My Little Pony Essay
An Exploration on the Various Perspectives of the Cultural Reemergence of My little Pony.
Kevin Rosenberger
There has been a recent social development concerning a very well-known series of toys, and a cartoon that has been airing for decades; namely, My Little Pony. Hasbro has marketed the line of toys since the early 1980s and along with that, created a cartoon, targeted toward toddlers and young girls. The cartoon has aired many different generations and adaptations of the show from 1984 to present. Since then, My Little Pony has been popular among the younger female audiences. (Bellis 1) A following has emerged with the creation of a new adaptation of the cartoon, called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The following originated from the internet; in particular, on internet forums where people discuss cartoons. The following figure shows the amount of threads per days posted between just October 2010 and February 2011.
Figure [ 1 ]
However, these posts have not been made from young girls, like the supposed target audience Hasbro has aimed for, but from older men and women, ranging from young adults to full-grown adults. Male fans of the show have begun to call themselves ‘bronies’ as a name that combines the word ‘bro’ and ‘pony’. Females have picked up the term ‘pegasisters’ as a more female term to describe a fan of the new series. There are many people that have noticed the increase in popularity of the show through media like news channels and internet articles. These people exert differing perspectives on why exactly older audiences have decided to create a massive subculture in the realm of My Little Pony.
The first perspective comes from the perception begun by people who aren’t fans of the new My Little Pony series. ‘Looking in’ from ‘outside’ the following, they view it as juvenile, and as they notice the increase of male fans of the show, quickly gather the opinion that male fans of My Little Pony are using the show to suppress
Kevin Rosenberger
There has been a recent social development concerning a very well-known series of toys, and a cartoon that has been airing for decades; namely, My Little Pony. Hasbro has marketed the line of toys since the early 1980s and along with that, created a cartoon, targeted toward toddlers and young girls. The cartoon has aired many different generations and adaptations of the show from 1984 to present. Since then, My Little Pony has been popular among the younger female audiences. (Bellis 1) A following has emerged with the creation of a new adaptation of the cartoon, called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The following originated from the internet; in particular, on internet forums where people discuss cartoons. The following figure shows the amount of threads per days posted between just October 2010 and February 2011.
Figure [ 1 ]
However, these posts have not been made from young girls, like the supposed target audience Hasbro has aimed for, but from older men and women, ranging from young adults to full-grown adults. Male fans of the show have begun to call themselves ‘bronies’ as a name that combines the word ‘bro’ and ‘pony’. Females have picked up the term ‘pegasisters’ as a more female term to describe a fan of the new series. There are many people that have noticed the increase in popularity of the show through media like news channels and internet articles. These people exert differing perspectives on why exactly older audiences have decided to create a massive subculture in the realm of My Little Pony.
The first perspective comes from the perception begun by people who aren’t fans of the new My Little Pony series. ‘Looking in’ from ‘outside’ the following, they view it as juvenile, and as they notice the increase of male fans of the show, quickly gather the opinion that male fans of My Little Pony are using the show to suppress