IT'S A CULT, I TELLS YA!!!!

[Jim H]

We live in a very interesting society these days.  If you don't fit into a particular stereotype or do something against the norm, you are mocked and people think there is something wrong with you.  This may have been going on for awhile, but with the Internet nowadays makes it much more obvious and large scale.

It's pretty much always been like that.

I find it very interesting that the reaction that guys liking something aimed at girls is often "what's wrong with them? They shouldn't be liking that. Are they gay or something?" but any girl or woman of any age liking something aimed at boys isn't often given a second thought.

Yeah.  For the most part, women can enjoy the "man specific" activities/media and not be ostracized (with some serious exceptions, admittedly), in fact men are quite often HAPPY about this, but the reverse is rarely true.  It works the same way with clothes, with women now able to wear what were once designated as men's clothing without any issues, and the reverse, of course, is not publicly accepted.

There's nothing wrong with the acceptance of women moving into traditionally male domains, quite the opposite.  It's just the lack of acceptance of the other side of things is something of an issue.

And here I am being all serious in a Brony thread.  What's the deal with that?   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qwRbOm2Pvg

[Rev. Powell]

We live in a very interesting society these days.  If you don't fit into a particular stereotype or do something against the norm, you are mocked and people think there is something wrong with you.  This may have been going on for awhile, but with the Internet nowadays makes it much more obvious and large scale.

It's pretty much always been like that.

Actually I think the Internet has had the opposite effect of what IG is talking about. Mass communications have made it so easy to find other like-minded people you can hang out with that we've somewhat lost a sense of baseline normality. For example, finding someone who was interested in bad movies before the Internet existed would be quite a hunt. Now you just type "bad movies" in Google and come here and find hundreds of people to discuss them with.  It makes it seem normal to us and we may forget that 99% pf the populace doesn't share or understand our passion.

It's harmless with us, Nazis and white supremacists can do the same thing... easily find like-minded people on hate forums to continually reinforce their opinions. They don't feel as much like outcasts as they used to. Every deviation from the norm seems more normal when you know plenty of people who share your opinions, however far out they may be.

[Flick James]

We live in a very interesting society these days.  If you don't fit into a particular stereotype or do something against the norm, you are mocked and people think there is something wrong with you.  This may have been going on for awhile, but with the Internet nowadays makes it much more obvious and large scale.

It's pretty much always been like that.

I find it very interesting that the reaction that guys liking something aimed at girls is often "what's wrong with them? They shouldn't be liking that. Are they gay or something?" but any girl or woman of any age liking something aimed at boys isn't often given a second thought.

Yeah.  For the most part, women can enjoy the "man specific" activities/media and not be ostracized (with some serious exceptions, admittedly), in fact men are quite often HAPPY about this, but the reverse is rarely true.  It works the same way with clothes, with women now able to wear what were once designated as men's clothing without any issues, and the reverse, of course, is not publicly accepted.

There's nothing wrong with the acceptance of women moving into traditionally male domains, quite the opposite.  It's just the lack of acceptance of the other side of things is something of an issue.

And here I am being all serious in a Brony thread.  What's the deal with that?  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qwRbOm2Pvg

This is indicative of manhood issues that have been going on for a long time in the U.S.

It's like ballet. If a guy got involved with ballet there would be an assumption amongst most males that he is gay. As a result there is a shortage of qualified American male ballet dancers. I Russia, on the other hand, ballet is a national treasure, and a man being a ballet dancer is not at all seen as a question of manhood, and that's a country brimming with alpha males. Prominent male ballet dancers in Russia are like prominent athletes here. An interesting dichotemy.

I mean, if a man were coordinated enough to be a ballet dancer, what could be wrong with surrounding himself with beautiful, limber ballerinas all day long who have a shortage of men in their lives. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. But, alas, I guess hanging out in a locker room with a bunch of other men is somehow more heterosexual.

[AndyC]

I just saw the episode with Discord, and laughed my ass off at the ending. It was like a brief sense of deja-vu, followed by a moment of disbelief, and then outright delight.

It's interesting to see the two endings together. They almost did it shot-for-shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4wh4FnwiAg

[bob]

ESPN's Pardon the Interruption just made a Brony referance, that was very unexpected

[Jim H]

I went to an anime convention the other day.

...there were bronies. 

[AndyC]

I went to an anime convention the other day.

...there were bronies. 

There are already dedicated brony conventions. Amazing how fast that can happen.

And you have to give the producers credit for quickly recognizing the show's cult status and treating bronies as part of the target audience. Lots of fun references and little Easter eggs thrown in.

Here's another one that made me laugh. Fluttershy takes an assertiveness course and becomes utterly ruthless. Eventually, she sees what she's become and wants to be alone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDe4lD9u0mw

[Jim H]

It was clear most of the bronies honestly did like the show, but also liked it in a sort of ironic way.  It was an interesting dynamic.

On another note, I've now seen the first four episodes.  They were actually pretty entertaining.  But, I watched them with my girlfriend.  I guess I get to keep my man card?   

[AndyC]

I watch it with my six-year-old daughter. She really loves it, and insists I watch with her. I'm just being a good father as far as anyone else is concerned, and what could be more manly than that?

[Leah]

I really don't see the problem


Oh, now I do!