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Criticism of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom

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News commentator Glenn Beck defended bronies on his television show and his radio show after a 9-year-old boy was bullied for liking My Little Pony.
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The My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom has faced various criticisms since its emergence in 2010. In the 2010s, much of the criticism centered on gender norms and the perception of adult males, commonly known as bronies, enjoying entertainment marketed toward young girls. Critics from conservative media outlets and Internet trolls have ridiculed the fandom, while supporters have defended it as challenging traditional gender roles and providing positive escapism for fans.

Academic studies and media reports have identified problematic elements within portions of the fandom, including the creation of adult-oriented content that may be accessible to children searching for the show online. Additionally, research has found evidence of hegemonic masculinity within certain segments, where male fans allegedly exclude and alienate female participants.

Background

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The brony fandom refers to the fanbase of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which emerged in late 2010 and early 2011 on the imageboard 4chan before spreading to other online communities. The fandom adopted the name brony, a portmanteau of bro and pony.[1] Bronies have developed their own own distinctive vernacular,[2] organize numerous fan conventions,[3] and engage in a culture of charitable activities.[4] They commonly create personalized pony characters representing themselves called ponysonas (similar to furries and their fursonas),[5] produce fan fiction, fan art, and original music inspired by the show.[6] The brony fandom notably includes military personnel who have incorporated pony imagery into their units,[7][8][9] and has attracted both media attention and academic study for challenging traditional gender norms around entertainment consumption.[10][11][12][13]

Gender norms

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See also: Gender expression

The adult fandom has been perceived negatively by some critics, with coverage of the brony fandom overshadowing the show itself.[14] Much of the fandom's ridicule from others comes from the perception of the mostly adult male fanbase enjoying a show that is marketed to the young female demographic. Through this, the brony community has encountered ridicule through trolling on internet forums, not only from its inception at 4chan, but after moving away from the site.[15] This has also been called out in conservative popular media. The Fox News Channel comedy talk program Red Eye poked fun at the fandom because it largely consists of young adult males.[16] Commenting on Schlichter's article, Greg Pollowitz of National Review wrote that considering the target audience he could not understand the show's appeal to adult men.[17] Jerry Springer attempted to bring bronies onto his talk for a segment on "Outrageously Guilty Pleasures", though fans warned others about the potential ridicule.[18][19]

The gender-based criticism has also affected younger male fans of the show. One story that gained national attention was that of Grayson Bruce, a nine-year-old fan who was told to stop bringing a Rainbow Dash backpack to school to prevent bullying that he was receiving. An online campaign to show support for Grayson gained over 32,000 supporters on its Facebook page,[20] and the brony fanbase, the show's creators and voice actors, and various public figures including Glenn Beck, Ronan Farrow and Eugene Volokh have stood up for the boy's actions.[21] The school later revised its decision after speaking to the family and clarifying it was not trying to blame the child for the incident.[22]

Rebecca Angel, writing for Wired's Geekmom column, described some of the negative feedback from fellow writers about the mostly male brony culture that included accusations of pedophilia and immaturity. Angel defended the fandom's culture, describing adult fans' interest as a form of escapism, and that the show provides characters they can relate to and talk about with other fans. She also acknowledged the double standard whereas females can watch male-oriented entertainment without question, while male bronies receive criticism about their interest in the show.[23] Angel later described the brony fandom as rebellious towards gender roles, stating that "having interests that go against what men are supposed to embrace is the sneakiest kind of rebellion".[24] In a similar vein, an "Idea Channel" segment on PBS said that the ridicule received by the brony community is partly because the male appreciation for the show challenges preconceived notions of gender roles in the mass media.[25]

Violence and pornography

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See also: Clop (erotic fan art)

Some media have been critical of the adult-oriented material created by fans. In some cases, these videos may appear in Internet searches that children may perform while looking for online copies of the program or while searching for images of characters from the show, forcing parents to have to discuss pornography and sex with their children.[26] For example, the parody series PONY.MOV, animated by animator Max Gilardi in the style of John Kricfalusi, places the characters in explicit adult situations and was described by the web site io9 as "disgusting ... and most certainly NSFW".[27][28][29] Fans acknowledge that such material is generated by a subset of the group, but consider it "an unavoidable part of any online fandom", as described by TV Guide's Sadie Gennis, and do not worry about this facet.[30]

