The Bronies Get Their Own Charity

blackbearnh writes "There's a long history of media fandoms organizing fundraising campaigns, donating blood, and doing other charitable activities. However, even large and well-established groups such as Trekkies/ers and Star Wars fans usually work with established non-fannish charities like the Red Cross or Toys for Tots. Some may see them as a plague on the Internet, the Brony community has taken their charitable endeavors to the next level by going to the trouble of creating a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity. The Brony Thank You Fund received word from the IRS last week that, after nearly a year of work, they had been granted tax-exempt status. The Fund is currently raising donations to endow a permanent animation scholarship at CalArts, and is the same group that made news last year when they became the first fan group to purchase commercial time on national TV, for a 30 second spot praising My Little Pony and encouraging donations to Toys for Tots."

Comments

Brohoof

[Anonymous Coward]

Brohoof to fellow bronies.
This is the sort of thing that makes our fandom so great.

Re:Brohoof

[Anonymous Coward]

Now you guys only need to stop acting like little girls and you will be as respectable as Jar-Jar Binks fans.

Re:Brohoof

[Alex Vulpes]

(\ Brohoof!

It's been a couple years since we last had something on Slashdot, so I'm glad to see this up here.

Re:Brohoof

[femtobyte]

I hope you succeed in convincing the judge to void your visitation rights, because being obsessed with avoiding cooties from girly stuff is a pretty good sign of elementary-school-level emotional development.

Re:Brohoof

[foniksonik]

Because insulting people you haven't met and know nothing about is oh so mature. Way to be a role model mr. dad.

Re:Brohoof

[ClioCJS]

That last thing I want around your kids is a father who characterizes groups of people with false prejudicial strawmen. Hopefully you don't judge your own kids in such an asinine way, or they will be quite damaged.

Re:Brohoof

[femtobyte]

To be fair, I think the show is well written to work on "dual levels": both the little girls watching it, and the parents who might be dragged in to endure spending some time with their children. From actually *watching* episodes, I can attest that the writing has enough to offer to keep an adult entertained, too (so long as you're still capable of appreciating storytelling without constant gory violence, profanity, and explicit sex). It is indeed a matter of taste --- but for folks who enjoy absurdist humor, genre spoofs (which would often be over the head of "target audience" girls), character acting, sight gags / slapstick comedy, running jokes, etc., it's an enjoyable show. Yes, there are plenty of other great hobbies besides watching a TV series --- but that is true of *every* TV series.

Re:Brohoof

[epyT-R]

Yeah I know, heaven forbid that healthy men prefer to differentiate themselves from feminine attributes as a function of maturation.. When women or effeminate men behave according to their inclinations, it's 'empowerment', but when men are masculine, it's insecurity. Gotcha.

Re:Brohoof

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a difference between someone doing what they like despite pressures not to, and someone trying to pressure others to not do what they like for arbitrary reasons. There is nothing wrong with a guy fitting the stereotype of having hobbies like sports, cars, and fishing. However, if said guy goes around and bitches about other people liking things he dislikes and insisting that they shouldn't like something for his own stupid reasons, that is a different story.

Re:Brohoof

[ceoyoyo]

I can understand a kids' cartoon being worth watching. The "brohoof" stuff is kinda creepy though. In fact, a bunch of adults forming a fan club for a cartoon and calling themselves "bronies" is creepy too.

Re:Brohoof

[c0lo]

However, if said guy goes around and bitches about other people liking things he dislikes and insisting that they shouldn't like something for his own stupid reasons, that is a different story.

Well... tell these to those /.-ers who bitch about Obamacare. Or about the size of US government, taxes, arms-control (or the lack thereof).
Or tell it to AC posters that whinge about bronies being in existence and receiving charity status from IRS, will you?

Re:Brohoof

[mlk]

I'm a dad and have been dragged into watching it (and many many other cartoons), and enjoying the cartoon I do understand. I actively watch Batman and Barbie with my daughter.

What I find creepy is the way the loudest group of Bronies act, spraying Rule 34 all over the play in video games like. For many I except this is the appearance of the Bronie community.

Re:Brohoof

[serviscope_minor]

In fact, a bunch of adults forming a fan club for a cartoon and calling themselves "bronies" is creepy too.

How is it any more creepy than a bunch of adults forming a fan club over a TV show and calling themselves trekkies.

The "brohoof" stuff is kinda creepy though.

Live long and prosper, dude.

Re:Brohoof

[wierd_w]

They are both equally disturbing.

Neither is preferable.

Re:Brohoof

[Issarlk]

No, when men are bitching about other men not being masculine it's insecurity.

Re:Brohoof

[Allicorn]

WTG bronies.

Bring back the 1-April-2006 Slashdot theme to celebrate.

Re:Brohoof

[cheekyjohnson]

I find hiking disturbing.

Re:Brohoof

[jythie]

Considering what I see sports fans do....

Re:Brohoof

[jythie]

Thing is, that describes the bashers pretty well too. It is not enough that they feel such things threaten their masculinity or adulthood, but they need to loudly proclaim how disturbed the people who have the hobby are and how they should go away. I have never seen the show myself, so I do not have, if you will pardon the expression, a horse in the race here, but from a 3rd party perspective I see a LOT more of that behavior come from the anti bronie crowd then the bronies. Sure I hear of a few really obsessive types who will not let it go till everyone around them watches it, but I see a much larger group droning in the background trying to get people to not watch the show through no small amount of pressure and stigma.

Re:Brohoof

[Remus Shepherd]

(\ Brohoof back at ya.

Yes, it's a silly fandom for a kid's show. But it's an amazing community unlike any I've seen on the internet -- and I've seen a lot. The creativity and generosity of this fandom is off the charts, and that's the kind of crowd with whom I'm proud to associate.

Re:Brohoof

[jythie]

I had initially read it as commenting on the pushy bronies, but I could see how it could be read that way too.

Re:Brohoof

[thunderclap]

Jar-Jar Binks has fans? I thought he was the star wars equivalent of the mountain dew goat.

Re:Brohoof

[Hognoxious]

The last thing I want around my kids are a bunch of adult men who never emotionally advanced past the 3rd grade.

I know you are but what am I?

Re:Brohoof

[N0Man74]

They are both equally disturbing.

Neither is preferable.

I'm in neither group, but I've seen my share of Star Trek and was at least curious enough to watch an episode of MLP to see what the fuss was about.

I think that many people find the Idealism of Star Trek appealing. It's not just about spacemen and phasers, and it's not just about exploring space. It carries a lot of idealism about what humans can overcome and become culturally (not just technologically). The idealism resonates with many of the fans.

Likewise, My Little Pony seems to convey a certain optimism and promotes compassion and empathy (and it was at least mildly amusing).

I wouldn't go to conventions or anything, but people who are fans of things that are pretty benign and encourage empathy, compassion, idealism, and the bettering of humanity aren't really a bad thing.

So, when people want to shit on them because the fans don't conform to societal norms of being aggressive, self-serving, materialistic, dominating people kind of come off seeming like assholes to me.

Maybe they are weird or eccentric, but it a lot more harmless than a lot of things we idolize in this culture.

Call me a neigh sayer

[SWroclawski]

I guess it's good they're doing charity, but it's just so creepy.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

So if a girl likes a guy thing like football or wearing pants that aren't skirts, that's normal.

But if a guy likes a girl thing, it's clinical fixation disorder.

You are what is wrong with society.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

No, it's clinical fixation disorder when they fill their house with plushies, obcessively decorate their correspondence, make public displays of their obcesson, and insist that these are normal, and not obcessive.

In short, you can like my little pony all you want. But when you go so far as to modify your life such that it now revolves around that show, and you feel compelled to convert others to your obcesson, then there is a problem.

There is a difference between intolerance, and refusal to be converted.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

So then a guy who fills his house with sports memorabilia and always wears the team jersey has clinical fixation disorder?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

> In short, you can like my little pony all you want. But when you go so far as to modify your life such that it now revolves around that show, and you feel compelled to convert others to your obcesson, then there is a problem.

What about religious people whose lives revolve around the religion and they try to convert others to the religion?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

What about people whose lives revolve around slashdot?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

If doing so causes him trouble in his personal life, or causes him emotional harm, yes.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's just skip to the end: Anyone who likes anything I don't like has a mental disorder.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

As an agnostic, why would I exclude religious dogmatism from the category? It fits all the criteria doesn't it?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

Personally I think he's a loser either way. People need a sense of self that isn't some brand.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Samantha Wright]

Every subculture has people like that, and in all of them, they are the minority. I suppose you also assume that all furries are fursuiters, all gays march in pride parades, all trekkies own Bat'leths or Spock ears, and everyone who has ever liked a Star Wars film writes "Jedi" when the census comes knocking? You really need to stop diagnosing people with stereotypes. People aren't as crazy as you think.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

More like this AC.

"Anyone who's favored dive is so compulsive that it dominates their emotional lives, at the deficit of other interests and social interactions has a disorder."

In other words, when your devotion to an object of interest (sports, ponies, animated characters, Jesus, whatever) is so intensely overwelming that it overrides all other interests, and dominates your life, it is mentally unhealthy.

This is defined by the DSM.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

The irony here is thick enough to apply to sliced bread, and make into a sandwich.

I said when people's lives revolve around the fixation (the spock ears, et al of your post), *THEN* there is a problem.

Since those people represent a vocal minority, (not all startrek fans are "trekies". Some just think its fun to watch.) The are not the subject of discussion.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ChromeAeonium]

Assuming fandom equals obsession is rather absurd, don't you think? No one is saying obsession is bad, but jumping from MLP fandom straight to obsession, as if trying to imply they are somehow more linked than other obsessions and baselines, is pretty silly. Sure, there are obsessive bronies. There are also sports nuts, crazed foodies, people who played video games to death, animal hoarders, and all sorts of other obsessions out there. The obsessive minority does not define the baseline.

You average brony is basically just another person, going about life just like everyone else. Everyone likes different things and has different hobbies, just like Trekkies, Whovians, ect. This just so happens to be something we like.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

So what you're saying is - when you reach a certain age, you should stop liking certain things Because You Said So.

Brilliant.

Sounds like your inner child died, misery loves company, and you want to drag everyone else down to your cynical hellhole.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Samantha Wright]

Then say that before you start talking about fanaticism. Your first two posts were extremely dismissive and did not convey awareness of a vocal minority.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Pentium100]

But he is secretly wishing he could murder all the fans of the other team, smash all the store windows when his team wins and punch somebody when his team loses.
Stereotypes all the way! After all, it is impossible to like watching a sport without being a hooligan, just like it is impossible to like a TV show that was made to be suitable for kids without wishing to be a kid.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[B1oodAnge1]

Wish I had mod points.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

I did not think it needed clarification.

"Bronies", as a group, a people with this fixation. They are distinctly different from people who simply "like" MLP.

One is inclusive of the other, but not vise versa. Associating with the show to a level sufficient enough to ascribe a group identity implies membership in said minority.

Eg, "Bronies" is a subset of the completely harmless "fans of my little pony", in much the same way that "trekkie" is a subset of "people who like watching startrek"

The subject was about "bronies."

People who merey like MLP are not explicitly bronies, and mere accessories to the discussion.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Eskarel]

Non obsessives don't call themselves Bronies, or Trekkies, or Whovians, they don't define themselves based on what they like, they say "I like Star Trek" or "I like Doctor Who" (I presume that's what a Whovian is) or "I like My Little Pony".

When any interest(and that includes more socially acceptable interests like sports, sex, and alcohol) starts to define you, you're at the very least verging on engaging in some seriously unhealthy behavior. This is even more true when you're dealing with what might be considered socially unacceptable interests, because the sort of low level border line people tend to be pushed the other way by social pressure, but the social unacceptability of the interest isn't really the issue.

Personally I don't really give a crap if you like My Little Pony. I'll admit that I think that adults liking children's television shows is a little bit weird, but different strokes for different folks. So long as you're not hurting other people I don't really care what you do. However, calling yourself a "Brony" and giving people "Brohoofs" in all likelihood indicates some rather serious issues, sadly not uncommon issues, but issues none the less.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, as long as they're not true Scotsmen, I guess you've got a point.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Greyfox]

Hmm. I wandered over to the dropzone after work to get a skydive in. In the tandem waiting area, they have 3 TVs up, one of which has sound. The screen with sound has recently been tuned to a reality TV network which yesterday was featuring a segment of people getting hit in the nuts. Today it was some cops thing. I can't wait there too long, I feel my brain cells killing themselves one by one. They survived all that tequila, and now this. Terrible way to go.

In this media wasteland, you could do worse than a show with reasonably good writing that's not violent or cynical. The show is not a 20 minute cereal commercial, is not likely to cause epileptic seizures, and isn't so infantile that an adult can't sit through it. In other words, I approve of it, and I don't approve of... anything, really.

