Nerd Culture and Bronies- 2

What is a Brony?

Ummm... How does one make
a pony in a racist caricature?
Ask the MLP zebra and she may
answer in fake gibberish Swahili.

Bronies are young men who are fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (MLP). Their female counterparts are called pegasisters. It is important to understand that there are several My Little Pony series, but most bronies and pegasisters are fans of Friendship is Magic only. It is also important to note that the show is not very good. The scenarios are unoriginal, the show is mildly racist (think African incantations in pseudo-Swahili), and the lessons learned are taught in exactly the wrong order for young children.

Studies show that children don't learn good behavior when T.V. characters do something wrong and then learn the error of their ways thereafter. In fact, in a study of children who watched Arthur the Aardvark and then played with one another, children were far more likely to engage in the modeled bad behavior from the beginning of the show than the corrected good behavior from the end.

MLP at Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
The photographer, Bart Evans, called
MLP "strangely compelling."

Please note that my own 3-year-old is a huge fan (which explains my begrudging knowledge of MLP Geography including Ponyville, Manehatten, and Canterlot). But my real reason for writing about bronies is the intense reactions they inspire. People find bronies ridiculous, creepy, and/or weird, and deride them as though they were stalkers. Whenever a person feels strongly about something so innocuous as which television show someone else enjoys watching, there's clearly something going on.

WAR ON PINK

Many people say they dislike MLP because it is too "pink" (btw- pink is my favorite color because it is imaginary). Pink is not the problem. Pink being used to push powerlessness and objectification on girls who are expected to have particular body-types... that's the problem. Pink used to shame girls into being princesses instead of queens... that's the problem. Pink as a cue for "girls should do this," and it's corollary, "Boys should not do it..." that's the problem.

Pony cosplay just looks
healthier and more fun.
Photo by Mooshu.

MLP is pink, but it avoids, and even fights many of the problems associated with pinkness. The MLP kingdom is run by women; princesses that really serve as queens. The heroes are all young female ponies, and they're not promoting any particular body type because they're HORSES, and horses don't exactly conform to modern American beauty standards.

Too often, well-meaning parents try to compensate for gender normalizing by introducing violence to girls, which is supposed to help them be more boyish. It doesn't work. Violence is emotionally handicapped and cowardly. When you teach your girls about violent problem-solving, you are teaching them to approach violence from a place of callous madness. Stop teaching your girls about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, and The Hunger Games in an effort to liberate them. Good parents hope that their children will never assault another person, so why would we encourage them to pretend to do exactly that? You're not liberating girls, just making them into sociopaths like way too many men.

More importantly, boys are not innately violent. Please stop teaching your girls that we are. We all understand that a superhero is one who is capable of wielding violence. Superheroes are often affiliated with the military or paramilitary, but nonviolent resistance superheroes are relegated to obscurity with the classification "alternative." Alternative to programming girls and boys to reward violent behavior in potential friends, role models, and lovers. Let's try teaching children that being a boy means being healthy, happy, and powerful. I am boy. Watch me genuinely love.

In the worlds of comic books, this drawing from Badger is
standard fare. Photo from Mr. Digressius' blog.

But the ponies in MLP don't use violence to solve their problems, so they are not taken seriously by a society that is so militaristic that people are comfortable showing war movies to 3-year-olds. Stop fighting a war on pink. Start fighting against America's militarism (including superhero worship), which is the true culprit keeping women (and men) oppressed.

MLP TEACHES E.Q.

While young children cannot, bronies and pegasisters are in the perfect position to learn from MLP, and they do. There are dozens of iterations of the Brony Code created by fans. As one prepubescent voice says over his YouTube sketch about the Brony Code, "Laughter is a pride feeling, so you can laugh with a brony, but not at him." Bronies and pegasisters are consciously developing their own code of ethics based on the "elements of harmony." These elements are the most powerful weapon in MLP. Think about that. Instead of guns, webs, swords, lasers, bombs, or fists, bronies have harmony which is made of honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty, and friendship.

Hasbro selling some crap.
Photo by Mooshu.

How often do teenagers and young men spend time thinking and expounding on the difference between generosity and sacrifice? Thinking about these things is exactly what leads to higher E.Q. Creating these codes and attempting to live according to them prepares children and young adults to be good people.

While it is true that Hasbro just wants to sell ponies, I am okay with that. Doug and Melissa just wants to sell toys that teach children how to build, add, and read. By acting out the scenarios in the television show, bronies are learning the lessons of MLP, and they are lessons that boys don't often get. MLP is a part of the nerd lexicon that does not have superheroes defined by a capacity for wielding violence. It teaches a forward-thinking ethic based on nonviolence.

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO PISSED OFF?

Calm down. They're just kids.
Photo of Brony Meetup by Smitty.

Bronies and Pegasisters are so damn scary, raising their E.Q.s, solving problems through non-violence, and enjoying a *GASP* television show created for girls. Calm down everypony. Hold your... well, horses.

