Yep. They may be rarer than unicorns, but Men’s Rights Bronies (MRBs) do indeed exist. For proof, see this post on the Men’s Rights subreddit, in which an MR Brony calling himself Bullywar tries to convince fellow MRAs (and MRBs) that the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic season two finale (of which the video above is an excerpt) is some sort of grand antifeminist statement from the show’s creators. (Oh, SPOILER ALERT for everything that follows.)
You don’t have to be a brony, or even care for MLP at all to get this – just hear me out. If you don’t care to watch the 44 minute episode, I’ll summarize: an impostor shapeshifting queen disposes of a bride to be in a high-profile wedding and plans to use the groom’s magic against him in a lust for power. The linked song will pretty much get the whole episode’s plot across succinctly enough.
The song juxtaposes the heroine’s desire to complement her groom, and the villain’s desire to subjugate him; even though that (until the climax of the episode) everyone sees the latter as the former. It even references one of feminism’s battle cries for the last lyric in the reprise. Watch the whole episode on Youtube to get a closer look.
To see a wildly popular show aimed at girls, conceived and written by a woman, giving such a message to young girls today strikes me as nothing less than resounding vindication for our cause.
Because feminists are all about marrying dudes and exploiting them?
Happily, other Bronies with less of an ax to grind came along and put Bullywar straight.
CrawdaddyJoe, a critic of MRAs who usually gets downvoted on r/mensrights, garnered himself a few upvotes by noting that
Um…. feminists aren’t plotting to marry you and take your money. That’s not even remotely what feminism is about, and most feminists would find such behavior abhorrent and demeaning. Don’t be a paranoid twit.
Drinkthebleach, an actual MR Brony and Pokemon fan, asked:
Isn’t Lauren Faust [the show’s original Executive Producer] a pretty outspoken feminist? Also you left out the part where they talk about how important it is to have a male influence in your life, when she talks about how much she loves/misses/needs her brother.
RotoSequence, who doesn’t seem to regularly post in r/mensrights, offered a more nuanced analysis of the episode:
This is a ridiculous argument. The entire point of This Day was to illustrate that Chrysalis only wanted posession of Shining Armor because by manipulating his emotions, it gave Chrysalis tremendous power. Cadance and Shining Armor, on the other hand, love each other so much that they want to start a family together while the manipulative, evil Queen plans to take that away from them as collateral damage so that Chrysalis can conquer a land that isn’t hers. If anything, the lesson to take home from the finale is “we’re stronger together than we are apart,” and the corny stalwart “love conquers all.”
At least I assume that’s a more nuanced interpretation. As a non-Brony, I really have no idea.
Hey MRAs who are probably lurking? in this faux scenario, the only person who actually saved a man from a woman who drugged his drink was another WOMAN http://youtu.be/-57-i1S95Kk
All the men did nothing, yet we’re the evil ones out to get you amirite?
fucking tight ass? oppressor!
fucking tight, ass oppressor!
fucking tight-ass oppressor!
This has been fun with punctuation.
@dracula
I lol’d very hard
Stalin Lost? I could have sworn he died in his bed, ruler of the Soviet Union.
The things we learn.
Nappy, and Hitler, and Mussolini, yep, they lost (though Nappy was treated pretty well, being given a kingdom; though he found it too small and was given St. Helena instead).
It’s not as if the ideas they espoused have been all that discredited; look at Putin.
This isn’t the stupidest thing you’ve said — not by a long shot — but did oppression stop happening, and no one told me?
@dracula
I vote for the second option. There are times when feminism is just ass oppression.
@ cloudiah
Indeed, there are entire musical genres that could basically be described as “dudes mewling about their crotches”.
In terms of the OP, I know that it must be disconcerting for MRAs to accept the fact that the majority of the pop culture surrounding them is either oblivious to or actively hostile towards the notions they hold dear, but that’s really no reason to project anti-feminist intent onto a cute little cartoon about magical ponies for little girls.
There are MRA bronies? I’m surprised. I mean, the “mane cast” is made up of six mares, and it’s more common to see female ponies than male ones (though the people working on the show have been adding more in, likely because of the bronies). Also, the rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, are both female. So is Equestria a “gynocracy?”
No, it’s a mare-itocracy.
>In terms of the OP, I know that it must be disconcerting for MRAs to accept the fact that the majority of the pop culture surrounding them is either oblivious to or actively hostile towards the notions they hold dear.
There’s always superhero comics, and especially the Avengers who are apparently supportive of raping and mindcontrolling strong women. And the Green Lanterns who don’t care too much for the age of consent.
I just had a back and forth with some Youtube MRAs on one of Girlwritescrap’s video, and practically filled up my MRA bingo card.