It was a good jump. There are two benches in the King Air which you straddle on the ride up. I was going out first, so I got the end seat, on the floor by the door. It was hot on the plane, so I opened it from 2000 to 6000 feet. It got a bit chilly at that point, so I closed it again. At 12000 feet, I exited the vehicle and went tracking for about half a mile before deploying my parachute. I'm... so not their target demographic. I'm also not the kind of person to be ashamed to admit that I like something I like. I'm also not the kind of person to snap to a judgment about an entire group of people, possibly after being exposed to their lunatic fringe. So... ha-ha! Feel the wrath of my frown of disapproval! :-/

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

That is your own definition of "brony" and just makes you look like an ass instead of actually communicating anything. Although there may be correlations, self-identifying with a group of big fans in general means nothing more than someone thinks they are a big fan. This idea that everyone who thinks they are a big fan must be obsessed to the point it destroys the rest of their life is either some horrible projection on your part, or some assumption you are making because it makes you or your argument seem better.

I don't even like the show, yet it is plain to see from the bronies I do things with sometime that they functional and active in things besides that related to the show. The only difference is the list of things they geek out has one particular thing in it, and are otherwise like any of the other people around, including having other interests and things they will geek out about.

I can't tell if you are trolling though, or are just really dense and/or hypocritical in how you view and make assumptions about people with different interests.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Samantha Wright]

I see where the problem is now. No, the term "brony" is much more inclusive than you appear to think. As it was first used inside the group, it does not have the pejorative connotations of "trekkie." Most self-labelled bronies are merely avid fans. This survey breaks it down. Only 16% agreed with the statement "[MLP] is my number one priority, all that I can think about."

For a lot of people in the MLP fandom, it is the only exposure they have had to New Sincerity. It provides a much-needed respite from the negativity of day-to-day life, as well as that of mainstream (and counterculture) media. This is why so many of them are so dedicated to the community (and how this charity came to be.) It doesn't really require obsession or fetishism to maintain critical mass.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ChromeAeonium]

Non obsessives don't call themselves Bronies, or Trekkies, or Whovians

I'd say I'm all four. Careful when determining who's a true Scotsman.

When any interest(and that includes more socially acceptable interests like sports, sex, and alcohol) starts to define you, you're at the very least verging on engaging in some seriously unhealthy behavior.

What do you mean by starts to define you? If you mean let it control you, than yes, that's certainty a problem. If you mean taking interests as a part of yourself, as one of the things that you enjoy and makes you unique, then no. Everyone is defined by the sum of themselves, their life experiences, their interests, their hopes, their hobbies, ect. That's the nature of individuality. And if a name and a gesture are all it takes to have serious issues, then maybe the whole world's a bit nuts.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[cinky]

enjoying a tv show/movie/band - ok

being obsessed with a tv show/movie/band - not ok - and it doesn't matter whether the show is MLP or Star Trek. I don't see a difference between a brony singing the MLP theme song in public and a Trekkie going grocery shopping in full Klingon mask...

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

Are there only two levels of interest that you can see: "like" and "obsess"? Is the world so black and white to you that you don't see any middle levels where someone may like something a lot, or say above average, or acknowledge that they would like things enough to make it a hobby or pursue it beyond just the typical means, but not necessarily obsessing?

A lot of people like video games and play them from time to time, it shouldn't be surprising that there are people who want to identify beyond that, but without claiming to exclusively play video games and do nothing else. Is someone who calls themselves a gamer, plays above average amounts of video games and maybe reads the occasional video game news piece obsessed, especially considering they have other interests and still live out their life? What about people who don't just like food, but want to try to learn how to make it better? Or even more esoteric stuff, while most people probably think Tesla coils are cool, is it obsessive behavior to make a hobby out of building one and calling yourself a "coiler" so other you can quickly communicate your interest with those of similar interests?

You might as well argue that people should only like things and not have hobbies. Or at least not have hobbies that have a simple name for participants...

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

I suppose it would have helped, if my limited experience with this fandom had been anything other than rabbid in nature I suppose.

It is also compounded by an admittedly unfair guilt by association with my rather negative experiences with the more purile of the furry community in its heyday. (I can only take being hounded to draw hyperschlongs for so long, you understand.)

I have no quibbles over people who like to watch cartoons. I myself liked Invader Zim's early episodes due to the cruelly sarcastic portrayal of adult life it extolled, for instance. I don't go around with an invader zim avatar, or scream "I NEED TACOS!" Inappropriately though, nor do I own zim merchandise. In don't fixate on it. I just found the show funny enough to like, despite being (somewhat?) Intended for children.

The cited charity, however, has been created by a group of people who's like for the show exceeds mere enjoyment, and has entered philosphical grounds. This is well into "minority" territory.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[epyT-R]

Nope.. this is little different from some overweight guy in his 40s who still decorates his entire home with NFL paraphernalia, always dresses in a jersey of his favorite team, and couches every conversation with football analogies.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[seebs]

You mean, the sort of baseline of activity for "serious football fans"?

I mean, sure, there's excessive behavior around, but for the most part, the stuff I actually see people doing, as opposed to random people on the Internet saying they heard of someone doing, is pretty much normal for fandoms.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Capsaicin]

So, about all those *nix zealots in here...

I simply refuse to believe that anyone could become so obsessed with *nix, or with computers, or technology in general, that it could adversely affect other aspects of their life, be they social, romantic, personal hygiene etc... Just could not happen!

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Lotana]

Let us be honest about ourselves: We are just as disturbed as the 4chan/reddit/something awful communities and don't have a higher ground to judge the bronies fandom.

Get one of us to talk to a psychologist and he/she will have enough material to keep writing papers for the rest of the career. :-)

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[purpledinoz]

I am a dude, and I know how dudes think. And normal dudes are already creepy.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Eskarel]

It's not about how much you like it, it's about how you define yourself. You can love things, but when you start thinking and describing yourself in terms of that thing, you're not in healthy territories. I hobby should be something you do, not something you are. You can call yourself a "Brony" or "Trekkie" and not have any dramas, but by doing so you're moving awfully close to an edge. Life is about balance and no single part of it should define who you are.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ChromeAeonium]

And what relevance does this have to bronies?

It's a classic straw man. There's plenty of average, well adjusted, normal people who consider themselves bronies. A common interest, name, some in jokes, and a maybe few plastic figurines do not constitute a life dominating obsession, but for whatever reason, some people take that as a starting point.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[AlphaWolf_HK]

I'd say that's a definite yes. You take it to too far of an extreme, and you end up with the present day middle east.

I have my biases against bronies, but that's probably because the first and only one I've ever met IRL was one of the most annoying people I have ever met. He's in his late 20's and he whines about every god damn thing there is. He was in my CCNP Tshoot class, and every time some little thing doesn't quite go his way, he makes this sound like a baby that can't reach its pacifier, every bit as high pitched, only much louder. And then when it goes a little more not quite so his way, he starts talking like the world is about to end, often times letting out a squeal (literally.) Oh, and he'd randomly start playing cartoons on youtube in the middle of class, with no headphones.

Of course, the bronie part wasn't defining as he didn't mention that he was one until the class was halfway done, and that sort of set the tone for it in my view. It's one of those first impression things that are hard to change.

When I look in retrospect though, there are all sorts of things that we take for granted as kids things but they used to be adult things. Early jazz for example has various jingles that most people today think were songs made for kids, but that is far from the truth. Also apparently pink used to be a masculine color prior to the 1920's. I think that might have changed because pampered rich boys tended to wear pink the most, and people wanted to get away from that, so it became a feminine thing. Still though I wouldn't be caught dead wearing pink.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ceoyoyo]

Yes.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[MaskedSlacker]

And those people have a serious problem and should seek mental help. Next question.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[c0lo]

And if a name and a gesture are all it takes to have serious issues, then maybe the whole world's a bit nuts.

Irrespective of name/gesture/etc, the whole world is nuts... and more than a bit. I guess this it what makes it interesting.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Social acceptance is definately covered.

It's one of the 5 major needs in Maslow's heirarchy.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

"Being a big fan", (emphasis on big) *is* the problem.

Being a "normal" fan isn't.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Precisely. Thank you.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

It is really quite simple, really.

When your thing of interest occupies more resources than your other interests, it is becoming unhealthy.

This is a spectrum, where "perfectly fine" is on the left, and "seriously, see a therapist" is on the far right.

People who like MLP have a socially questionable preference, but are on the left. People who aggregate to watch MLP, and make group associations with the show, are trending towards the right.

People who give each other "brohooves" or whatever, feel compelled to denounce people who honestly tell them that they are being excessive as "haters", rather than people who are concerned about them, and who enshrine aspects of MLP in their personal philosophies are well into the right hand side.

It is hardly black and white.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

I suppose it would have helped, if my limited experience with this fandom had been anything other than rabbid in nature I suppose.

Well, no it isn't. You claim it is yet there are plenty of entirely reasonably, calm people in this very thread posting replies, many of which I assume are actually fans. From that point, I can only conclude that the only part of the fandom you've chosen to notice is the loud, rabid and annoying part.

In that way a loud, rabid annoying brony is no different from a loud annoying rabid trekkie, Man U fan or curling enthusiast.

The cited charity, however, has been created by a group of people who's like for the show exceeds mere enjoyment, and has entered philosphical grounds. This is well into "minority" territory.

Via the show, they have clearly met a bunch of like minded people and they wish to do charity together. Somehoe you paint this as a bad thing. And since the show, or being bronies specifically is the only thing thay have in common, why point to it?

And besides, what is wrong with more than "mere enjoyment". Plenty of people do this with sports: they own their team jersy, will put it on attend a match with a bunch of their buddies all wearing the team strip, have a tailgate party drink some beers, talk crap for a while and eventually go home. Sometimes they might even do other avtivities with buddies they've met via the sport of choice.

That's more than "mere enjoyment" and society does not judge them because it is antirely reasonable, healthy activity. Yet as soon as people see pastel ponies, it's like OMG PONIES THIS IS WRONG!!!11111!!!oneONE1oneleven!1ONE1!.

tl;dr: every hobby goes beyond "mere enjoyment", but you're trying to justify judging this one negatively for some reason I cannot fathom.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

"Being a big fan", (emphasis on big) *is* the problem.

Why?

Because you don't like it? Or do you believe that noone should take a big interest in anything? Or do you have a list of blessed activities which you think it's OK to be a big fan of/interested in, and everything else is de facto bad?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Spectrum of inclusiveness, to help you see this isn't a no true scottsman.

[People]->[people who know about x]->[people who like x]->[People who REALLY like X]->[people really like X enough to associate freely with X as part of their identity as a person]->[People who's like of X dominates their emotional and mental condition.]

Note, [people who really like X enough to associate it with their identity as people] is on the far side of that spectrum.

Bronies are people who like MLP so much that they identify it with their personal identity. That makes it an extreme position.

[People who merely like X] is favoring the other, non illness inducing side.

What you are grappling with, is the stigma associated with mental illness. Mental illness is just that. People DO get better, but they have to admit there is a problem first.

Being socially ostracised by the devotion (having "haters") is a sign that there might be a problem.

The "no true scottsman" fallacy implies a conditon in which no true scottsman can exist, because all forms of candidacy are excluded. (No true scottsman comes from the highlands, etc)

This is not a "no true scottsman". The category is well defined.

But you probably already knew that, didn't you?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

Non obsessives don't call themselves Bronies, or Trekkies, or Whovians

Oh bullshit.

Someone who e.g. (a) likes the show, (b) frequents internet forums, (c) has a bit of merchandise and/or (d) attends the odd convention would definitely count as a Trekkie/Brony/Twihard depending on the fandom. But you know what? I know a few people who would classify as that (ok not the Twihards) and AFK/IRL/however you wish to put it they perfectly reasonable people.

When any interest(and that includes more socially acceptable interests like sports, sex, and alcohol) starts to d,efine you, you're at the very least verging on engaging in some seriously unhealthy behavior.

Well, if you make up definitions to suit your own needs then it's much easier to argue against them. Well done, that straw man won't be coming back to life, nosireee.

Definition I posted is reasonable self-accepted defitition of many show fans, and in no way implies any life consuming aspect.

You're somehow implying that a label like "brony" means it must be all consuming. Well you're a slashdotter so by your own definition you are unhealthy and probably uninterested in sex.

I'll admit that I think that adults liking children's television shows is a little bit weird, but different strokes for different folks.

Then honestly, you need to open your mind more. Take Toy Story 3 for example. Norminated for Best Picure (and was in fact much better than the King's Speech which won).

It was well well animated, had an excellent script, good plot, fantastic characterisation, brilliant writing, packed a real emotional punch and was really a deep reflection on loss and change. If you think it's a bit weird for liking that because it has a U label slapped on it and is animated, then frankly your attitude is broken.