There are two main reasons why people react so strongly to the brony phenomenon. The first is simple, and this is the reason that some poor brony in North Carolina had his car vandalized and was subject to homophobic slurs when his neighbors found out he liked MLP. If MLP is not masculine, but there are males who like MLP, then masculinity is not concomitant with having a penis. Too many men, terrified of losing their place in the hierarchy of violence, and therefore an object of violent subjectification, strike out with anger and fear at being struck themselves. It is the same reason that men inside the hierarchy of violence lash out against gay men and transgendered women.

The other reason is more complex. Many feminists have failed to recognize that some parts of the traditionally feminine schema are as valuable as, or more valuable than some things that women were and are unfairly denied. Children love prettiness because it's pretty, not because they're girls. Working in the realm prettiness makes artists great, chefs desirable, and politicians legend. But more than that, the ability to solve problems as a group, in harmony with people who may be rivals, with courtesy and gentleness is the foundation of democracy. In real life, kindness, laughter, and generosity are far more effective than the tool belts of superheroes even if the former are associated with girly plastic ponies.

Viva My Little Pony! Long live bronies and pegasisters!

Nerd Culture and Bronies- 1

Nerd Oppressors

I'm certainly not the first to point out that sci-fi, fantasy, and comic book culture has elements of patriarchy. Just last week, MovieBob Chipman authored a post called "On Geek Privilege" that is worth a read for anyone who has ever enjoyed an episode of Babylon 5. A touching and personal comic about the sexism in Cosplay can be found here by a woman named Paige whose work can be seen at thumbsart.

But with my analysis of masculinity, it becomes clear that all three dickheads of male oppression are on view in parts of nerd culture.

Warriors and Thugs; or DC and Marvel?

Boys will (wield violence) be
boys. Photo by Juppo Kelin.

The warrior/thug dichotomy drives most comic book stories, with so-called superheroes who almost always resort to violence to solve problems. None of these heroes ever seem to realize that violence only ever leads to more violence, so they are always shocked when some thug from their past comes back looking for revenge. If it weren't so terrifyingly realistic, it could almost be excused as naive. But most of the stories just turn out being horrific recreations of the excuses we Americans give ourselves every time we march off to battle in another country populated by people of color.

My Mint Condition is Better than Your Mint Condition
The second dickhead of male oppression, subjectification is a form of privilege. MovieBob gets at this point in the blog mentioned above. But by understanding subjectification, we start to understand how this privilege works. In order to become friends with a nerd, it helps to know about The Weeping Angels, Seven of Nine, and Merlot's. If some of that last sentence didn't make sense, you're not a real nerd (poser). When you take into account that most of the attendees of nerd conventions are young white men, it starts to seem like nerd culture has become a useful marker for privilege, just like the neighborhood where one lives, or one's knowledge of sports. Given how media conglomerates swoon over the comic, fantasy and sci-fi hoards, combined with the fact that silicon valley is having billionaire children like they are on Hobby Lobby's birth control plan (rhythm method), it's clear that nerd culture is now a proxy for class.

Why are so many of the
women in cosplay photos
skinny?
Poitr Konieczny took this
one.

Patriarchy = Subjectification + Warrior/Thug
Hierarchy is such an important part of masculinity that when I say, "Mine is bigger than yours," people know what I'm talking about (if you don't, ask your parents). To be successful in the hierarchy means being the most subjectified. This concept is introduced on the playground. Boys prove their masculinity by wielding violence. We all learned that "sissies hit girls." But what is the corollary? It's not that it is unmasculine to use force, because it is masculine as hell to hit just about anything EXCEPT girls, meaning other boys mostly. So "man up" by not letting him "disrespect" us, "don't be a chicken," "fight back," "show him what you're made of," and the most popular line in fiction of almost any kind, "get 'im." The hierarchy of boys, like the hierarchy of so many men before us, is a hierarchy of violence. Boys are either ass kickers or their asses are kicked, and we all know what those terms mean.

That is to say that my place in the hierarchy is directly related to a very real likelihood of getting my ass kicked. To paraphrase Catherine McKinnnon, "to be able to assault, a position that is social not biological, defines what a man is." Rich men are able to use their private (and sometimes taxpayer funded) armies to assault whomever they wish, while poor men are inordinately the objects of police violence. Eventually, most men use proxies instead of violence, like video games, knowledge of Stan Lee plot lines, or yellow-snow contests (don't ask). These proxies are the class markers that we call privilege.

So, nerd culture has protected ourselves from a threat of violence, not by liberating ourselves from the despicably archaic equation of extremist masculinity, but by creating a new equation that is almost as despicable while playing on similarly archaic themes incorporating lots of violence.

Whoa, that got heady. With all these sticks being swung, we need a carrot to keep us going.

This photo by Poitr Konieczny illustrates the
consolation prize. Fun, isn't it? Until you see
the face of the girl just behind Cat Woman.

