused with something, but, of course, it didn’t get to the assault.
I was an anime artist already, so I found the series, looked at what had already been translated into Russian, and I liked the idea of disinterested mutual aid and a world not overloaded with technologies. He is well drawn, heroine flaky. Then I came across meetings of St. Petersburg armor, and starting from the third meeting of St. Petersburg (January 6, 2011) I attend almost all meetings. I am something like a talisman, my presence somewhat relieves tension from the recently arrived in the fandom bronyash. In Russia, there is a community of armor, but it is thriving actively only in large cities: for example, in St. Petersburg, over 100 people can gather at nature gatherings. At first, St. Petersburg armor was a volunteer fraternity, and now dark armor reigns (those who calmly look at the ideology of evil). Of the active, I am the eldest, but there are those who rarely come. Average age? There are two of them: 15-17 years old and 21-23, sometimes appear at gatherings for those from 11 to 30. It is deeply indifferent to my relatives and relatives what I do: what would the child be funny, just not to hang it.
I learned about the series from imageboard I saw pictures of ponies, I began to look for them, I found out about the series, I looked, I liked it. My favorite character is Pinkie Pie: she has a funny character. I learned about the meetings, decided to go - to walk, it turned out there are many fans of the series. Once or twice a year the big festival "Bronikon" takes place, reservations from other cities come to it. In Moscow, they are shooting a club for the day: rock-group performances (“Pony Przhevalsky” and “Bronikoni”) are taking place, contests, round tables, many come to cosplay. The main plus is the well-developed characters of the characters, after watching one or two episodes, everyone likes their own potion. The armor is cute, friendly: they often gather for large events (flash mobs) like a dreamflesh (hugs), pillow fights, arrange water battles, celebrate St. Patrick's Day, there will be a meeting on Halloween too. They differ from other subcultures of armor with greater kindness and tolerance: everyone is quite sociable, but perhaps they are more shy than animeshniki.
I love good animations and MLP: FIM including, I am interested in the characters themselves, and it is also interesting to me as an artist to draw them. It all started with the fact that in VK I came across a picture with the heroine of the animated series. I watched one episode, I liked it. Then he found thousands of drawings from fans and was amazed that adult guys and men also watch this cartoon, but this is not surprising: a series with a good plot, with good sketching, is very charismatic and positive. As an artist, I wanted to draw some pictures. The other participants also draw, write novels, make figures and even plush toys. I am the administrator of the group’s voice acting for the series, but I’m not the voiceman, the third-party studio is engaged in voice acting. Fans do not like the voice of the channel "Carousel": they do not know the whole essence of the cartoon, the voices are chosen wrong, and they do it without a soul, which our team corrects.
Cover photo: Stell-e / Creative Commons