So why should MLP be any different because "it's for kids"?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

I have no problem with people donating to charity.

I have no problem with people who don't have an abnormal degree of enjoyment from a children's television program.

I have a problem with people who's enjoyment of a children's television program has caused them to adopt a group identity, and philosophy, which causes manifest changes in their personality.

My suggestion that they are exhibiting signs of a disorder are not unfounded, nor unreasonable. The sympthoms are dead ringers for cult membership, and other deleterious conditions. The fact that the exhibited behavior is considered benevolent and not malign (like cult membership) is inconsequential. The issue at hand is the mechanism, not the result.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

When your thing of interest occupies more resources than your other interests, it is becoming unhealthy.

By that perverse definition, everyones biggest interest is unhealthy.

People who like MLP have a socially questionable preference,

Socially questionable to you. Don't judge my social questioning based on yours.

People who aggregate to watch MLP, and make group associations with the show, are trending towards the right.

Er, wait so people who like to engage in a hobby socially are trending towards the right? That's messed up, dude. You know many hobbies (including all participatory team sports) actually are impossible to do without aggregation and group associations. This is the first time anyone's implied I'm menatlly unhealthy for being in a volleyball team. Well done.

feel compelled to denounce people who honestly tell them that they are being excessive as "haters", rather than people who are concerned about them

Hahaha. Well, if you get denounced as a hater don't be surprised. When your "genuine concern" basically involves levelling accusations of mental problems to people who just like to meet up with a bunch of friends to watch a TV show then really you should expect to be given short shrift.

If you go back and read your posts the only thing you seem to find acceptable is sitting at home alone watching the show and never telling anyone else about it. If that's the biggest interest you take in anything, then IRL you'd be really bloody dull.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Because being a "big" fan of something means it holds more of your attention and consideration for importance than other parts of your life, which then runs foul of the clinical definition.

By definition alone, it is mentally unhealthy behavior. Likeing something isn't bad. Liking something an inordinate amount, however, *is*.

If you find yourself doing or thinking about something more often than other things, it is a sign it is in unhealthy waters.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

I have a problem with people who's enjoyment of a children's television program has caused them to adopt a group identity,

The group identity "Brony" is basically "fan of MLP". You keep making up definitions of it in your other posts, but that does not make those definitions correct.

I adopt many group identities. I am an X (substitute X for name of a team I play on), I am an engineer, I am a hacker amongst other things. Identities are helpful because it helps reduce vast amouts of tedious verbiage. I am also an enterpeneur.

And if the latter isn't an identity which doesn't (a) eat unimaginable quantities of time and (b) cause manifest changes in personality than I don't know what is.

Basically you're saying the following is bad:
1. People like a show
2. People find other likeminded people
3. People meet IRL and do stuff together.

How is that bad?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Actually, his definition is in line with the DSM.

It only has to cause deficits in other aspects of the person's persona and interests to be considered to be "doing harm".

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

Lots of grown men think less of you for that comment.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

No, the "I like MLP" group says "Hey, I like MLP! There's nothing wrong with that!" The "bronie" group says something quite different.

See the "brohoof" skein above. Being compelled to make an "in crowd gesture of support" like that is directly indicitative of being far more than "just liking the show."

The problem with association, is that it creates a false sense that this is normal.

Say, alcholics meeting at a bar. All their friends are alcoholics, their friends are alcoholics, what's wrong with drinking heavily every night after work?

This is why the definition is made so clinically. If it preoccupies you, such that it causes deficits in your other interests or personal life, it is defined as harm, and persistent behaviors of this type are signs of mental illness.

Like alcoholism, it is an illness, and people can and do get better. They have to accept that there is a problem first.

So that you can see this is not some definition I pulled out of my ass, I will look it up for you.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3101504/

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Scarletdown]

I can't say it any better than you already did, so I'll just share some nerdy visual prozac with the rest of the Herd.

Weird Al Yankovic, Twilight and Nerdy

Tom Lehrer, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

DisQord vs Picard, Q Who?

Don't forget...

The Rednex, Hittin the Hay.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Actually, I *am* quite dull. And this *is* a problem I admit having.

But you are purposefully confusing the issue.

Its one thing to sit and watch something with friends, as an every so often thing. It's entirely another to do it "every night".

It's a spectrum. Not a line. The bronies in this thread are trending to the unhealthy side, and should at least CONSIDER that there is a problem.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

Basically you're making up definitions.

You define "Brony" as "big fan" and then redefine "big fan" as someone who spends too much time. Your definition is basically at odds with the definitions commonly accepted. If that makes you feel better then well good for you.

Liking something an inordinate amount, however, *is*.

Owning a plushie and a couple of figures, watching the show, visiting internet forums would imply "big fan" to most people. None of those and even all of them together implies any kind of inteference with "life" as you put it.

Come to think of it, according to you, I have an unhealthy obsession with tools.

I like tools, I've spent a lot of money building a good collection over the years and I use them whenever I can. I care for them well. The ones that should be oiled are oiled. I'm now pretty adept at sharpening them too, and as a result keep all my kitchen knives very sharp. Occasionally I spend whole weekends in the garden working with wood. Does it intefere with life? What *is* the point of life if you don't spend time doing things you enjoy?

If you find yourself doing or thinking about something more often than other things,

Unless you think about all things equally, then one thing must take precedence. i.e. by your odd definition, everyone is obsessive about something.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

No, the "I like MLP" group says "Hey, I like MLP! There's nothing wrong with that!" The "bronie" group says something quite different.

You're making up definitions to suit your own arguments.

See the "brohoof" skein above. Being compelled to make an "in crowd gesture of support" like that is directly indicitative of being far more than "just liking the show."

I know what a brohoof is. Those Japs are really werid for bowing to each other rather than shaking hands like normal people. I.e. different groups have different rituals and formalities.

The problem with association, is that it creates a false sense that this is normal.

I could ask every brony I know if they think being a brony is not common or usual. None of them would claim it is.

If it preoccupies you, such that it causes deficits in your other interests or personal life,.

Here you go about defecits in other interests. Basically you're defining Brony as anyone who is so obsessed they abandon everything. That definition is unique to you.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

Not only are you making up definitions of Brony, you're making up what people in this thread are actually doing.

Point to one non AC troll brony poster who claims to be watching the show every night, or doing something pony related every night, or that their activities are detrimental to anything at all.

There are plenty of posters in this thread who are self-proclaimed Bronies who claim exactly not to do that.

So far you have done nothing but attack very tall strawmen that you yourself have built.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

I realise that we're now talking across about 8 different subthreads. Your reply has no relation to the post it was replying to, probably because of that.

I cordially invite you to reply again to my post :)

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Jesus_666]

You are assuming that identifying with a word means that one bases an overwhelming part of their personal identity on the things associated with that word. That's not neccessarily true.

I'm a slashdotter. I don't spend that much time on /., usually just browsing the RSS feed and its featured comments. That doesn't change the fact that I consider myself part of the local community.
I'm a web developer. The fact that I write programs in a shitty language for a living and read CSS Tricks doesn't mean I base my entire life around it; it just happens to be my job and I consider myself to be among that group.

Obviously, being part of a fandom to the point of adopting its moniker means that you spend some of your time and/or money on it. But that doesn't mean it has to be more than a regular hobby. I do consider myself a brony but currently the hobby takes up less of my spare time than re-watching ST:DS9 while I commute. (No, I don't consider myself a trekkie. It's just what I happen to watch at the time.)

I do have a literal handful of pony figurines but that's because the show has a clear relationship between merchandise bought and episodes produced: We buy more crap, they make more episodes. As for me, I only buy crap that's on-model. My love for the show doesn't go far enough to want those hideous brushable things on my shelves.

In the grand scheme of things being a brony doesn't consume that large a part of my life; it's just yet another hobby. Still, I am sufficiently involved in the community to understand its memes and customs and I think that does make me a brony. Not an extreme one but still I am a brony, just like I'm a slashdotter, a web developer, a gamer, a pen-and-paper roleplayer, a writer, a unix user and more things that don't dominate my life but influence me as a person in some way or another.


Note that this doesn't change the fact that there are hardcore bronies who fill every nook and cranny of their homes with pony memorabilia, endlessly proselytize and can't function without watching at least one episode per day. I'm just saying that you can self-identify as being a part of the brony community without being like that.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[BanHammor]

Am I the only one thinking this also applies well to the LGBT community?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[cheekyjohnson]

Your problem is that you like something more than I would like you to. You need to listen to what I say and spend exactly as much time on your hobbies as I tell you to. If you don't listen to whatever I say, then you're objectively wrong.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

No, YOU are saying that ABOUT me.

A preoccupation does not mean "OMG! ALL THE TIME!", it means "a significant amount of time."

Eg, if you keep thinking about something, it is probably an obcession. It doesn't have to be "all the time", just "frequently", to the point where its habbitual, or routine.

Playing cards with friends casually as an enjoyable activty is fine. When you are totally jonesing for cardnight, and ascribe hightened value to the experience, it is *well* over the line.

The issue here is that you are not listening when I say that there really isn't a *LINE* at all! The issue is defined when there is "harm".

In the case of alcoholics, there is financial harm to feed the addiction, physical harm from the effects of the addiction on the body, emotional harm from the self-worth consequences, and social harm from the fallout of uninhibited behavior.

Because there is so much cear and obvious harm, nobody argues that alcoholism is a disorder.

Fetishistic behavior also carries risk of harm. There is social harm in the form of a stigma, emotional harm in the form self-worth issues and crisis of identity (manifest hy the group identity, to reinforce the self-identity.), possibly physical harm if the fetish involves extreme physical activities or rituals, etc.

A behavior can be unhealthy, in much the same way eating a cheeseburger is unhealthy. It becomes a serious problem when it happens frequently, much like eating hamburgers multiple times a week, and can contribute to a real nasty problem.

You are trying very hard to cast me into the role of saying something absurd, like "if you eat hamburgers, you are obese!", when what I am really saying is that eating fatty foods contributes to obesity, and is unhealthy.

You are scrambling together arguments that with drop-in replcements, produce silly results, like "what's wrong with going out to eat? We eat out all the time! It doesn't contribute to my expanding waistline, or the obesity epidemic! You are making up definitions of what is unhealthy!" , and trying earnestly to insist that I am offbase with them. I have already pointed you at the DSMIV definitions for what constitutes a mentally unhealthy behavior. That is where I am drawing my conclusions from. This is like defining "fatty food" as a food which elevates blood lipid and cholesterol levels above a medically established benchmark. It isn't something I am conjuring from whole cloth like you are implying.

The argument that I am making broad accusations, when I am doing the exact opposite, is however made from whole cloth.

I do believe it is called a strawman.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[cheekyjohnson]

It's entirely another to do it "every night".

Oh, is it? I think you've been posting on Slashdot more than I would like you to; you must have a mental problem.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[SharpFang]

Please note: the brony society is big and rich and can provide quite a bit in means of social interactions and interests.

The fact the social interactions don't involve beer and sports on TV doesn't mean they are adversely affected.

So, you have a hobby: say, art involving metalworking. You can try going with your original ideas and get maybe 20 people interested in your custom minted coins. Or you can mint an Equestrian Bit, get featured on Equestria Daily and get thousands views and quite a few orders.

You have a hobby: hiking. You can gather a company of hiking friends and discuss routes and equipment on your trip, and eventually seek common subjects, maybe hi-tech gizmos. Or you can gather a bunch of hiking bronies and sing pony songs on campfire stops, discuss fanfics, and joke about pony stuff.

It's only when ponies replace other hobbies they become a problem. If they add to them, they are nothing but a boon.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Define "hurting others".

Does it stop at physical harm?

How about causing emotional harm, or psychological harm?

Is refusal to be considerate of the wishes of others being harmful? (Loud music at parties? Vandalizing property? Theft? Being verbally abusive? )

I don't care if somebody likes the damn ponies, but I do care when they shove the ponies in my face. I consider that causing harm. Others do to, which is why people ask, and others demand that they not do so. Refusal to accept and be considerate of this is harmful. (Downmodding posts you don't like the message of is also harmful. If your group affiliations cause you to do this, your affiliation is causing you to do harm.)

Moreover , the harm may also be to themselves, by ostracising people they may otherwise find a connection with, if not for the extremity of their positions. (See, middle east writ large.)

You incorrectly assert there is no harm. There is.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[cheekyjohnson]

Stop enjoying things that I don't enjoy! The magical opinion fairy says you're objectively wrong for doing so!

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Your argument only takes one person who likes MLP, and wants to distance themselves from the fandom to fall flat on its face.

Sadly, I am not this person, though it would make me laugh if it were so.

You are asserting this person does not exist, and *MUST* join the fandom association, or they aren't a true fan of MLP.

That my friend, really is a no true scottsman.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Strawman ahoy!

No, I am saying obcessive behavior is unhealthy.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Nonsequitor. That is the far extreme of the spectrum, and not the mean.

