This link is brought to you by the Church of Applejack, Our Pony and Savior. · 5:01pm Sep 3rd, 2014
I was asked to write a post for the Feminist Bronies group, about why Applejack is a good female role model. (It might have ended up focusing more on why Applejack is an awesome and unique role model in general, but it's not my fault that Applejack is so cool she transcends gender.) I know a lot of you guys are fellow AJ fans, so if you're interested in reading it, here's a link:
The Mane Six: Applejack
This is part of a series about the mane six, so here are the other two that have been posted so far:
The Mane Six: Rarity by Jake RThe Mane Six: Rainbow Dash by Cryosite
Edit: Well that group was short lived. Luckily, I saved the essay, so here it is! (I don't know if the other two saved their, but if they repost them somewhere, I'll link to them.)
Edit 2: The Mane Six: Rarity by Jake R
Applejack as a strong female role model. Easy, huh? She’s not concerned with frilly, girly things, she works hard at a traditionally masculine job, she likes athletic competition, and she gets most of the good fight scenes.
And none of those are the reason she’s a good female role model. I mean, that’s cool, don’t get me wrong. But it’s not exactly revolutionary these days-- since about the 90s, it’s pretty common to throw a female character like that into a movie or TV show.
But AJ does bring some traits to the table that you don’t see in programming for little girls. Specifically, she models a type of life that most girls in lower and middle class families are likely to be familiar with. She’s not a character focused on fame and fortune, she’s focused on hard work and family, and the kind of life it’s easy to get but hard to maintain. Even if girls don’t know it, the things they watch Applejack deal with are more likely to apply to their lives than most of the other characters they’ll see on television.
First of all, Applejack deals with money. A lot. The show makes it perfectly clear that Applejack is managing a business, and that means making money -- from it being the core of plots like The Ticket Master/Best Night Ever and Super Speedy etc, to background details like capitalizing on Fluttershy’s modeling career to boost her business. But just as importantly, her business is tied to the things Applejack cares about, her family and her town, so it’s made clear that her focus on money isn’t greed, it’s supporting the ponies around her. To further illustrate that, Applejack is the only one of the mane six other than Twilight to have a recurring villain in Flim and Flam, her opposites: unscrupulous businessmen who only care about money.
There’s no shortage of kids media where characters have jobs or careers, including the rest of the mane six, but it’s rare to expose kids to the business side of work. Applejack is a great reminder that money doesn’t grow on trees…
Wait.
Moving on!
Another unique thing about Applejack is her family. Like running a business, being in a family isn’t shown as a passive thing for Applejack, she doesn’t just live with some ponies who happen to be related to her. If it was in question before, Season 4 made it clear that Applejack is the head of the household-- in Pinkie Apple Pie the family agrees that Applejack manages the farm and the ponies on it, and in Somepony to Watch Over Me her behavior towards Apple Bloom more closely resembled a mother than a sister. Applejack loves her family, of course, but she also has responsibilities towards them. Her primary concern with Zecora was protecting Apple Bloom, one of her reasons for trying to make money at the Gala was to buy Granny a hip replacement, it’s Applejack who rushes Apple Bloom to Twilight when she drank the heart’s desire potion, and Applejack who goes to investigate to make sure Granny isn’t being conned by Flim and Flam (again.)
At the same time, her family is more than a chore, they’re another set of friends for her to spend time with. I think it says something that I went to type that the Apple family is very close… then I realized that they’re not. They’re about as close as any family that’s raising a kid; they spend time as a family having fun or doing chores, they visit with extended family, they go on trips. They just seem so close because it’s so common for other characters to be distanced from their families, for interaction to be something that has to be explained as a plot point. For Applejack, her family is part of her everyday life, for good and bad.
For most people (of course there are exceptions) there are only about 10 to 15 years in their life when their family won’t resemble the Apples more than other depictions on this show or others. That means for most of their life, people will be dealing closely with parents, siblings, spouses, or children of their own, and Applejack frequently provides a happy, healthy example of how to do that.
Finally, there’s intelligence… or rather, that rare variety known as common sense. Applejack isn’t book-smart, but her intelligence is rarely in question (as opposed to other characters who, while smart in their own ways, don’t often show it.) This also challenges stereotypes in that a southern accent it often a sign of ignorance in popular culture. Applejack has her moments of crazy, of course, all of the characters do. But more often than any of them, Applejack is the one who cuts through other ponies’ crazy and gets the job done, points out the absurd, or offers a comforting hug. A small but telling example of this is in The Crystal Empire, where Twilight is looking for clues about the crystal ponies’ history; each of her friends tries to get information from ponies in her own unique way, and all of them are unsuccessful -- except for Applejack, who just asked ponies normally and found out about the library. Another example is Simple Ways, where her entire part in the episode is not wanting to get involved in this foolishness.