Male hegemony and female alienation

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See also: Hegemonic masculinity

A study performed by graduate students from the University of Connecticut found that "a particularly extreme subset" of the brony fandom shows characteristics of hegemonic masculinity, where male members strive to keep their majority in the numbers by purposely excluding and alienating females.[31] Sherilyn Connelly and others have noted that bronies alienate other fans of the franchise by focusing on the fandom itself rather than the franchise.[32]: 2:3  She also said that bronies created an atmosphere of entitlement and anger when the franchise did not accommodate the fans' demands, resulting in a culture where death threats are made publicly and lightly.[32]: 5:2–5 

Racism and nationalism

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See also: /mlp/ § Controversies
For broader coverage of this topic, see Racism on the Internet.

Since the fandom's birth on 4chan in 2010, many media outlets have been critical of a vocal portion of the fandom that advocates racist and white nationalist ideologies. Vice reported on alt-right attempts to infiltrate brony and furry fandoms, where edgy and politically incorrect memes proliferated.[33] In Rolling Stone, journalist Lauren Orsini acknowledged that extremist subsets of the fandom had existed since at least the mid-2010s.[34]

Kaitlyn Tiffany, writing for The Atlantic described the popularity of fanart with racist or violent imagery and accounts who post extremist views on imageboards, particularly 4chan's "Politically Incorrect" (/pol/) and "My Little Pony" (/mlp/) boards.[35] Mic reported that there was an increasing amount of anti-racist content during the George Floyd protests.[36] In response, Derpibooru, the most popular brony fanart site, officially banned racist content in 2020.[37]

In 2014, a fan-created pony character called "Aryanne" entered circulation, featuring white fur, a blonde mane, blue eyes and a swastika cutie-mark;[38] over 2,000 fan created images of the character were found on the fan site Derpibooru. In 2016, during Donald Trump's campaign for President, images of My Little Pony characters wearing Make America Great Again hats, and Pit Viper sunglasses were commonly found on brony fan sites. The New Republic published an op-ed that decried the fandom's white nationalist aspects, saying "Yes, there is a connection between white identity politics and My Little Pony", saying that many on the alt-right supported the show because they viewed the fictional land Equestria as being an "example of nationalist politics."[39]