As such, I don't *need* to find one.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[cheekyjohnson]

Which boils down to pretty much what I just said in practice. "Stop spending so much time doing X!" If they're having fun, what is the problem? You have no objective basis (and the DSM does not make opinions about subjective matters objectively correct) to say that it is 'bad'.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

It's been flung around here inappropriately, but you might find this informative.

wikipedia on no true scottsman fallacy

Pay special attention to the "origin" section.

Now. Let's substitute some text.

PinkiePiePwns1178, a Bronie, sitting down with his MLP message board, and seeing an article about how the MLP fans on a different site oust the bronie movement.. PinkyPiePwns1178 is shocked and declares that "No fan of MLP would do such a thing". The next day he sits down to his MLP message board again; and, this time, finds a thread about a Bronie man who wants to distance himself from the MLP bronie label. This fact shows that PinkeiPiePwns1178 was wrong in his opinion but is he going to admit this? Not likely. This time he says, "No true MLP fan would do such a thing".

And thus, is the "all [true] fans of MLP are bronies" argument shown to be a no true scottsman.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[r_a_trip]

Life is about balance and no single part of it should define who you are.

In other words, only bland people are acceptable...

I'm not a brony, but I have "unhealthy" interests in computers, Linux, and I probably enjoy animated movies from Disney/Pixar and DreamWorks too much.

MLP doesn't float my boat, but I see no harm in having people enjoying the show and identifying with the (I assume) positive message in that show.

Witches to the stake, gays to hell and bronies are creepy. Yeah, that sums up the sorry state of our society.

Wiccans have it right: An it harm none, do what ye will.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

As such, I don't *need* to find one.

Yeah you do. You're claiming all bronies have an unhealthy obsession at the extremem end of the spectrum. As such it is up to you to justfiy this claim.

Pick your meme:

[ ] [Citation needed]
[ ] pics or it didn't happen

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

You are asserting this person does not exist, and *MUST* join the fandom association, or they aren't a true fan of MLP.

That my friend, really is a no true scottsman.

No, my friend, that is a classic example of an utter failure of reading comprehension. Allow me to illustrate by quoting more of the conversation in one place:

weird_w: By definition [of being a big fan] alone, it is mentally unhealthy behavior.

serviscope_minor: Owning a plushie and a couple of figures, watching the show, visiting internet forums would imply "big fan" to most people. None of those and even all of them together implies any kind of inteference with "life" as you put it.

wierd_w: no true scotsman

serviscope_minor: [this post]

You claimed being a "big fan" was unhealthy _by_definition_. I provided an example which I believe would be widely accepted as a "big fan" which is not even remotely unhealthy. You're somehow claiming that is a no true scotsman. That makes no sense: it was assertion followed by counterexample.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[SharpFang]

Humans are social creatures. They have a need to belong, to be in a group. If you exclude all 'brands' from your identity, you become a loner. Also, people of exceptional talent create exceptional, popular works. Its unlikely your talent is as exceptional, and so few of the things you create from scratch, as "your own brand" can be better than you can find if you seek.

So, instead, people find things they like and gather around them. They build upon them, make them better, expand on them, add personal touches. Very few can create something both original and notable enough to create a following after their own brands. Most find common theme to unite them as a group - follow something established. Are they all losers?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[cheekyjohnson]

I consider that causing harm.

I consider your posts to be causing 'harm'.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

No, YOU are saying that ABOUT me.

Um yeah?

weird_w: No, the "I like MLP" group says "Hey, I like MLP! There's nothing wrong with that!" The "bronie" group says something quite different.

serviscope_minor: You're making up definitions to suit your own arguments.

weird_w: No, YOU are saying that ABOUT me.

serviscope_minor: Um yeah?

You're taking effort to define Brony as a "big fan" nwhich you define in other posts as by definition with an unhealthy obsession. In other words you are defining "Brony" to mean someone with an unhealthy obsession with MLP.

Of course if you redefine words to suit your needs, you can win an argument based on any set of words. That does not however make your argument correct.

I am disagreeing with your fundemental definition that Bronies by defitition have an unhealthy obsession unhealthy.

You are trying very hard to cast me into the role of saying something absurd, like "if you eat hamburgers, you are obese!"

That's because you are. Let me illustrate with a quote from your very own post
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3746003&cid=43717741:

Because being a "big" fan of something means it holds more of your attention and consideration for importance than other parts of your life, which then runs foul of the clinical definition.

You are defining "big fan" as unhealthy. That is absurd as defining cheeseburger eating as obese.

I have already pointed you at the DSMIV definitions for what constitutes a mentally unhealthy behavior.

No, you're using a mix of things. You're using that defintion mixed with your own personal unusual definition of "big fan" being at the stage where it fits into the definition of a mental illness.

I do believe it is called a strawman.

That is precisely what you are doing: you are cobbling together random bits from an medical manual with your own defintions, calling the result a Brony and declaring it to be mentally unsound. That is a classic strawman.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

How you got from:

"plenty of big fans of MLP (i.e. Bronies) are not at the stage of mentally unsound obsession"

to:

And thus, is the "all [true] fans of MLP are bronies" argument shown to be a no true scottsman.

is anyone's guess.

In fact what your doing is *exactly* the no true scotsman:

You: All bronies are mentally unsound. /me provides an examply of mentally sound bronies.

You: Ah well, all true bronies are mentally unsound.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

If a grown man tells me he likes football, I think less of him.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[SharpFang]

Pinkie Pie got me into baking. I got quite good at cooking. From the level of "eggs on bacon" level to "beef and mushroom spicy pasties in puff pastry" level.
Actual need got me to learn sewing using a sewing machine, although Rarity was a significant contributing factor.
I actually managed to hunt down and watch moonrise inspired by Princess Luna. It's harder to observe than you''d think.
The show in general got me back to my pasttime hobby of writing, after good 10 years of writer's block.
I managed to last third winter in the row without succumbing to hopeless depression.
I've made a few new friends.
I won a poetry competition.

All thanks to ponies.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Greyfox]

I wish I could. You don't have to go far to find some stupid shit on TV, apparently. It'd be a problem if I had kids, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want cable in that case, and I also wouldn't want them being exposed to it by their friends. "Tell me you're not going over there to watch TV, son. Oh, you're just playing violent video games? Well that's OK then!"

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[tehcyder]

At 12000 feet, I exited the vehicle and went tracking for about half a mile before deploying my parachute.

Parachute? I bet it's made out of silk like a big girl's blouse.

Real men rely on chance interactions with trees or washing lines to break their fall.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[tehcyder]

So if a girl likes a guy thing like football or wearing pants that aren't skirts, that's normal.

But if a guy likes a girl thing, it's clinical fixation disorder.

You are what is wrong with society.

There's a difference between an adult guy liking an adult girl thing and an adult guy liking a girl child thing.

I've watched all sorts of crap with my kids over the years, but I wouldn't search it out to watch in adult company. This applies equally to Barbie and Ben 10, it's not a sexist thing.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[tehcyder]

Wish I had mod points.

Wish I had ponies...OH SHIT!

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[tehcyder]

> In short, you can like my little pony all you want. But when you go so far as to modify your life such that it now revolves around that show, and you feel compelled to convert others to your obcesson, then there is a problem.

What about religious people whose lives revolve around the religion and they try to convert others to the religion?

You're right, that's a (slightly different) problem too.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[tehcyder]

Still though I wouldn't be caught dead wearing pink.

I'm no fan of bronies, but that is just silly machismo bollocks.

A nice pink shirt and tie are part of every gentleman's wardrobe, unless he is a closet homosexual.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[tehcyder]

Owning a plushie and a couple of figures, watching the show, visiting internet forums would imply "big fan" to most people. None of those and even all of them together implies any kind of inteference with "life" as you put it.

None of these things are a bad thing to do with your life if you are an eight year old girl.

If you're a 40 year old man, sorry, it's just weird. I know at this point the slashdot libertarians will bring out the "you should be free to do anything you like as long as it doesn't harm others" card.

Fine, I didn't say it should be illegal. I just think that, taken seriously and not as a camp joke, being a brony is going to make people think you are weird. That's your right, but it is ridiculous to pretend you don't see why it's weird.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[fredrated]

"If I do it, it is good; if you do it, it is creepy" seems to be a common theme of humanity.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

Where would Rugrats fall on your continuum?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[NoImNotNineVolt]

This is a spectrum, where "perfectly fine" is on the left, and "seriously, see a therapist" is on the far right.

Okay Slashdot, conservatives have suffered your surreptitious innuendo for long enough.
This, though, is crossing the line!

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[tlhIngan]

In this media wasteland, you could do worse than a show with reasonably good writing that's not violent or cynical. The show is not a 20 minute cereal commercial, is not likely to cause epileptic seizures, and isn't so infantile that an adult can't sit through it. In other words, I approve of it, and I don't approve of... anything, really.

At least one TV network has realized this - and it's getting fairly good ratings (as good as network TV gets these days) because of it - CBS. Sure they have SOME reality shows (who doesn't? And you need a few for the few viewers you have that demand it). But they have a LOT of the more traditional scripted and written shows. And they consistently do a lot better - the scripted shows generally outperform the reality ones these days.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

None of these things are a bad thing to do with your life if you are an eight year old girl.

Trying to stick to the original point: are you claiming that these are bad things or not. You appear to be claiming that they *are* bad things. Remember the OP was talking about actually being mentally unsound.

If you're a 40 year old man, sorry, it's just weird.

Firstly, I do not believe for a moment that you are sorry. You appear to relish saying this.

Secondly what's wrong with weird? Are you claiming that simply being weird is enough to qualify as being mentally unsound?

Thirdly, so what? Occasionally I have been known to do maths for fun in my spare time. I discovered a number and have on and off been trying to prove its transendence for a few months now. I'm not a mathemetician and it has no bearing on my job. I have no background in the relevant branches of maths, but it's fun finding out. That is a pretty bloody weird thing to do with my time.

Why the hell should I care if people think I'm weird?

I get into heated arguments about which windowing system is superior (weird by most standards).

Sometimes I program computers for fun! (another thing that "normal" people think is weird).

Sometimes I go to the opera. You'd be surprised how many people thing _that_ is weird.

To quote XKCD: you need to know enough to stay alive and get your taxes done. The fun things in life are optional.

(you don't even have to know how to do taxes in the UK if you have a regular job)

That's your right, but it is ridiculous to pretend you don't see why it's weird.

I've given up trying to judge what's weird and what's not. Plenty of apparently prefectly normal people seem deeply weird to me in the way they react to the world and live their day to day life.

To me, the extremely negative response of many posters on this thread seem weird. Why on earth do they care so much what others to with their spare time? It is utterly unfathomable.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

There's a difference between an adult guy liking an adult girl thing and an adult guy liking a girl child thing.

When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

--C. S. Lewis

Why is there a difference and more to the point why on earth do you care?

but I wouldn't search it out to watch in adult company

That's your problem, not mine.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

Good for you.

I've found some new friends too and taken up drawing, all thanks to ponies.

But apparently I'm mentally unbalanced according to some posters here...

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[denmarkw00t]

What about religious people whose lives revolve around the religion and they try to convert others to the religion?

The same answer applies:

In short, you can like Jesus all you want. But when you go so far as to modify your life such that it now revolves around that person, and you feel compelled to convert others to your religion, then there is a problem

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[fishbonz]

Wish I had mod points to up the score!!

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Nope, was made many times earlier up the thread there, bucko.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Oh dear gawd.

Here.

"Being a BIG fan is the problem" is like unto "eating cheezeburgers is a problem", when "the problem" in the first case is mental illness, and where "the problem" in the second is obesity.

That is, "being a really big fan contributes to unhealthy mental addictions", in the same way that "eating cheeseburgers contributes to obesity"

When you don't moderate the activity, and let the compulsive behavior define you, it is the same as always caving to a desire to eat cheeseburgers, and becoming obese.

That is the relationship. You have been trying your best to pervert it to something absurd for 10+ posts.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Hognoxious]

Nonsequitor.

Wasn't he one of He-Man's pals?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Your error: somebody can't be just a little mentally ill, they have to be full on batshit.

The extreme depiction was at "batshit". There are less extreme values for mentally ill. Identifying with a group identity to substantiate a desire for public acceptance reasons indicates that the holder of that identity has actualization deficits. ("I like MLP", vs "we're bronies, yo.")

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

More like:

You: You are making up words
Me: No, I get my definitions for mental illness here. (Link)
You: (ignores link) You are making up words! My bronie friends would say they have a problem!
Me:Alcoholics say they don't have a problem either, but they do.
You: (dead horse mode) You are making up definitions to words! Being a bronie is just being a big fan of MLP! This is established use!
Me: Being a big fan is the problem.
You: You are saying things that make no sense!
Me: it makes perfect sense, (explains)
You: No it doesn't because (contrived tautology)
Me: asserting that people who are simply fans can't avoid being bronies is not logically supported, because that is a genuine no true scottsman. Thus my delineation of "fan" from "bronie" is not specious redefinition, but rationally derived.
You: that does not make sense!