– We got a mention of “women and children first”
– White Feather Girls
– Women were protected by patriarchy while men died in war
– Then someone called me a “Pussy-begging mangina”.
What do I win?
an honorary membership to the gynocracy of course! 😉
nah I kid, more like a solid gold medal in patience
Cute pastel ponies: the ultimate symbol of male oppression!
@jumbo: Ah, pell! That makes sense, I think you’re right. He has that same classic troll “HAHAHAHA I WILL MAKE THEM SO ANGRY WITH MY OUTLANDISH STATEMENTS” vibe. (Pro-tip: doesn’t work.)
Are tight ass oppressors really stingy with the oppression? Like, “Okay, your voice won’t carry the same weight as a member of my group’s voice does… but only on Tuesdays. And we’re going to have you do slightly more than half of the unpaid, low-status household labour, but only slightly more. Oppression doesn’t grow on trees.”
You know, the annoying thing about Forest Trolls is that they’re never clear about what they want. Abolition of spiky-black-fuck-me-heels? Less mud for facegrinding? Pink pastel ponies named after them?
Well, in a theoretical society wherein men weren’t top dog and such ‘rhetoric’, such as it is, weren’t more or less dismissed or voiceless to begin with, I’d agree, but in the real world this is probably not going to happen until the day after the heat death of the universe.
The thing I love so much about my little pony is how well rounded the characters are. Each of the main mares has a passionate interest (usually in the form of a career) that she is incredibly talented at. Each also has flaws that sometimes make them less than ideal friends. It’s a show about how real female friendships work in the real world, plus the addition of magical powers and sparkles. Which I’m pretty sure is the complete opposite of the stunted, soul-sucking way that MRA’s view women.
Also *spoilers*
Princess Caydence and Shining Armor END UP MARRIED. And living happily ever after. Wow, what a ringing endorsement of Going Your Own Way, boys.
And Mr. AngryMan? It’s not polite to share your fetishes about heel stomping and face-smushing on random forums on the intarwebz. Just saying.
I … they … wait, what?
The Ultimates is horrible, and I didn’t like it from the outset. I certainly didn’t stick with it long enough to get to the really atrocious stuff.
But where do the mainstream Avengers rape and mind-control women?
And what’s this about the Green Lanterns and age of consent?
If what TheMenAreAngry was at all accurate, all 31 US Senators who voted against the renewal of VAWA would be either sitting in jail or summarily executed.
Since they are not nor have they been, I think that TheMenAreAngry is mad about how his fevered imaginings have not come to pass.
Poor baby.
@Rutee Katreya
I think it’s a sad thought that we need to wait until the “heat death of the universe”. ‘Cos in my opinion, media usually combines misandry and misogyny nicely, and if we’re to treat the other…
(I must note, by the way, that I don’t think that either is particularly prominent in the new My Little Pony. But then, I’m not a fan.)
An example could be when a capable female character is stopped from (for instance) fighting to protect her country. The implication is then that men must and women mustn’t, and while I would probably be more pissed about the heroine’s freedom being restricted (biased as I am), I should really be equally pissed about the fact that the freedom of the men is restricted.
…Ugh, maybe that wasn’t such an innovative example. Hope you understood my point though.
What I wanted to say that the gender roles are too rigid in most media I personally happen to consume. For both genders. If men aren’t allowed to be vulnerable, I can’t have my truly powerful heroines.
@Poetryfrog- I know right? Much work as we have to do with shutting down misogyny in this country, I don’t think we’ll ever get all the way until we start allowing men and boys to embrace/celebrate the sides of themselves that are more traditionally feminine in peace.
(btw- MLP doesn’t really do much of that, but it’s because the show is so overwhelmingly focused on female characters. There is only one male main character, and he has his share of strengths and foibles like the rest of them, although he is quite a bit younger and therefore less mature)
Hey, menarecranky, come back! You’ve got to do a bit more than freak out and cry “fucking tight ass oppressor” before you can post links on your favourite mra site about how you “totally pwned those manboobzers”. You folded after a bit of grammar pickiness? You’ve got a long way to go before you match Dworkin for passion and sheer volume of output, let alone intelligence.
Angry: If women are so powerful, why don’t they rule in the open?
I’m not going to bother asking why most heads of state, most legislators etc. are male, because I know how your type always answers those questions. But that answer doesn’t go deep enough. Why do women need men fronting for them like that?
Mens rights …..bronies…. Mens rights…bronies
Well, I can’t say I ever imagined that. Glad to see some of them have found something to enjoy that features positive female rolemodels and is heartwarming.
Still, what must go through the minds of MRAs who think of themselves as Manly men hearing about MLP?