Hey guys! Happy Wednesday! Again!

Photo from feminspire.com

So in honor of Youtube’s Geek Week, I’ve been posting some geeky articles to help celebrate this amazing time. But as I thought about it, I realized ALL my blog posts are geeky. Sooo, I guess the only difference between this week and every other week is that I’m just yelling “HAPPY GEEK WEEK!” in every post. Whatever, just celebrate with me, damnit!

So I originally wanted to post this 3 days ago on National Friendship Day (Yes, it exists. Google it.) but that didn’t work out. So here I am! In honor of belated National Friendship Day, I want to talk to you guys about the magicalness that is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

If you’re a fan of the show, GREAT! Hello my fellow Bronies and Pegasisters! If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, well, then this goes out to you.

A year ago at Anime Expo, my best friend Angi cosplayed as Pinkie Pie. I’ll be honest, I really didn’t understand what the hype was about. I mean, MLP isn’t even anime. It’s a children’s show and it’s kinda cheesy. But hey, geeks flock to stuff like this so I guess I couldn’t be too surprised. After AX was over, I decided to watch the show to understand why it was so popular.

I originally sat down to watch ONE episode, but then I found myself finishing the first season. (Thank you Netflix!) This shit was ADDICTING! And anyone who’s addicted to any TV show or anime will understand my feels. When there’s a plethora of episodes and seasons available for FREE (or for $8 a month), you HAVE to watch all of it. You can’t just stop in the middle… who does that?! That’s unAmerican.

My Little Pony is an amazing show that teaches its viewers the magic of friendship. (See what I did there?!) But all corny jokes aside, this show really explores PLATONIC relationships between people..erm.. ponies, which a lot of children shows don’t tend to do anymore. Whether the lesson is about humility, sacrifice, or honesty, the show showcases all these lessons into colorful, fun, scenarios… WITH PONIES! It also addresses the issue of self identity. Each pony has something called a Cutie Mark. It’s a little emblem that appears near their butts (I don’t know how to make that sound politically correct) that define who you are. The six main characters of the show already have their Cutie Marks, but three supporting characters, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, are on a quest to find theirs. In other words, these three young ponies are on a quest to discover who they are and what they can contribute to this world.

See?! Aren’t these themes just so relevant in life?! I think this is an amazing show for ALL AGES! A lot of people criticize the fact that the viewer demographic has an abundance of males ages 12-35, but who the hell cares?! Those guys are awesome for watching the show and I bet you anything by learning these timeless lessons about friendship, these guys probably treat everyone with respect. WHICH IS WHAT THE SHOW IS ABOUT!

My Little Pony has become such a phenomenon and has such a loyal and crazy fanbase that the fans have given each other names. I used them earlier, but let me explain. There are Bronies and Pegasisters. I mean, that’s as straightforward as you can get… Brony meaning fanboy and Pegasister meaning fangirl… but amongst this amazing community sparks a controversy in title. Before the name “Pegasister” came along, we just had the name “Brony.” So everyone, females and males, referred to themselves as Bronies. Some fans feel the term “Brony” should be gender neutral and we shouldn’t even be using the name “Pegasister.” I know this sounds crazy, but this is actually a big deal because this delves into a bigger, deeper rooted issue… gender binaries! Do people not want to be classified into “boys” and “girls”? Why does the term “Brony” sound better to some? What’s wrong with being classified as a female fan?

Well, I honestly don’t have the answers to all these questions, but here’s my short 2 cents about the topic. The term “Brony” CAN’T be gender neutral because it’s derived from the word “brother.” I thought about this a lot yesterday and I have to admit I’m a subject of pushing the boundaries of gender binaries. I mean, I use the word “guys” a lot, to indicate that I’m talking to EVERYONE. But in reality, the term “guys” is NOT gender neutral… the word “guy” implies males. The reason it seems to be gender neutral is because we live in a patriarchal system.

So what does this all mean? I basically just threw some shit at you to think about, obviously. Well for starters, I think I need to start using a different term in my blog posts. Does it make me sad? Eh… not really. If anything, it’s making me consciously think about my word choice. And I’m honestly not one of those people that’s gonna get all anal about it, but if anything, I hope I inspired you to think about these word choices: Brony vs. Pegasister. Does one connote more power and respect? Or are we thinking too much into this?

But to reiterate my whole point, you should be watching My Little Pony. And if you have kids, you should DEFINITELY be showing them this show. There’s not a lot of good content for kids nowadays that won’t kill their brain cells. This show actually has thought-provoking concerns and issues that will teach our future generation how to be… Oh I don’t know… GOOD PEOPLE.

And we need more of that in this world.

-Alice