It seems to me, that you have difficulty listening, or comprehending what you are reading, when you disagree with it.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

And you are welcome to.

However, people who are subjects of interventions also frequently falsely ascribe malice to said intervention, and consider it harm. (Look at the lindsay lohan drama.)

My pointing out that obcessive behavior is an indicator of illness is like pointing out that drinking 2 or more alcoholic beverages daily is a sign of alcoholism. The personal accusation, "are youj calling me an alcoholic!? How dare you!" Is not deserved, but you are free to level its equivalent if you like.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Strawman fallacy play for the win?

I think not bud. That's an illegal play, and you know it.

It is quite possible I have spectrum disorder of some sort or other. That is inconsequential, however. What does have consequence is that I am willing to look at this as a potential problem. The people here, are not.

Also, I distanced myself from computers years ago. My dayjob involves making and reading blueprints, and my hobbies include, but are not all inclusive:

Textile crafts (crochet, knit, tieing nets, etc)
Drawing
Sculpting
Going camping (primative)
Equestrianism (but not the bronie kind)
Playing video games

With the exception of the first one, these are all "normal" hobbies, and many are social activities as well.

Your accusation is a stereotype, and offbase. While I do like computers, I don't spend inordinate amounts of time with one; I recognize that doing so is a problem, is unhealthy, and *gasp* do other things with my time, and don't self identify as a "computer nerd".

I openly acknowledge my abnormality.

Others here? Not so much.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

It is clearly bordering if not already into the unhealthy side of the spectrum, yes.

Your opinion that it is not is irrelevent, really.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[nmb3000]

Bronies are people who like MLP so much that they identify it with their personal identity. That makes it an extreme position.

It's unlikely this will contribute much at this point (and depth in the thread), but I believe you are misunderstanding the "brony" label, and that this might be why so many people are disagreeing with you even though your base point about a life being disrupted by an obsession is valid.

By and large a brony is just "someone who watches My Little Pony and is not the targeted demographic". It's not just adults -- many teen boys accept the label. It's also not just males, many late-teen and older females also call themselves bronies. You don't see a lot of them going around telling coworkers and strangers and trying to "convert" them, but online or in discussion with friends they'll consider themselves part of that group. That is: "I'm a brony" means "I watch MLP".

The little animation Let's Go and Meet the Bronies from BronyDoc presents this as well (but in a much more colorful fashion).

So yes, while the real obsessive fanatics usually call themselves bronies, they only make up a small part of the brony group. Furries and the "crazy furries" are pretty much a perfect analog.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

(Has seen one of the new MLP. Will dissect it cruelly now.)

In one episode, one of the ponies has the magical power to bring out sunshine, where her sister has the magical power to create nighttime.

The one that creates nighttime (nightmare, I believe is the name..) likes night time a LOT. I mean, *A LOT.* so much so in fact, that her desire for it to be night time is obcessive.

(Eerily poingant..)

Attempts at reasoning with her prove fruitless; she becomes ever more obstinant about her obcession. (Irony.) Threatens to make it night time forever.

Rather than do a real intervention, the daytime pony simply imprisons her sister magically, and does nothing to help her, and keeps her trapped for a VERY long time.

One of the less magical ponies discovers a prophecy about this event, that one day nightmare would escape, and realizes that the prophecy is coming true.

They spend the rest of the episode dealing with nightmare and her obcession.

Now, my cruel deconstruction:

If the sunshine pony loves her sister, why does she lock her up and forget about her 1800s sanitorium style? Why is this an acceptable solution, as opposed to supressing her powers, or transfering her powers to somebody else for awhile? How does this function as a role model?

Nightmare has an obcessive fixation on creating darkness. Her obcession causes others distress, but she does not care about that. She only cares about satisfying her fixation. She does not recognize that her fixation causes harm, and views all attempts to convince her that it does as a personal attack. Through the narrative, she recognizes that her obcession is unhealthy, and acts with moderation from then on.

That is the real story to take away from the episode.

It is also one totally lost on many of the people in this thread, who have the "Doing X is fun for me, and perfectly harmless! You are attacking me and are a bad person for insisting that I not be extreme about it!" Point of view.

When you are presented with such a message, and focus on trivial frivolaties like "Pinkie Pie is just so awesome! :3" instead, you really don't have a leg to stand on concerning the "new MLP actually has substance!" Line.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

But at least the wiccans genuinely are interested and apologetic if their activities cause emotional harm to other people.

They take great efforts to be as non-offensive in their practices as possible, as a general rule. (There are always exceptions.) That is to say, they don't recite the rede outside a crowded church, dance naked at beltine around a flagpole in public, or scratch pentacles on people's floors.

That is clearly not being conserved here, where we have people giving each other "brohooves", verbally assaulting people who honestly suggest they may have a problem and should consider being more moderate, and generally refusing to acknowledge that their interest is undesirable to the wider majority, who would frankly rather not see it, but don't really care if those people watch ponies otherwise.

The wiccans have the highground here.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[serviscope_minor]

At this point, I'm not sure if you're simply stupid or a troll.

I keep claiming that you are making up your own personal definition of Brony purely so that you can prove that Bronies are mentally ill, using a stock definition of mental illness.

You are again claiming that being a "big fan" is a problem because you are defining "big fan" in such a way that is is a problem.

The thing is: these are your own personal definitions and not the ones accepted by pretty much anyone else. You are now claiming that your definition is rationally derived where you are then one contorting it so that it fits the definition of mental illness.

I provided an example of what can reasonably constitute a big fan and was not a problem. You somehoe claimed this was a "no true scotsman" thereby demonstrating that not only do you have no grasp of English, believing as you do that words mean things that they do not, but also demonstrating that you have no grasp of the principles of locical fallacies either.

A clue: a counterexample is not an instance of "no true scotsman".

So let me try one more time, though I do not honestly believe you will read or are capable of understanding it. I therefore do not expect a reply to this part of my post:

The following is an example of a big fan, that I am sure almost everyone would agree on.

1. Likes the show.
2. Has select a favourite pony.
3. Owns some merchandise, e.g. one or two plushes or figures.
4. Posts on MLP related forums several times per week.
5. Occasionally meets other bronies AFK or attends a convention once per year.

If someone meets all 5 then no sane, rational person (apart from you) would claim the person is not a big fan. Not one of those things implies the person starts doing pony things to the exclusion of everything else and/or in such a way that it has an adverse effect on their life.

That latter point is your own personal definition of a "big fan", shared by no one else. You claim it is rationally derived when clearly it is just your vapid attempt to convince youself that everyone in this group of people is mentally ill.

That is not a rational stance to take. So yes, I asset you are either irrational (i.e. stupid) or a troll.

Now that is a perfect example of ad homenim, but at least I backed it up with some shred of evidence.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

That's because it isn't a precipice.

Its more like wading out into the ocean. Near the shore, the water is shallow. You are still walking out to sea, but the water is tractible. This can give the false illusion that all of the water is safe, and that you can handle it. Eventually, you are no longer standing in the water, you are swimming over your head, and if you keep going, will hit the tide, and go out to sea.

Where is the tide? When do you stop standing on the bottom? Different for each person.

I am not saying "you are out to sea." I am saying "walking away from the beach will lead you over your head, if you don't moderate your activity. When your overconfidence makes you want to drag people out with you who don't want to go, there is a problem."

Splashing around in the shallows is usually harmless, but not always. Some people do indeed drown there. Much more people drown out by the riptide. When somebody says you might consider swimming back, because it looks like you are by the riptide, it isn't a personal insult. Is an expression of concern for your well being.

Refusal to accept that the riptide is there, and can and will consume you if you keep going, is a pathology.

Again, where the shallows end and the deep water begins is different for each person. For convenience, I split "fans" from "bronies", based on the observed depth of water they seem to be treading. I was relentlessly booed and catcalled for this.

That's about the complete summation here.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Golddess]

I'm not sure what you mean. Could you please explain?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

"Fan" is short for "fanatic".
merriam webster on "fanatic"

Since "sports fan" is short for "sports fanatic", then sports fans are by DEFINITION, excessive.

So, no, not absurd at all.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[BanHammor]

There are plenty well-adjusted gay men, and the fact they enjoy sexual intercourse with each other doesn't mean they let it become a life-constituting obsession.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[SharpFang]

Brands, groups, interests, fads, trends - be it fashion, mathematics, religion, cars - these all are "unoriginal". And if you exclude *all* except for the ones you created yourself - no, you won't have any topics in common to talk with your friends about, no shared interests, nothing to keep you together.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Golddess]

Ahh, gotcha. Thanks for explaining what you meant.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Kelbear]

Ok, the "wierd_w" guy you're responding to has clearly shut himself off to rational discourse here. He's not listening to the reasonable arguments being put out by the bronies on this article.

If it helps at all, you guys have at least changed my mind about Bronies. It appears that for most of you it's just a harmless hobby/interest. I can understand how light-heartedness in a show can have a certain appeal in today's culture which is so heavily burdened with sarcasm and cynicism. I for one happen to enjoy the blissful naivete of Star Trek depicting a hopeful future where mankind (at least most of them) have advanced beyond many of today's problems. (DS9 being an obvious thematic exception, but cool for other reasons).

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Again, refusal to acknowledge the existence of the riptide is pathological.

People who are excellent swimmers drown all the time when they get caught in one. For comparison, look at addiction. People who are addicts believe they are in control. They aren't. They react badly when people perform interventions, because they believe they are in control.

The same thing happened here.

Go talk to a recovering alcoholic about it sometime. It might be enlightening for you.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

So, in other words, "serious shit happens, then saccharine to the rescue."

(And yes, I did watch the episode.)

The "its a contrived plot to set up for the saccharine rainbow of friendship that solves everything because being lockeded up for years on end doesn't leave any kind of deep emotional scarring or sense of betrayal at all! M'Hm!, and friendship makes it all better like mommy's kisses!" Line is hardly what I would consider "real sincerity".

Instead, we have a ruler (celesta was it?) Who has a cult of personality around her, and a jealous sister. Celesta locks up her sister, rather than say, throw her a slumber party, or some other self-esteem boosting activity. If all the other ponies fall asleep, give them some coffee or something. If the real cause of her nerosis was that she was lonely, why didn't celesta listen to her then, and work something out THEN? Nope-- into the magic prison spell you go!

Holes like this in the story expose the series as just more saccharine, just sans the merchandising.

 

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Eskarel]

Most of us are ill in one way or another, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. Every one of us does things that are unhealthy every single day of our lives, we eat the wrong foods, drink, some smoke, the vast majority of us don't get enough exercise(and some get too much).

My point is that describing yourself as a "Brony" or a "Trekkie" or any for that matter any of the names I can't recall for teenage girl fans of being fans of any of the horrible drivel they listen to, or any of the names for fans of sports teams, is a warning sign. It's something that should maybe make you sit down for a minute and say "Hey, am I happy with this? Am I investing too much of my time, my money, or myself in this?" If when you get those answers you're happy with them, by all means go ahead, but realize that they are questions you have to ask because those labels and there are plenty of them outside the world of nerd pursuits.

And of course, if you're not an adult, ignore all of the above, it is perfectly normal for kids and teenagers to have unbalanced obsessions with things, pretty much everyone does at that age. If on the other hand you're 30 years old and your hobby is filling up your house, whatever that hobby might be, ask yourself if you're happy with that. You're well within your rights to be happy so long as you're not hurting anyone, but you should ask the question.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[cheekyjohnson]

My pointing out that obcessive behavior

Looks like you're a bit obsessive yourself. Maybe you have a mental illness? You've posted on Slashdot more than I'd like you to.

There is no way you can prove that something is objectively bad (that I see).

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

No, "saccharine rainbow powers solve everything!" Isn't "deep". Not even for a show intended for children.

Want a show that really is?

watership down

Its intended age range is 8 and up. (Hint, that's most of the same age range for MLP, which is 6 to 12 (and bronies).)

I saw it when I was 7. My parents had already explained death to me, and the cold war was still going on. It did not leave me with emotional baggage, and I liked it, much like this reviewer liked it. It depicts "serious shit happens! Only hard work and bravery really fixes it."

It prepares older kids for the not so nice things in the world around them as adults, and helps them be more than 2 dimensional emotional fountains when the saccharine landscapes they were sheltered in are violently ripped away.

I wouldn't show it to 6 year olds, but 8 year olds should be able to handle it, if their parents haven't tried to unnaturally extend their childhoods with a diet of saccharine to stunt their mental and emotional growth. Thankfully, my parents fed me a more healthy diet of media that featured consequences and resolutions that had real meat in them.

