GENDER STEREOTYPES – Bronies, gender policing and an effective counter-tactic

G

Bronies challenge the gender norms for men on several levels and they come in for a lot of shaming, as Typhonblue points out.

When her piece on bronies was posted to the MensRights sub-reddit, it generated a very telling discussion. The nature of that discussion proved Typhonblue’s point.

Here is one way to counter that form of creep-shaming – turn around and accuse the shamers of being the perverts they want to accuse others of. In this case the shamer was attributing all kinds of perversion to bronies that no one else had even mentioned. Where did all that come from? It obviously sounded a lot like projection to at least one other commenter.

[-] fefsyfusky -34 points-33 points-32 points 23 hours ago

Uh. Because bronies are creepy paedophiles. No self respecting adult, male or otherwise, should have dolls and shit from a toddler aged girls show.

 

[–]dummbatzen 13 points14 points15 points 22 hours ago

Not knowing anything about My Little Pony, I still object to your statement; some children books like Winnie Pooh are really good (and kick most adult books butts) and similarly for some children’s movies.

 

[–]fefsyfusky -22 points-21 points-20 points 22 hours ago

Well, books aren’t toy pony plush toys with fuckholes cut in them. Slight difference.

 

[–]blueoak9 9 points10 points11 points 20 hours ago

You have some really creepy fantasies. CPS should be tracking you.

 

From another branch on that comment trail:

 

[–]Vegemeister 18 points19 points20 points 22 hours ago

Er, I’m not quite sure you know what pedophilia is. Pedophiles have sexual interest in little kids, not regular interest shared by little kids.

 

[–]fefsyfusky -26 points-25 points-24 points 22 hours ago

I do know what it is, and I think you’d be hard pressed to find a brony who doesn’t want to diddle a child.

 

[–]blueoak9 17 points18 points19 points 20 hours ago*

Keep your filthy fantasies to yourself and stop trying to accuse other people of them.

 

[–]fefsyfusky -20 points-19 points-18 points 20 hours ago

Right.

 

[+]blueoak9 7 points8 points9 points 17 hours ago (0 children)
Good. So we agree.

 

Creep-shaming men is an old tactic and her we see fefsyfusky wielding it in the expectation that it will be devastating. He/she folded and disappeared two comments after someone turned it around on him/her.

Jim Doyle
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Jim Doyle

<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="3595 http://www.genderratic.com/?p=3595">11 comments</span>

  • In order to accuse people of this stuff, you first have to conceive of it. And it’s legitimate to ask why that’s your “go to”.

    Incidentally, plushies with holes sewn in them are a thing. However so are dildos shaped like dolphins.

    What’s the difference?

  • I’m about half way through listening but I had a few comments.

    First, I think most people would agree with the idea that men enjoy “eye candy”. Think about it. Special effects. Weird screen savers. Etc. I love “eye candy”. So the first time I actually saw the new My Little Pony I was blown away by how colorful the animation is. Wow. It’s great “eye candy”. The styling and where the animators choose to show detail is amazing. The quality is stellar.

    Second. If grown women can like Wolverine (my favorite super hero as a kid) then why can’t grown men like “girl” things? And these grown women flat out sexualize Wolverine in a way that Bronies don’t seem to sexualize My Little Ponies.

  • Man, what total and complete losers. Couldn’t they come up with something that doesn’t immediately tell you their kung-fu is weaker than the JSDF in a Godzilla movie? I mean, at least have real complaints, like ‘I’m so sick of seeing people spam this show everywhere’ (although that settled down sometime during the second season, partly thanks to effective containment policies).

    Debaser:

    See my reply in the other thread.

  • When I first heard of bronies, I was skeptical, not because there is anything wrong with men rejecting gender norms, but because it felt like another dumb cult and I was concerned that, like male feminists, there might be a lot of self hate and a need to prove that they are “better” than the other men. I don’t doubt that there are bronies who are like that, but now that I know that the feminists don’t like the bronies, now I’m reconsidering the brony subculture. I watched the first couple episodes. It’s definitely a kids show, though I heard the show gets better after the middle of the first season.

    There are things I do like about it, though. I like the emphasis on friendship and I like that, so far, the antagonists get forgiven and accepted by the time the show ends. I can see why men would like that. In some ways, it seems like a safer space for men than the stereotypical male genres where men are beating the crap out of other men and women are beating the crap out of…men. I heard that Spiderman bullies and taunts all his opponents after he defeats them. It also doesn’t help that studios are always trying to make these “male” genres more appealing to women. While I think the creator of Wonder Woman had some naive views on gender (men are violent brutes while women are gentle?), I think he had the right idea about creating a superhero that was compassionate, and indeed Wonder Woman was very popular among men and boys when she first came out. Ever since her creator died, DC has been pulling its hair out in frustration, trying to figure out how to make Wonder Woman relevant to girls…and they wonder why her comics have sold poorly after the golden age of comic books. Why does she have to appeal to girls? Why cant she just appeal to guys? The bronies are proof that feminine things don’t have to be the domain of women.