In a children’s cartoon, the voice of reason is not usually going to be the most exciting character, but Applejack’s contrast to the other characters in this regard provides a subtle reminder that sometimes the people with common sense need to speak up and keep things together.
Now, I don’t mean to imply by that that Applejack doesn’t have flaws. She’s proud in all the worst ways, and stubborn to the point of self-harm, and quick to jump into action without noticing possible unintended consequences. She’s bossy, especially with her family, and clearly has some control issues. And these flaws are important, because they often get in the way of her business, her family, and her common sense. She’s not perfect at any of the great things she does, but that just makes her a stronger role model; she makes mistakes, and often through those mistakes she shows how people can avoid or fix the mistakes they’ll make.
All in all, though, Applejack is an example of an ethical capitalist, a dutiful and loving part of a family, and grounding force for her friends. She may not seem glamorous or awesome as often as other characters (though those fight scenes are badass) but she’s one of the best examples of responsible adulthood for girls in media.
As a reminder, I don't talk politics on my blog. But I'm always happy to talk about Applejack.
Land o' goshen, Bookplayer, if that weren't about the best layout of why Applejack is an excellent pony! Very well reasoned and very well said.
I've seen some people call Applejack Best Background Pony, and I've never agreed with that easy dismissal of her. I think it's because she's so "normal" compared to... well, almost everypony on the show. But that core (heh) of normal-ness is important, as you showed in your article.
Thanks for posting a blog about it; I would have missed it and the group it's part of.
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote
Ooooh, some Applejack love!
I always like to read character analysis like that one. I love what Applejack represents and always find it rather sad that people seem to not really understand her as a character. And what is even more sad - that some bronies don't even try to understand her. It's a shame, really. As you said - it's important that she's hardworking, strong and can kick chimera's ass, but there's more to her than that.
Thank you!
Great article. I loved the points you made. It's just sad there aren't more role models like Applejack. Role models that truly transcend gender roles and teach you to be yourself.
Talk about a topic that can turn into radioactive ruins in the twitch of an eye... It's almost impossible to be a brony and not appreciate the positive influence of women in society (about half, I think). They're a civilizing influence on the instinctual reflexive urges of males, and I'm glad they're here, because without them, we would be stuck here, and that would be just terrible.
AJ is really underrated. Even though she is my least favorite of the mane 6 (only because I love them all a ton), without her it's almost a safe bet that the group would fall apart. Before Princess Twilight, at least.
Glad you were able to save your essay. It's unfortunate what happened to the group.
(I only know it no longer exists.
)
2426468
Apparently, debate and discussion is trolling and misogyny. Jake R had to delete the group to save it.
Edit: If anyone wants to continue where that left off, there's another group: Egalitarian Fans of My Little Pony
2426492
I read that. I still don't understand it.
That's how I know it no longer exists. I guess I don't understand the details.
2426501
To be blunt: "if you won't play by my rules, I'm taking my ball and going home".
Edit: long version, we disagreed with Jake about which school(s) of feminism were the One True Feminism. Because Jake was obviously right, we couldn't be honestly disagreeing, so we must be woman-hating trolls. Since the group was full of women-hating trolls, it only made sense to delete it.
2426506
Which, I have always said, is the right of any group mod. If you don't like it, start your own group. The name is open now.
2426511
Eh, we have one. See here: 2426492
Feel free to come on over, hopefully this one won't get deleted.
2426517
No thanks. Egalitarianism is cool and all, I support it ideologically, but I'm only really interested in feminism.
If someone started a group to talk about feminism, I'd be all over that.
2426526
Go nuts. https://www.fimfiction.net/group/204831/feminist-bronies
2426539 And when was I being an asshole? When I disagreed with your views? Or when I pointed out that deleting the group because you'd lost control of the narrative was frigging childish? Y'know what, rather than messing up your and bookplayer's threads, I'll just point you over here. Have a nice day.
Always nice to see AJ get some love.
And now people can understand why it's difficult to match her to, say... An OC.
But in all seriousness, her love of family and her diligence with working and protecting her friends interests are what sucked me in (and led to the creation of this guy).
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