MLP:FIM is not "deep". No, Not even for a kids show. HR Puffinstuff had deeper meanings hidden in it, and it was made for 3 year olds.

Children need to learn that "saying sorry" and "let's be friends" doesn't absolve dickery, and it doesn't fix a wounded heart, or a scarred mind. It helps, and is the first step, but that road is a long and hard one. Friendship isn't really magic.

It isn't about being noir, or gloomy, or broody about things. That's equally unhealthy. It's about accepting consequences, and learning that often times the best ways to avoid those consequences, BECAUSE they are hard to resolve, is to just not do those things to begin with. (And when you have to, accept those consequences gracefully and with maturity.)

If the people hooked on the saccharine in MLP were absorbing THOSE lessons instead of cancer causing sugar substitutes, they wouldn't be as callous about their candor with other people and other people's interests, and react so violently and negatively when people demand they stop. (No, putting pinkiepie in places she does not belong is NOT 'cute', and IS an offensive gesture. People getting mad about it and telling you to stop is the consequence, acting like a petulant child and throwing a fit and resorting to creating lynch mobs and retaliatory strikes on communities outside the fandom is aggression, and people hating you and your lynching pals for it is the consequence. Saying "I'm sorry!" In a saccharine sweet voice, then going off and doing it right away again like nothing happened is NOT resolution.

Again, you would have learned this, if you watched things with *real* substance.

MLP is not such a food item.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

"Refusal to accept and be considerate of this is harmful", says the man who refuses to accept and be considerate. And who apparently purposely micspells words to see the harm it causes in aggravating them.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

I feel sorry for anyone who makes "other people not thinking I'm weird" any sort of priority whatsoever.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

Pinkie Pie is my spirit animal.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Musc]

> There is no way you can prove that something is objectively bad (that I see).

You might be able to prove that something is subjectively bad, however.
Don't forget that something being subjective doesn't make it any less real, dangerous, or painful.
For example, I don't know if there is a medical device that can objectively tell me if you are in pain. However, if you are hurting, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are subjectively feeling pain. How would you like it if a doctor refused to treat you even though you had horrendous pain, just because you had a type of pain that couldn't be objectively proven to be real? Migraines might fall into this category.

Note: I know that I took just one sentence that you said and removed the context of the conversation.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

I knit maybe once a month. Often less. Its for relaxation.

How often do you watch MLP?

If it's several times a week, you may have a problem.

It isn't about liking something odd. Its about liking it to excessive degrees.

But you clearly can't or won't accept that answer, and will instead resort to more adhominems.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

Let me help you.

"Fan".

It is short for "fanatic". Merriam webster defines fanatical behavior as synonymous with excessive behavior. A fan of MLP is by definition excessive in their degree of association with that show.

A bronie is a fan of MLP who's excessive like of that show compells them to ascribe to a group identity of other fanatics.

Even if you disagree that there is a separation between MLP fan and bronie, there is still a separation between people with a non extreme appreciation or approval of the show, and a fan of the show.

The point where fanaticism becomes pathological, is when that fanaticism causes the fanatic, or others, harm.

That is, and has been the message I have been repeating. The "You are saying bronies are insane!" Line is a radicalization of yours and other's creation.

I am saying that they exhibit signs of mental illness which shows a graduation of intensity, the more fervent their devotion to MLP is.

A bronie exhibits more devotion than does a simple fan, owing to the choice to group associate. (And no, asserting that no MLP fan is not also a bronie is a no true scottsman.) This makes bronies, by observed intensity of their devotion, more extreme, and therefore more likely to be mentally ill to a degree.

But feel free to go off the deep end, and hurl unfounded accusations like everyone else in this thread, totally ignore what I have said repeatedly to you and others, ignore the tenents of your show's basic message of acceptence and forgiveness and expose yourself to be a raging and emotionally petulant individual like everyone else.

Apparently you seem to enjoy doing so.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

More like, "when your desire to eat cheeseburgers has you define yourself as a "cheesburgerer", you are now clearly eating cheeseburgers pathologically, and demonstrate having an eating disorder."

It isn't that you go one place because you like the cheeseburgers. It is that you go there compulsively, at the deficit of going other places, and eat the cheeseburgers with priority over other foods, and doing so makes you assign yourself a group identity, as belonging to a wider group of people who also do so, to justify this decision.

People who like MLP is a bigger set than people who are fans of MLP. People who are fans of MLP is a bigger set than people who self-identify as bronies.

People who like cheeseburgers is a bigger set than people who are fans of the cheeseburger. People who are fans of the cheeseburger is a bigger set than people who self-identify as "chesseburgerers".

The self identification is the major diagnostic criteria, because it indicates that the practitioner of the behavior expresses knowledge that the behavior is excessive, experiences a deficit in social situatons because of that excess (AKA, "harm"), and self associates with others that share this excessive behavior to make up for it.

The impetus to self associate is the diagnostic criteria. It indicates that harm is present, and that the behavior causes illness. All by itself. Simply by existing.

(And yes, I know "cheeseburgerer" isn't a real word. Then again, neither is "bronie")

I am sorry if this makes you angry. How it makes you feel personally is not really relavent to it being truthful.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ultranova]

While I do like computers, I don't spend inordinate amounts of time with one; I recognize that doing so is a problem, is unhealthy, and *gasp* do other things with my time, and don't self identify as a "computer nerd".

I openly acknowledge my abnormality.

Others here? Not so much.

Does it bother you, that these others spend their time doing what they want, rather than abstaining for the sake of and in fact basing their whole identity around appearing more pleasing to random strangers or the abstract concept of normalcy?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

The etymology of fan from fanatic is correct. Simply because certain forms of fanaticism are widely culturally accepted, does not make it suddenly healthy.

Being a couch potato, for instance. Excessively sedentary lifestyles are quite popular. This does not make them any less unhealthy. Being a sports fanatic is quite popular. This does not make it less unhealthy.

The real issue is that you do not like the connotation of being considered "ill".

That's another matter entirely.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

I find your over-generalizations and sensationalist methodologies taxing.

Your basic argument is that I can't define "excessive". I defined it several times. When it causes defiticts of other interests.

Me? I *do* have dozens of interests. One a month for an hour is a well moderated activity for me. If you have a shorteg of things you enjoy doing, naturally you will have more time to devote to the more limited selection.

I presented myself as an extreme, since you leveled an accusation that my participation in that activity was extreme. I simply clarified it was not, by nearly anyone's imagination.

It is important to point out that it isn't just time you spend watching MLP, but also time you spend shopping for merch, how much you spend on merch, how much time you spend making or looking at fan art or stories, etc.

I knit. But I am not a member of any knitting clubs, contests, or any subscriber to any publications related to knitting, and don't typically go out of my way to find things to knit. I don't associate with any larger knitting demographic. (Like say, speed knitters.) It isn't really a part of who I am, just something I know how to do, and do occasionally to relax.

Bronies on the other hand, are not nearly so moderate in their behavior or zeal for their constellation of activities. This is clearly manifest by the sheer number andkinds of personal attacks, ad hominems, and overal vengeful candor of much of this thread demonstrated by them. They aren't even capable nor willing to moderate their behavior, ad cleary manifest fanatical behavior.

It has been nearly a whole week since this thread hit slashdot, and yet, here you are AC, still beating your drum.

Qed.

Re:Just shoot me now

[quasius]

People trying to make the world a better place- it's awful!

Thank you

[Anonymous Coward]

No, thank you.

Can someone explain bronies?

[Anonymous Coward]

is it a prank? rebranded furries? an ironic hipster meme collapsed under its own weight and is now self aware? inquiring minds want to know!

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[blackbearnh]

How about people who are genuinely appreciative of an animated cartoon with all-ages appeal, quality animation, and great voice work.

Not everything needs to be some kind of snarky ironic entity. There's room in the world for sincerity, as much as the Internet tries to beat that sentiment into oblivion.

And for the record, less than 20% of bronies self-identify as furries, the vast majority are heterosexual, and the fandom has nothing to do with pedophilia.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[_KiTA_]

is it a prank? rebranded furries? an ironic hipster meme collapsed under its own weight and is now self aware? inquiring minds want to know!

Yes, it's a form of Furry Fandom. Basically "Furries" as modern people know it were the same thing as bronies, except instead of being fans of My LIttle Pony they were fans of Robin Hood, Albedo, or Omaha the Cat Dancer.

These modern furries are just coming from the My LIttle Pony reboot, which apparently is a very good show (never bothered). They try to distance themselves from the "old" furry fandom, but there is an incredible amount of overlap in the two communities, both in members, culture, and themes.

One thing "Bronies" do have going for them is there are a lot (a LOOOT) of Internet savvy Bronies, most of which are connected with the kind of places where memes get started (Reddit, SomethingAwful, etc). This means that Bronies have, so far, avoided the same "Furries = Perverts" forced meme that SomethingAwful pushed out.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[femtobyte]

Real sincerity is the new ironic fake sincerity.

Actually, the show writing isn't the horrible syrup you might expect --- it's actually made to be tolerable for a parent to watch alongside their kids. There are frequent joke references that would go *completely over* the head of the "target" demographic age, but are thrown in for 20 to 30-year-olds. The voice/character acting is high quality. There is surprisingly little blatant "buy all our playsets and toys!" pushy in-show merchandizing (especially for a kids' TV show produced by a *toy company*). And the main character is a "nerd" portrayed in very positive light --- the show has a refreshing air of anti-anti-intellectualism, and is the opposite of "math is hard! let's go shopping!" Barbie.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ClioCJS]

^^^ Take it from the expert who can't spell "Fetish".

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[Hartree]

You're locking up the stable after the horse has already bolted, as it were.

The boring truth about most fandoms can hardly compete with the lurid imaginations of those desperately searching for someone they can consider more hopeless than they are.

Remember. These are Slashdot ACs, the most pathetic losers ever to inhabit their mom's basement. 'Nuff said.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[Sprakle]

Thanks for saying this. There is a lot of unjustified disgust here.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[Hartree]

" "Furries = Perverts" forced meme that SomethingAwful pushed out."

The real joke of this, is a number of the SA Goons who pushed the anti-furry meme hardest are furries themselves. (And at least a couple of those are regular posters here on Slashdot. They can out themselves if they wish. I'll just whistle innocently.;)

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ClioCJS]

It is not a false assertion that actual experts on a subject know how to spell said subject.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

But it is a false assertion that I am an expert.

I have simply read the DSM. That *is* what it says about when something becomes a disorder.

You are welcome to look it up yourself.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ClioCJS]

You mean the DSM that many people are now abandoning? Or the one that said homosexuality was a disorder?

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[sunderland56]

Not all fettishisms are sexual.

All of the fun ones are.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

All I can say with certainty about the furry fandom, and its predelections for depictions of sexual gratification, and other things commonly associated with being "perverted", is that during that particular era, I had numerous requests to illustrate such scenes, which I tacitly declined to do, and when I did make an anthropromorphised character, frequently had lurid demands of giving it a giant dick hurled my way.

My response to these tactics was to produce Guro images involving furries demanding giant penises, getting said penises in ways they clearly did not find favorable.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[noh8rz10]

to be fair, your argument was about fetishes, and you pervasively misspelled the word, so it kinda undercut ur argument. just sayin.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[Hartree]

"Guro images involving furries demanding giant penises,getting said penises in ways they clearly did not find favorable"

Somehow, I bet there would be a market for those. (It's sort of an extension of rule 34)

Welcome to fandom of all kinds. From fantasy chainmail bikinis with "modifications" to anime drawings that defy the laws of physics (let alone any form of taste).

It comes from having human beings that don't necessarily have a whole lot of social skills and do have a whole lot of androgens.

Imagine what the fandom for lingerie football must be like.

Every fandom has its "Erma Felna with a crowbar" stories.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

The one that is still the basic standard by which mental disorders are characterized.

It has had many revisions. The definition of when a subject becomes a disorder is pretty straight forward.

The issue at hand is the stigma associated with mental illness.

True to your character though, you have indeed derailed the conversation exactly as predicted wit a red herring. Congratulations.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[noh8rz10]

wtf is a furry? sounds really messed up... and pervy. sex with animals? no thank you!

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ClioCJS]

So far, the only other person who replied made the same point as me, so evidence points to my assertion, not yours. Try as you might. (Also, you realize calling someone adhominem man is, itself, an ad hominem, right?)

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[femtobyte]

Welcome to the internet; I see you're new here. There's a useful reference section right around the corner called "Wikipedia" where you can often get introductory answers to questions like yours: what is a furry?. From this, you should be able to learn that being a "furry" does not equate to being "pervy" (assuming by that you mean "interested in sexual activity besides missionary-position procreative copulation within marriage"), and has nothing whatsoever to do with screwing animals.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[foniksonik]

I've watched every episode and can say without a doubt that the production quality of the show is extremely good. The story arcs are well crafted, the character building is great and even the side plots have a purpose beyond mere entertainment. The only thing I wasn't thrilled about was the Miss America tie in for last season's finale. It fell flat IMHO. The finale itself was good though.