Radical aspects of the fandom were scrutinized by the media after the Indianapolis FedEx shooting on April 15, 2021. The shooter, Brandon Scott Hole, frequently posted My Little Pony content to his Facebook page.[40] Fans of the show quickly condemned Hole's actions and the racist views espoused by what they claimed was a small subset of the fandom.[40]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ LaMarche, Una (2011-08-03). "Pony Up Haters: How 4chan Gave Birth to the Bronies". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
  2. ^ Ellis, Bill (2015). "What Bronies See When They Brohoof: Queering Animation on the Dark and Evil Internet". Journal of American Folklore. 128 (509). University of Illinois Press: 298–314. doi:10.5406/jamerfolk.128.509.0298.
  3. ^ Hix, Lisa (2012-06-28). "My Little Pony Smackdown: Girls vs. Bronies". Collectors Weekly. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
  4. ^ Truitt, Brian (2012-11-26). "'My Little Pony' plants a hoof in pop culture". USA Today. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  5. ^ Kosnáč, Pavol (2016). Fiction, Invention and Hyper-reality: From Popular Culture to Religion. Taylor & Francis. pp. 79–97. ISBN 9781317135494.
  6. ^ Edwards, Patrick; Chadborn, Daniel P.; Plante, Courtney N.; Reysen, Stephen; Redden, Marsha Howze (2019-09-11). "Chapter 8: Come for the Show, Stay for the Swag". Meet the Bronies: The Psychology of the Adult My Little Pony Fandom. United States: McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. pp. 88–100. ISBN 9781476663715.
  7. ^ Winter, Jana (2012-07-18). "Warhorse: The military's 'My Little Pony' fan club". Fox News.
  8. ^ Anderson, Jon R. (2012-08-30). "Bronies in uniform — and proud of it". Navy Times. Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  9. ^ Roth, Beth Ford (2012-07-19). "Military Lovers Of 'My Little Pony' Make Headlines". KPBS[disambiguation needed]. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  10. ^ Amon, Maria Patrice (2016). "Candy coloured ponies and pastel uniforms: Military Bronies and masculine innocence". Journal of Fandom Studies. 4 (1): 89–104. doi:10.1386/jfs.4.1.89_1.
  11. ^ Bailey, John; Harvey, Brenna (2017). "'That pony is real sexy': My Little Pony fans, sexual abjection, and the politics of masculinity online". Sexualities. 22 (3): 325–342. doi:10.1177/1363460717731932.
  12. ^ Palmer, Zachary D. (April 2022). ""I'm Going to Love and Tolerate the Shit Out of You": Hybrid Masculinities in the Brony Community". Men and Masculinities. 25 (1): 87–105. doi:10.1177/1097184X211031969.
  13. ^ Angel, Rebecca (2012-10-01). "Adult male My Little Pony fans? Bronies are true rebels". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  14. ^ Bowman, Donna (2011-12-23). "Beyond the Top 30: other 2011 TV highlights". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
  15. ^ "The Mane Event". Irish Independent. 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
  16. ^ Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld – June 17, 2011 (television production). Fox News Channel. 2011-06-17.
  17. ^ Pollowitz, Greg (2012-04-30). "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Bronies". National Review Online. Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  18. ^ Wegner, Adam (2012-08-24). "Bronies: Why It's Totally Okay for a 20-Something Dude to Love 'My Little Pony'". Zimbio. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
  19. ^ Orsini, Lauren Rae (2012-10-02). "Jerry Springer interviews bronies about 'Outrageous Guilty Pleasures'". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  20. ^ Grisham, Lori (2014-03-18). "School bans 9-year-old boy's My Little Pony backpack". USA Today. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  21. ^ * Bowman, John (2014-03-19). "Bullied boy's My Little Pony bag barred, Bronies #StandWithGrayson". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  22. ^ Blake, Casey (2014-03-21). "School will allow boy to bring My Little Pony backpack". USA Today. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  23. ^ Angel, Rebecca (2012-05-27). "In Defense of Bronies". Wired. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  24. ^ Angel, Rebecca (2012-10-01). "Adult male My Little Pony fans? Bronies are true rebels". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  25. ^
  26. ^ Harris, Randy (2012-05-10). "How to Talk With Your Kids About Pornography". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  27. ^ Stohs-Krause, Hilary (2013-05-13). "'Brony' Fandom Carves Out Space For Young Men To Enjoy Friendship ... And Cartoon Ponies". Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  28. ^ Woerner, Meredith (2012-06-26). "Incredibly messed-up short gives My Little Ponys's Pinkie Pie a sex tape". io9. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  29. ^ McKinnis, Alexis (2012-07-19). "Alexis on the sexes: I want a pony". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  30. ^ Gennis, Sadie (2013-08-01). "Give Bronies a Break! In Defense of Adult My Little Pony Fans". TV Guide. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  31. ^ Gabbatt, Adam (2015-03-12). "What a masculinity conference taught me about the state of men". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  32. ^ a b Sherilyn Connelly (2017), Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981–2016, McFarland, ISBN 9781476662091
  33. ^ "Pony Nationalism and the Furred Reich: Inside the Alt-Furry's Online Zoo". Vice.com. January 12, 2017. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  34. ^ Dickson, E. J. (2021-04-19). "Do Bronies Have a 'Nazi Problem'? FedEx Shooting Shines Light on Faction of Subculture". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  35. ^ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (2020-06-23). "'My Little Pony' Fans Are Ready to Admit They Have a Nazi Problem". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  36. ^ Dellinger, A. J. (June 23, 2020). "An online battle is raging between Nazis and 'My Little Pony' fans". Mic. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  37. ^ Alter, Rebecca (2020-06-23). "The Largest My Little Pony Fan Site Bans Your Horse-Crap Racist Fan Art". Vulture. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  38. ^ Aryanne | Know Your Meme
  39. ^ Heer, Jeet (January 20, 2016). "Yes, there's a connection between My Little Pony, Donald Trump, and white identity politics". The New Republic. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  40. ^ a b "Bronies denounce mass shooter after FedEx gunman's last posts pined Applejack". The Daily Dot. 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
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