  • I think it’s a thing in our society that girls and women can have things (entertainment, gyms, garments) that are just for them, but men and boys can’t really, or not as much. Stuff for guys has to be made appealing to women and girls, like putting a few sappy moments in an otherwise sarcastic or plain silly sitcom, or a love story in a movie about things blowing up. But nobody’s demanding that more car chases be put into romantic comedies.

    So bronies aren’t following the script. They’re “worse” than the gaming community in this way because they aren’t just keeping male entertainment male, they’re men enjoying something that’s supposed to be just for girls. They’re not merely defending their own domain from female intruders who are biologically entitled to waltz in and redecorate, they are intruding in a feminine domain without even pretending to be sorry about it.

  • The fact of the matter is, feminists like the illusion of oppression. The want to paint the world as a misogynist shithole and one of their favorite ways to do that is to show how devalued feminine things are (they conveniently ignore that they did a lot of that devaluing themselves, but never mind) if men are embracing “feminine” things it threatens that narrative.

  • Like people are saying on the other brony thread, there is some MLP slashfic and porn floating around. This more than anything drives the concern trolls wild – I’m reading WILL SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN comments on Tumblr all the time, and it’s truly magnificent bullshit. In part because it’s the responsibility of parents to keep their kids away from unsuitable content on the interwebz, not the people who create that stuff for other adults. It’s also hilariously hypocritical – a lot of those same folks are fapping away to Adventure Time porn and slashfic, and probably other cartoons I don’t know about. But yeah, since it’s dudes enjoying something considered unmasculine, bring on the insults from feminists and traditionalists alike.

  • >Uh. Because bronies are creepy paedophiles. No self respecting adult, male or otherwise, should have dolls and shit from a toddler aged girls show.

    You mean the show that Hasbro specifically said they originally aimed at adults (parents) as well? Does this person think the same about grown women liking Transformers? Because it has a sizable teen and adult female fanbase, a lot of which actually are writing erotic fanfics.

    >Well, books aren’t toy pony plush toys with fuckholes cut in them. Slight difference.

    And now they’re conflating bronies with plushophiles. Lovely. Note how nothing they’ve said actually has anything to do with paedophilia.

    >I do know what it is, and I think you’d be hard pressed to find a brony who doesn’t want to diddle a child.

    Wait, I know this one. It’s an unbacked assertion. If pressed, the claimant will be unable to provide any actual evidence, and there’s a good chance they’ll actually try to swap the burden of proof, and make the person who disagrees with them prove their point.

    It’s weird how many Social Justice folks tolerate this kind of kink-shaming, when they don’t like other types. In fact, there’s probably ways to compare the stigmatization of Bronies to that of fake geek girls.

    Incidentally, there was a post going around tumblr on Princess Molestia, a fan-version of Princess Celestia who’s, well, you know. The tumblrfems took the opportunity to talk about sexual assault. M>F sexual assault.

    Also, here’s my post on how attaching such stereotypes to MRAs (which are, of course, intended to paint them as creepy pedos); http://siryouarebeingmocked.tumblr.com/post/52744376331/let-me-get-this-straight-dudebros

    Also also, an article about Bronies said that being considered girly was the “ultimate insult” (for a man). Because being accused of pedophilia doesn’t count.

    One last one; while checking the tag, I found this…interesting discussion I had with a tumblrfem, who tried to say Bronies aren’t special. And here’s another critique of them; http://brazenautomaton.tumblr.com/post/53975460811/doodlesnap-milquetoast-badwasabi And many of the critics basically end up saying; “you can’t like this show! It’s for girls!”

    >Ever since her creator died, DC has been pulling its hair out in frustration, trying to figure out how to make Wonder Woman relevant to girls…and they wonder why her comics have sold poorly after the golden age of comic books.

    She’s a princess made by magic. Superman is an adopted immigrant demigod, and Batman is a rich guy who went through a great deal of effort fighting his crime and has, what, four adopted sons? Meanwhile, Spider-Man sales have been down since One More Day, despite the usual “events” trying to buoy ’em, despite him being arguably the most relatable of the four.

  • “She’s a princess made by magic.”

    In the reboots, she finds out that the story her mother told her, she was made out of clay that was brought to life, was a lie, and that, in fact, she is the daughter of Zeus. Well at least she has a father now, so I guess progress is being made.

  • People got worked up when traditional gender is challenged, be it suffragettes, drag queens, or bronies. Masculinity has to be policed by someone or else patriarchy would fall.

By Jim Doyle

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