Gotta say I'm a Pinkie Pie fan, her slapstick comedy routines are timed perfectly. She did a spit take in one episode that had me ROFL.

If I were to place MLP with a peer set of TV series it would be Breaking Bad, The Wire, DragonBallZ, FireFly, Cowboy BeeBop and maybe GOT (it still hasn't proven itself, we'll see how this season wraps up).

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

My experiences with "the fandom" are mostly negative.

That said, a furry is basically a person who *really* likes images and media dealing with anthropromorphic animal characters.

It can be harmless appreciation for that kind of depiction, but can also be quite lurid in its manifestation.

There are several subgenres within the fandom that enjoy things like, "hyperschlongs", "enormous breasts", "spooge shots", and yes, sadly, "Guro" imagery. (Save yourself from the nightmare fuel. Guro is japanese for "gruesome". It is pure disgust made real through explicit imagry. Please don't google it.) Sadly, this also does include a fringe set of zoophiliacs, though the fandom itself tries to disown them I hear.

My experiences have left me rather jaded with the furry community in general, but I can tolerate the less extreme forms of the community. I prefer to distance myself from them, however. I can only take "It needs a giant penis!" So many times before my tolerance levels reach zero, which happened many years ago.

In deference to the my little pony following, I have to be subjected to pornographic pinkie pie pics, so I will retisently withhold judgement.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ChromeAeonium]

And the main character is a "nerd" portrayed in very positive light

The creator if the show did state that she wanted the main characters to have a wide variety of traits (the hard working one, the nurturing one, ect) as a kind of 'you can be who you want no matter what it is' message to the target audience of young girls. The nerdy one being the lead was a nice touch.

Also, a fun bit of trivia /. readers will probably appreciate, an episode once had a that character working with time dilation equations here.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[noh8rz10]

In deference to the my little pony following, I have to be subjected to pornographic pinkie pie pics, so I will retisently withhold judgement.

jebus man, get a flippin dictionary! i mean, come on!

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[noh8rz10]

ah thank you for the attitude. are you a furrie?

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[femtobyte]

No; but I do try to learn enough about other "strange seeming" people that I don't reflexively assume everyone with different interests from my own must be a child-molesting goat-fucker pervert by default.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

No, the irony of that situation is not lost on me.

But again, you are welcome, and even encouraged to examine the clinical definition of "mental disorder" yourself.

Considering your line of argument has been to assert the illogical statement "you misspelled "fetish", therefor, wrong.", and my reply was "check for yourself to be sure I misused it", which you have clearly failed to do, and now followed up with a "nobody has chimed in yet to support you, thus wrong" fallacy instead, I seriously wonder about you.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

(Angering english nazis, a personal past time of mine. Always enjoyable. It amuses me that the most important things they have to say is that a word was misspelled, and that this has made them crazy. Such fun times.)

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[Osgeld]

quality animation? seriously ... the ponies would not have passed as a flash animation 10 years ago, and they say nothing relevant

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[noh8rz10]

sorry man, i didn't hear what you said because i was staring at the huge wart on your face / glaring spelling error.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[camperdave]

wtf is a furry?

Gil Grissom to the rescue!

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[noh8rz10]

No; but I do try to learn enough about other "strange seeming" people that I don't reflexively assume everyone with different interests from my own must be a child-molesting goat-fucker pervert by default.

wikipedia:

A portion of the fandom is sexually interested in zoophilia, or in fursuiting, although a majority take a negative stance towards the former.

good to know that a majority have a negative stance against sheep love! not that there's anything wrong with it, and some of their best friends do it, but they just wouldn't choose it for themselves, no judgment!

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ATMAvatar]

Nearly all the really creepy ones are, too.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

I am much more surprised at your lack of apoplexy at the carefully planted subject-verb agreement faux pax I made above. ;)

Clearly you are not a "grammar" nazi, just a word nazi.

(/joke)

In all seriousess, I don't bother proofreading when posting from this POS android phone, because my thumbs input text faster than the IME reports, and the keybord drivers for this unit are notoriously shitty. This results in misspelled words, incorrectly injected apostrophes in words like "its", and combined with slashdot's abysmal mobile page code, trying to reposition the cursor to make corrections would result in inordinate amounts of my time being spent for minimal gain.

That this causes you discomfort is simply amusing to me.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

Note the very long thread above this one.

Note how I indeed assert this as part of the requirement. (It's currently +4, you can't miss it.)

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wierd_w]

Please don't put words in my mouth, just because your feeings were hurt. It's not civilized.

I said that people who call themselves furries "really" like said art. Emphasis on the "really". This is still fanatical, just not lurid. These people tend to own large catalogs of animation, and to have clipart or other memorabilia, and tend toward being quite posessive about them. This fanaticism is "harmless", but still fanatical. This is still different from people who simply like cartoons, but not to an extreme such that it defines part of their life.

The deeper, seedier layers of the fandom are considerably different from this subset, since their fixations are clearly sexual in nature, and are quite deserving of the "pervert" slur, in my opinion.

But nice strawman all the same. It could use a little work though. The angle was all wrong.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[wonkey_monkey]

Bronies suffer from fettishism. It isn't always sexual.

FTFY.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[serviscope_minor]

The one that is still the basic standard by which mental disorders are characterized.

To repeat: you mean the one that classified gay as being a mental disorder.

It has had many revisions. The definition of when a subject becomes a disorder is pretty straight forward.

I if classifing disorders is so easy,then why has the DSM had so many revisions and why did it get homosexuality so incredibly wrong?

True to your character though, you have indeed derailed the conversation exactly as predicted wit a red herring. Congratulations.

You pointed the the DSM as your evidence. It is 100% reasonable to attack the evidence you have refered to. That is called a "debate".

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[Jesus_666]

In deference to the my little pony following, I have to be subjected to pornographic pinkie pie pics, so I will retisently withhold judgement.

Obviously there are. Any large enough fanbase will generate porn and the FiM fanbase is large enough that its porn has its own little memes. That's fairly natural; I can remember shows as far back as ST:TOS showing well-understood examples of this. I'd say it doesn't say much about the bronies in particular but something about humans in general.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[serviscope_minor]

You are impling that they are a disjoint set?

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[serviscope_minor]

Basically the problem is that weird_w is simply redfining words to mean things that he wants.

He _defines_ Brony to mean someone with a mentally unbalanced obsession. Therefore his argument is self-consistent, even if it is very silly.

Oh yeah and I'm a fish too. (defining fish to be slashdot poster)

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[serviscope_minor]

I said that people who call themselves furries "really" like said art.

And theyre again you're wrong: some do, some do not.

I don't get your obsession with defining things like "brony" or "furry" to be one specific subset of those respective fandoms that you don't personally like.

But nice strawman all the same.

Touche.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[toudaimori]

You really can't spell, though.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[_KiTA_]

wikipedia:

A portion of the fandom is sexually interested in zoophilia, or in fursuiting, although a majority take a negative stance towards the former.

good to know that a majority have a negative stance against sheep love! not that there's anything wrong with it, and some of their best friends do it, but they just wouldn't choose it for themselves, no judgment!

And a "portion" of the Brony fandom is goes about on four legs in "pony fursuits" at brony cons. Most don't, and think those that do are weird.

And a portion of Anime fans cross dress in $3000 costumes of little girls (and have sex in them, too!). Most don't, and think those that do are weird.

And don't get me start about Doctor Who fans, what with all that slash fic about the Doctor making sweet love to... himself. And the Tardis. And himself again. At the same time! Most don't, and think those that do are weird.

Every sufficiently large enough group of people has it's perverts. Furry / Brony is no different than fans of Japanese Cartoons, szPopularScifiSeries, or Random Popular Book of the week. (For example, 50 Shades of Grey proves that all Twilight fans are secretly into BDSM!)

What IS different is that a particular website designed to harass people a few years back decided to pick and choose the most vile crap they could out of the Furry Fandom, presented it as representative of the whole, and a very large group of very ignorant and unimaginative bandwagon hoppers took the meme and ran with it. For a decade.

Ironically, the same mindset that causes the "LOL FURFAGS, 9 FOOT LONG COX AND HIPPO BALLZ LOLOL" crap is also the proverbial cancer that is killing /b/, so... karma's a bitch, eh?

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[serviscope_minor]

quality animation? seriously ...

Yes. Ask a professional animator if you can find one.

and they say nothing relevant

Wither that or your not old enough to understand the message of some of them.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[Golddess]

And for the record, less than 20% of bronies self-identify as furries, the vast majority are heterosexual

Not sure if it was your intent, but also for the record, one can be a furry and also be heterosexual.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ClioCJS]

As someone who watches some 60 cartoon series a year, the animation is top quality. It most certainly would have passed as flash animation 10 years ago, and is better than most flash animation today.

Do not mistake disliking a particular aesthetic as being synonymous with bad quality.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ClioCJS]

It seems to me that you have a mental disorder about proving others' mental disorders.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[ultranova]

is it a prank? rebranded furries? an ironic hipster meme collapsed under its own weight and is now self aware? inquiring minds want to know!

True Art Is Angsty, so anything lighthearted and well-written is likely to sell like ice water in Sahara and for the same reason.

not charity

[D1G1T]

Sarcastically creating a scholarship so students can learn make more soul-crushingly-commercial toy-selling animation hardly qualifies as charity.

Re:not charity

[blackbearnh]

1) Unless you think that pretty much every piece of quality animation produced in the last 30 years (Iron Giant, Dexter's Laboratory, everything from Pixar, etc.) is "soul-crushingly-commercial toy-selling animation", you might want to do a little research on CalArts and their animation program.

2) In addition to the scholarship, the Brony Thank You Fund also donated nearly $20,000 to Toys for Tots, over $10,000 to the College View School, and over $1,600 each to GLSEN and Engineers without Borders in the last 12 months. Bronies for Good (a brony fundraising group) raised over $100,000 to aid an orphanage.

The only sarcasm I can detect around here is yours...

Re:not charity

[femtobyte]

How many episodes of the show have you watched? I was surprised by the *lack* of soul-crushingly-commercial toy-selling actually in the episodes. And I'm generally an extremely cynical, anti-corporate, anti-capitalist type. There may be plenty of slimy child brainwashing manipulation going on in separate toy ads, but the show material itself seems a lot less marketing-driven than the majority of kid's TV shows.

mc chris FTW

[ClioCJS]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWhDb5u2El4

Re:Huh...

[Anonymous Coward]

Lies, furries are more ancient pervasive and subversive then bronies. They also cover a gender neutral segment of society. They will always be here. Were this is probably a passing fad and will be absorbed into GLBT-dom or be absorbed into furrydom itself.

"Bro"nies by it's very nature is sexist.

It is just another -ism and this is the first time male rebellion against its archetypal image isn't resulting in mass lynching, sterilization, and imprisonment for insanity.

Re:Huh...

[blackbearnh]

Interesting... Did you know that 85% of female bronies dislike or are at best neutral to the term "pegasister"? Bro is gender neutral in this day and age.

Re:Just shoot me now

[quasius]

What if it was zombie Hitler? What then? Huh?

Kor Memorial Scholarship

[ChromeAeonium]

The Fund is currently raising donations to endow a permanent animation scholarship at CalArts

The Klingon Language Institute also has a scholarship so fandom born scholarships are not unheard off.

From a long suffering Cardinals fan:

[Hartree]

"modify your life such that it now revolves around that show, and you feel compelled to convert others to your obcesson"

So, what were you saying about Chicago Cubs fans here in central Illinois?

Re:From a long suffering Cardinals fan:

[MaskedSlacker]

They have a problem. Next question.

Oh, I'm sorry, did you think you were being insightful?

Re:From a long suffering Cardinals fan:

[LanMan04]

They're awesome. Fuck the Cards.

Re:Just shoot me now

[readingaccount]

Pablo Escobar was known to provide to charities and give aid to the poor. Perhaps he was also trying to make the world (or at least his part of it) a better place. Does mean he was particularly nice though.

Not trying to say the Bronies are as bad as Colombian drug lords, just shooting down your argument.

Heh.

[ZorinLynx]

Watched the show at the behest of a friend. Liked it, it was very enjoyable. Told a different friend about it.

She got about ten times more into it than I did. She started a meetup group in New York, then created a brony *convention*. She invited me to come up and help.

So I did. And I met a bunch of new, fun people in the process.

I always liked the show, but never took it as far as some of the other fans. The whole thing ended up causing me to meet a large group of fun, quirky people, so overall it was very positive.

I haven't been too involved in the past year, since a ton of drama started up and I got tired of hearing about it. I'll probably still watch the show, but my days of flying up to NYC for cons is over.

