On the Facebook page of Andrea Libman (the voice of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie), she posted an article about how men shouldn't have to conform to societal norms of masculinity. What followed was a series of hurtful, ignorant and shameful comments criticizing her as a "third-wave feminazi" and completely misunderstanding (or ignoring) the purpose of the article. I found this incredibly disrespectful and inappropriate, and representative of the worst of her fans, Brony and non-Brony alike. She made several more posts explaining how these people were wrong, including one that asserts that feminism and egalitarianism are the same thing (they are, by the way, look it up), and receive only more hate and ridicule.

So, I'm working on popularizing the following hashtag wherever I can:

#ISupportAndrea

Because I agree with her, support the fact that men shouldn't have to cater to society's standards of masculinity, believe that feminism stands for equality of the genders, and will not stand for the way she is currently being treated. Even if she wasn't the voice of my favorite character, I'd have to do this, but this only makes me want to lend my support even more. Aside from wanting to defend a worthy cause, I feel like I owe her. She's given me so much, as a Brony and as a person. I couldn't look away from this.

#ISupportAndrea

Popularize it wherever you go. Even if you don't agree with what feminism is really about, no one deserves this kind of treatment. Even if you don't like hashtags, spread it around for others to see and spread. Even if Flutters or Pinkie aren't your favorites, lend a hand. The worst of us have acted. Time to show off the best of us.

Thanks for reading, guys.

I have never EVER understood the cognitive dissonance of bronies who hate feminism yet watch a show about strong female characters written by a self-proclaimed feminist.

Also, she's pretty much defending their right to be a fan of ponies without judgement.

All I can think is there are guys that still hate themselves for liking MLP, when they shouldn't really. Men and Women should like what they want and as long as it's not hurting people screw what anyone else thinks.

5095298 I never really understood that either. But apparently, there are also a bunch of Men's Rights Activists stereotypes who like the show for some reason—but that doesn't make any sense either, because from a general census I gathered, MRA's hate Bronies.

5095297 That really is terrible to hear. As a feminist myself, I'm proud of Andrea for not being afraid of outing herself as one. But I think one of the biggest problems is like what Woolly said below you: A lot of male fans don't want to admit that the show is pro-feminist. They still have the stereotypes in their heads about the negative and obscene caricatures that are linked to feminism. It's a very sad irony, indeed.

5095297 As long as she doesn't support bullshit like Feminist Frequency or any of those other yelling and screaming extremists, then I'll have a #ISupportAndrea any day.

5095297

believe that feminism stands for equality of the genders

Um, not all feminists believe that nowadays. But then again, this isn't about feminism vs. anti-feminism. Not anymore, at least. I see it as a battle of nuance vs. a black-and-white mentality. And as this uproar clearly shows, nuance is losing.

So let's fight to keep nuance alive! Let's fight for the right to have proper context to situations instead of blindly assuming that one side is correct and the other side is incorrect! And in that sense...

#ISupportAndrea