TheMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom has faced various criticisms since its emergence in 2010. In the 2010s, much of the criticism centered ongender norms and the perception of adult males, commonly known asbronies, enjoying entertainment marketed toward young girls. Critics fromconservativemedia outlets andInternet trolls have ridiculed the fandom, while supporters have defended it as challenging traditional gender roles and providing positiveescapism 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 ofhegemonic masculinity within certain segments, where male fans allegedly exclude and alienate female participants.
Thebrony fandom refers to the fanbase of the animated television seriesMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which emerged in late 2010 and early 2011 on the imageboard4chan before spreading to otheronline communities. The fandom adopted the namebrony, aportmanteau ofbro andpony.[1] Bronies have developed theirown distinctive vernacular,[2] organize numerousfan conventions,[3] and engage in aculture of charitable activities.[4] They commonly create personalized pony characters representing themselves calledponysonas (similar to furries and their fursonas),[5] producefan fiction,fan art, andoriginal music inspired by the show.[6] The brony fandom notably includesmilitary personnel who have incorporated pony imagery into their units,[7][8][9] and has attracted both media attention and academic study for challenging traditionalgender norms around entertainment consumption.[10][11][12][13]
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 throughtrolling on internet forums, not only from its inception at4chan, but after moving away from the site.[15] This has also been called out inconservative popular media. TheFox News Channel comedy talk programRed Eye poked fun at the fandom because it largely consists of young adult males.[16] Commenting on Schlichter's article, Greg Pollowitz ofNational 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 aRainbow 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 itsFacebook page,[20] and the brony fanbase, the show's creators and voice actors, and various public figures includingGlenn Beck,Ronan Farrow andEugene 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 forWired'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 ofescapism, 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 onPBS 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]
Media outlets have expressed disapproval of the adult-oriented material created by fans, which frequently incorporatesgraphic violence andpornography. One of the most prominent examples of this content isPONY.MOV, a web series animated byMax Gilardi in the style ofJohn Kricfalusi.[26][27][28] This material may appear in the results of Internet searches conducted by children looking for online copies of the television show or images of its characters, forcing their parents into premature discussions about mature themes.[29] Sadie Gennis ofTV Guide described this as "an unavoidable part of any online fandom".[30]
A study performed by graduate students from theUniversity of Connecticut found that "a particularly extreme subset" of the brony fandom shows characteristics ofhegemonic 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
Since the fandom's birth on4chan 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] InRolling Stone, journalist Lauren Orsini acknowledged that extremist subsets of the fandom had existed since at least the mid-2010s.[34]
Kaitlyn Tiffany, writing forThe 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 theGeorge Floyd protests.[36] In response,Derpibooru, the most popularbrony fan art site, officially banned racist content in 2020.[37]
In 2014, a fan-created pony character called "Aryanne" entered circulation, featuring aswastika cutie mark.[38] In 2016, duringDonald Trump's campaign for President, images of My Little Pony characters wearingMake 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 theIndianapolis FedEx shooting on April 15, 2021. The shooter, Brandon Scott Hole, frequently postedMy Little Pony content to hisFacebook 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]
Some observers have speculated that the male segment of the fandom is predominantlygay, a notion that is rooted in the stereotype thatgay men are inherently feminine.[41] On/r/The_Donald, the revelation that ananti-Trump protestor identified as a brony led to a barrage ofhomophobic attacks, including, "His family should be ashamed of his degeneracy, so low can't even be called afaggot."[42] However, a 2011 study by psychologists Pat Edwards and Marsha Howze Redden, dubbed The Brony Study, indicated that 84% of participating bronies identified asheterosexual.[43]
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