Though I'll likely be up there to visit friends in the summer. Oh, and Rarity is best pony. Sorry folks. :)

Re:Heh.

[Pentium100]

I am similar - I like the show, like some of the fanfics, have a few figures but that's it. I'd rather buy a good tape deck than some expensive (custom) figure etc. Don't know of any meetups within ~30km of where I live, but I would probably go to one if there was one and I had time.

Oh, and Twilight is best pony. And now she is best princess too (Luna is a really close second though).

Re:Heh.

[foniksonik]

Pinkie Pie forever!

Re:Heh.

[Windwraith]

Word. *brohoof*

Re:Heh.

[serviscope_minor]

Oh, and Rarity is best pony. Sorry folks. :)

Sorry? Of course she is.

Re:Heh.

[serviscope_minor]

And now she is best princess too

RAGE.

Re:Heh.

[Golddess]

Oh, and Rarity is best pony.

Actually, Fluttershy is.

Um, that is, if that's alright...

Re:Heh.

[HeckRuler]

Damn straight she is.

Re:Heh.

[mvdwege]

My GF introduced me to the show, she had gotten it via a friend of hers (who, unfortunately, did fit the horrible stereotype people have of bronies).

What struck me from the beginning was the obvious knowledge and love the creators have for the classic American cartoons of the 40s and 50s. Most episodes are a straight homage to the works of such luminaries as Tex Avery and Charles Schultz. Given the executive producer, that is no surprise.

I don't generally go for fandom, so I don't self-identify as a brony, and I even had my GF design me a t-shirt with a pony in a Ghostbusters-like traffic sign proclaiming me as 'not a brony'. Which of course does identify me as a fan.

It's a neat show. I'd definitely class it as a modern classic of comedic animation.

Mart

Re:Heh.

[RBDash47]

Oh, hey, that must be Purple Tinker? Drama's not much fun, but the show and a lot of the community still is. I do miss those halcyon days of S1.

Re:Goes off to google brony...

[femtobyte]

Is there any search keyword for which sufficient indiscriminate googling would not result in traumatic horrors? By a simple corollary of "rule 34", any subject googled in ignorance will appear disturbingly perverted.

Nothing as self righteous as a reformed...

[Hartree]

The only reason I have a 6 digit ID is because I hung around as an AC for some time before bothering to register. :)

Re:Nothing as self righteous as a reformed...

[spire3661]

Thats what they all say.....

Re:Goes off to google brony...

[sunderland56]

Article summaries shouldn't force the reader to use Google to understand them.

Re:That makes sense

[noh8rz10]

wow, IRS is under investgation for persecuting tea party groups, but the bronies get their own charity. keep it classy, obama!

Re:Distracted IRS

[Alex Vulpes]

We bronies are clever! We wait until they're distracted, and then... we strike! Mwahahaha!

Re:Huh...

[noh8rz10]

Interesting... Did you know that 85% of female bronies dislike or are at best neutral to the term "pegasister"? Bro is gender neutral in this day and age.

maybe they don't like it because it sounds retarded, not due to any gender identification.

I've never heard of 'bronies'

[Adult film producer]

until this story appeared. This could be the inspiration I've needed for a new video!

Re:Just shoot me now

[Hartree]

You just made zombie Baby Hitler cry.

Re:Distracted IRS

[foniksonik]

Discord is that you? Creating more chaos in the crystal kingdom eh? Don't make me call Fluttershy. She'll give you the eye. You know what I'm talking about.

Re:I am SO conflicted...

[foniksonik]

Haven't you heard? Fag has been redefined.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fag

1. An extremely annoying, inconsiderate person most commonly associated with Harley riders.
2. A person who owns or frequently rides a Harley.
" Look at that fag riding that Harley."
"Why are these fags always so loud."

Now,

[noobermin]

if they had called themselves the "Brony Patriot Thank You Fund", we'd have a different story.

Re:For Geldings only?

[blackbearnh]

I know the original comment was a troll, but I'll state for the record that the Fund will have no say in the administration of the scholarship, CalArts will run it just as they do all their other scholarships. In fact, the IRS was pretty adamant about that point.

Re:I am SO conflicted...

[cishuman]

Speaking as a "brony", I think that it's not really about "living life according to the principles put forth by My Little Pony". It's a fandom, not a religion. I enjoy the show, and I also enjoy some fanfiction, and, yes, I like the overall message of the show (I don't have any toys, however - they just don't interest me). But that does not mean that I'm going to tattoo a cutie mark on my leg or go through life asking myself what Rainbow Dash would do (Applejack is clearly the best pony, in any case :-) ). Also, and it depresses me that this needs to be said, I am not sexually attracted to fictional (or non-fictional, for that matter) equines. I mean, I am also a trekkie: everything that I wrote about My Little Pony is also true for the case of Star Trek (except Enterprise, because that was an abomination). I don't really see any substantial difference between my appreciation of MLP and my appreciation of Star Trek, and it puzzles me that one of these two is apparently Internet controversial and the other isn't.

Re:That makes sense

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, bronies weren't a thing until Obama had office...

THANKS OBAMA! :(

Re:Just shoot me now

[roc97007]

Would you say the same if it was NAMBLA instead of Bronies?

Well, no. If there's anyone I wouldn't accept help from, or contribute to, it'd be them. I'm not sure if I'm understanding your point.

hate to admit it, but...

[roc97007]

Daughter (who just graduated high school) watches My Little Pony (the current incarnation, not that horrible 1980's crap), and I've seen a couple episodes, and ... you know ... kids could be watching worse things. The writers don't talk down to the viewer, the dialog is fast and witty and sometimes genuinely funny, and they don't beat you senseless with the moral.

She was part of a brony group in high school, but about half of them quit when the other half got.... wayyyyy too into it. But that's not necessarily a reflection on the show. Geeks can take anything and make too much of it. (Ahem...)

Re:hate to admit it, but...

[Chrisq]

She was part of a brony group in high school

I take it the op was a success then (brony = bro pony).

Re:Just shoot me now

[readingaccount]

So how is it in any way relevant to his argument hen?

Simple - if the person trying to make the world a better place is despicable, they do not deserve any credit for doing so. It would have been better if they didn't, as their charitable actions taint the outcome due to who they are.

Like I said the Bronies are as bad as Colombian drug lords, but they are disgusting and disturbing individuals regardless and so taint the image of any charity work performed under their banner.

Re:Just shoot me now

[Garridan]

You miss the point. "Bronies" making headlines at slashdot is awful.

Stand Tall Bronies

[Totally_Tux]

Hi Everyone,

I feel there is a lot of misunderstanding about Bronies so I want to help shine some light into this.

I'm a proud Brony. I'm a guy in my 30's, work full-time in the field of engineering, have a broad range of hobbies and yes I'm a bit of a geek. When I first hear about 'Friendship is Magic' in late 2011 I had exactly the same thoughts as everyone else, but I checked it out on YouTube and found it to be a surprisingly high-quality show. I thought initially I was the only person in my town that liked it, but there are thousands of Bronies just in my state in Australia.

But what makes this show special is how social it is. From the art, music, regular meet ups it's a great way to make friends with other fun people. From my involvement over the past 18-months I'm proud to say that this community has supported many worthwhile community projects (such as projects in Uganda, Burundi, and Tanzania). Now that the Brony Thank You Fund is an official charity is another great development from this great fanbase.

The Brony Thank You Fund put out an ad on the same network as the actual show a while ago. Worth checking out.

Brony Thank You Ad

I highly recommend people take a look at John de Lancie and Michael Brockhoff's documentary about Bronies. I guarantee it'll be entertaining.

http://www.bronydoc.com

Yes we go against certain gender stereotypes in society. But what are stereotypes really? If I really genuinely like something, especially something that is as positive as MLP, then I say 'rm -rf Gender-Stereotyping-For-No-Good-Reason' to that!

We don't bar women into Engineering or Computer Science, so in 2013, what is really so wrong with adults liking a cartoon show that emphasises friendship, fun and positivity towards everyone?

To all of the Bronies reading this (and there are millions of us), Bro-Hoof!

Re:Stand Tall Bronies

[Arancaytar]

We don't bar women into Engineering or Computer Science

(Well, we kinda still are in many ways, but we shouldn't and we're working on that, so your point stands.)

Re:Just shoot me now

[Scarletdown]

Would you say the same if it was NAMBLA instead of Bronies?

Well, no. If there's anyone I wouldn't accept help from, or contribute to, it'd be them. I'm not sure if I'm understanding your point.

Why would you have a problem with the North American Marlon Brando Look Alikes?

Re:I am SO conflicted...

[serviscope_minor]

and my appreciation of Star Trek, and it puzzles me that one of these two is apparently Internet controversial and the other isn't.

And in fact on some sites *cough*slashdot*cough* you'd get villified for insufficient trek knowledge, or even worse confusing aspects of star wars and star trek. Which was the episode where the tribbles defeated the walking death machines sent forth by Kirk's science office Darth Vader?

Re:Huh...

[serviscope_minor]

will be absorbed into GLBT-dom

Tell me, what is gay, lesbian bisexual or trans sexual about watching a TV show about ponies?

Why on earth would a completely unrelated group absorb what is mostly straight guys followed by mostly straight women.

or be absorbed into furrydom itself.

There's nothing anthro or fursona or any of that in MLP. Again, they are quite different.

You may as well suggest that Star Wars is a passing fad and will be absorbed into the broader Star Trek fandom.

Re:Goes off to google brony...

[serviscope_minor]

Well, hello and welcome to the internet, farer from an ancient age.

Try wikipedia.

Re:Untreated mental illness.

[Chrisq]

Let me fix that for you:

These guys need serious professional help, derision, and ridicule.

Re:Just shoot me now

[readingaccount]

I dunno - if there are "normal" bronies around, unfortunately they don't seem to be particularly common on the net. I am prepared to change my mind if I meet one though.

Re:Just shoot me now

[jythie]

Because in many people's minds 'this threatens my masculinity' is far worse then colombian drug lords.

Re:I am SO conflicted...

[serviscope_minor]

Honestly, if you want to scream "FAGOTS FAGOTS FAGOTS" at deafening pitch for hours on end, then the problem is with you, not bronies.

Re:Untreated mental illness.

[serviscope_minor]

I'm your TV viewing habits are *so* much more respectable.

Re:Untreated mental illness.

[Chrisq]

I'm your TV viewing habits.

Shit, you found the spycam !

gp covered that... Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Fubari]

Grandparent post covered that:

then there is a problem.

Here it is in context:

> In short, you can like my little pony all you want. But when you go so far as to modify your life such that it now revolves around that show, and you feel compelled to convert others to your obcesson, then there is a problem.(emphasis added)

What about religious people whose lives revolve around the religion and they try to convert others to the religion?

Send in the drones

[tehcyder]

Although I have strong theoretical objections to extra-judicial executions, in the cases of bronies I would be glad to make an exception.

Re:Huh...

[Aboroth]

Interesting... Did you know that 85% of female bronies dislike or are at best neutral to the term "pegasister"? Bro is gender neutral in this day and age.

maybe they don't like it because it sounds retarded, not due to any gender identification.

...and "Bronies" doesn't sound retarded? Really?

Kids' Shows These Days... Are Pretty Good!

[Atmosphereum]

I'm a child of the '80s, and as much as I still enjoy some of the animated cartoons (Voltron, Transformers, G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe, Mighty Orbots, Blackstar, etc.) and other kids' shows (Pee-wee's Playhouse, Mister Rogers Neighborhood, Sesame Street) of that era, I have to say that newer shows are generally good, and in some cases better than some of the stuff that we watched "back in the day."

Re:Just shoot me now

[Penguinisto]

Simple - if the person trying to make the world a better place is despicable, they do not deserve any credit for doing so. It would have been better if they didn't, as their charitable actions taint the outcome due to who they are.

You mean like that union-busting guy whose hired armed thugs actually killed strikers?

If we can have a Brony scholarship...

[rkchang]

...I'd like to apply now for a Browncoat scholarship

Re:Just shoot me now

[roc97007]

Would you say the same if it was NAMBLA instead of Bronies?

Well, no. If there's anyone I wouldn't accept help from, or contribute to, it'd be them. I'm not sure if I'm understanding your point.

Why would you have a problem with the North American Marlon Brando Look Alikes?

Unfortunate acronym.

Re:Just shoot me now

[MakerDusk]

irc.ponychat.net #geek Us normal bronies don't generally stick out as being part of the fandom. It comes from being normal and not drama whores. We simply like our tech and programming.

Re:Just shoot me now

[readingaccount]

OK, point made. So long as the overall actions and ultimate legacy of an individual is more good than bad, any slights (no matter how serious) can safely be ignored. The ends justify the means I guess.

I'm aware no-one's perfect, but it does... ah fuck it. Not worth debating really.