No, buddy, you *are* a hipster just like me · 8:00am Jun 26th, 2013
I secretly get pissed off when I see someone say that they love the show on its own merits and no other reason.
That's unfair of me, of course. The show has merits, and subjective experience being what it is, I have no doubt that some bronies are fueled by warm fuzzies alone. What pisses me off--and again, I realize that this is unfair--is when someone actively denies that they're making some kind of statement by being a brony i.e. "No, I just like the cute ponies. Don't imply that I'm a hipster like you who just wants to be different."
Well screw you too, buddy--whether you like it or not, you're part of the "different" that I'm being.
Let me say, straight up, that I admit to joining the herd largely because yeah I like fighting the mainstream and being different. Don't get me wrong, my actual love of the cute ponies and the animation and the whatever is legitimate in more ways than not. It's just that I don't think the ponies themselves are the main thing that hooked me, and I'm not even sure if love for the ponies is the main thing fueling my current devotion.
You can probably tell that gender issues are kind of my thing. I'm pretty sure that the cause can be traced to the fact that I actively hate being told that I should be macho. The fact that I already resisted traditional masculinity back when I was a little filly and the sun was going down led me to gender equality, led me to third wave feminism, led me to masculism, led me to the kind of wild-ass left wing shit that I blog about. So yeah. I like ponies because I feel like I'm defying masculinity by liking ponies. Part of why I like ponies is because I like the fact that I like ponies.
Let me present what I think is a perfect illustration of the fact that bronydom is all about me and my hipsterness.
Probably took him hours to wash the smell of Internet out of his shirt.
The reason this video is funny, the whole reason this video even means anything, is that this dude isn't a stereotypical brony. Not only is he not a little girl, he's also not a hyperactive teenager, a filthy neckbeard, a spaghetti-covered nerd, or a prancing fairy. He's a really tall, stocky dude with a hilarious moustache and the perfect voice for deadpan humor.
The statement that I make by walking around with a Rainbow Dash cutie mark ironed onto my man-purse is that I'm allowed to be a brony. I don't have to conform to cultural norms any more than Mr. Facial Hair up there does. To be fair, Facial Hair up there is a better example than me, because I definitely look like a skinny nerd. I wear skinny jeans, I wear headphones all the time, that bag of mine even has pins all over it. I look like a Hot Topic store puked all over me.
You know what? fans who get annoyed by loud, obnoxious bronies, fans who reject the title "brony" and insist that they can be a fan of My Little Pony without having to be lumped into some culture, some movement, some political statement--I think those people make an even stronger statement than I do.
"So it's adorable and girly. So what? Liking it doesn't make me part of some great big cultural wave. I'm not making some kind of statement."
That is a stronger, more eloquent statement than I could ever make with mere words.
I was really pleased with myself for being a brony for a number of months in 2011. That has since worn off. :B Now I just watch and discuss a show about marshmallow ponies with douchebags on the internet.
His name is DustyKatt
Im not sure where I would fit into any form of classification, or if I would even be considered a "Brony" at all. I watch the show, form opinions, developed fondness for particular characters, and vastly enjoy reading the fan fics. I actually found MLP FIM on accident shortly after my little son was born. I was flipping through the kiddie channels looking for something with colors and activity that wasnt violent or over stimulating. I found this show and said, Meh, pastel horses should keep his attention for a short bit. Then I heard the My Little Pony intro song and said WTF they remade MLP (as I was about 9 years old when G1 was introduced. So I sorta started watching it and then just kind of fell in love with the art and style, which of course grew to almost an addiction. I literally would feel morose if I didn't get to see the girls in the morning with my cup of coffee. 2 and a half years later it is still tradition for my son and I to wake in the morning, me with my coffee he with his milk, sitting together on the couch watchin ponies. What is odd is that I didn't even know about Bronies until I read an article on line slamming Lauren Faust for perpetuating the stereo typing of the standard role of girls with FIM by some megalomaniac Feminazi journalist who also made side note of some obscure perverse subculture that has risen up where she had claimed Bronies were pedophiles waiting to kidnap children when parents slept or some such stupidity.
Hipster? Purist? Revolutionary? Be what ever you want to be and stand for what ever you want to stand for, but I have to agree that one should not claim something just to try to not be part of the crowd. It's like the Goth/Punker kids dressing strange and unusual and hanging out in the most social setting one can think of calling out "Look how different we are"!
Classify me how ever you want you may be right, but the fact is I love MLP because the girls keep me from hanging my self and slitting my wrists simply because there so fucking cute and adorable its almost a crime.
Okay, before I agree or disagree with anyone here, could someone please define "hipster?"