Let's Go To Comiccon and Check out the Costumes and their Wearers.
The consolation prize is easy to identify. This third pivot on the oppressor dickhead triad makes sure that men want to be men. Men alienate ourselves from our communities in order to protect ourselves from the hierarchy of violence, so community where we can find it is one heck of a consolation prize. The community available at Comiccon, combined with the availability of fictional and cosplay sex targets, and awesome toys and entertainment create a wonderful carrot to keep young white men from liberation.

But one group of nerdy cohorts are fighting back in rainbow colors, with unicorn horns, pegasus wings, and a desire to solve problems through emotional intelligence instead of violence. Next week will be in acknowledgement (defense) of Bronies. Dude, you'll want to read this one (and it won't be nearly so heavy, I promise).

Super Bowl Complex

Since 2007, I have written on the Super Bowl and the complex relationship between extremist masculinity and sports. This year, I was an undercover brother in the fraternity of war-painted football fans who careened drunkenly through a Disneyfied Times Square in search of a few moments in proximity of well-known sports' figures. Need proof? Here's a video of the friendly Super Bowl crowds near the Tiffany Trophy.

Yup. I went to New York City for the Super Bowl. In the extremist masculinity hierarchy, that ranks somewhere between pissing in the woods and growing a mustache at 13. In New York, I proved that I know the difference between warriors and thugs. The Broncos were the warriors riding the Charge of the Light Brigade at the evil Sea Hawks. Also, by going I gave myself authority, subjectifying myself through useless knowledge of bizarrely esoteric skills. But mostly, I got my consolation prize. I may spend my average day at the mercy of powerful (moneyed) interests, but "we" went to the Super Bowl. By joining in, I gave myself a stake in the dickish system that is extreme masculinity.

Well, maybe it's more complex than that.

The Super Bowl is not entirely as evil as it is often made out to be. Human trafficking and sex slavery does go up during the Super Bowl, but not any more so than at any other major event, sporting or otherwise. Also, domestic violence does not raise substantially when the home team loses. Counter intuitively, it seems that domestic violence upticks slightly when the home team wins. When we think about this fact, it makes sense. When we win, we are more confident in our masculinity, and that means we are more likely to forgive ourselves a little of that extreme masculinity aggression and violence. Hey, I just confirmed that I am an awesome dominant manly dude. What do you mean you don't agree? Didn't you see the Super Bowl?

Nevertheless, football itself, and even the masculinity parade that is the Super Bowl is not the problem. Sports and athleticism are important in daily life, and if anything American men are too lazy in their gigantic houses with their haze-inducing glorified minivans (i.e. S.U.V.'s and 4 door pickup trucks). If they only took sports more seriously maybe we would be able to put an end to America's terrifyingly high obesity, heart disease, and cancer rates. Yet, somehow sports feel excessively masculine.

Because they are masculine, often excessively.

Teddy Roosevelt said football would toughen us up, big words coming from the man who named the teddy bear. The New York Knicks are better known than the New York Liberty only because they are men. Men are more likely to be sports' viewers. People have been desperate to tie sports to masculinity for decades, but the women's movement refused to accept that sports were inherently male, and in doing so they showed that the relationship between sports and masculinity was as forced and false as the relationship between Rand Paul and reality.


Title IX is so successful because it takes sports out of traditional masculinity and makes them accessible to girls, and the women those girls become. Girls who join sports teams through Title IX are more successful on and off the field/court. They are healthier, better students, and less likely to suffer from emotional handicaps. Without a doubt, sports can be a positive influence on women as well as men. It is a part of the traditionally masculine platter that women picked up and said, "Yeah, we like that."

And that is exactly the point of men's liberation. Men too, should be able to pick up what they like from femininity and say, "Yeah, we like that." And as significantly, men should be able to put down those parts of masculinity that are dickish.

The trite thoughtless response to that goal is, "why can't men do that now?" If you've been reading this blog you probably already have some ideas, but the short answer is that most men don't even know that they want it. Just as many women in the fifties honestly told themselves that they didn't want to leave the home and join the work force, many men today honestly don't want to learn how to maintain a house, raise a child, or engage in meaningful healthy relationships. And the task of convincing men that using only what they want from masculinity will make them happy is harder than the task of convincing women because the consolation prize for men is so much better ($1.22 on every dollar that a woman earns, for example).


But the consolation prize is looking more hollow after the Great Recession. The successful job, the stability, and all of the toys were never more than a chimera, but now they are completely out of reach to a younger generation of men. We are looking at the two big platters of masculinity and femininity, and thinking, "I'd like a little bit of this, and some of that, and maybe a pinch or two from over here."

The Super Bowl, like most things including suburban living, S.U.V.'s and even the military, is a complex of the terrific alongside the terrible. Some things, like the community that I felt wandering Times Square with hundreds of thousands of other football fans, are great. Some things, like the suicide rates of pro football players after suffering head traumas, are tragic. Liberation isn't necessarily about doing things differently. Liberation is having the wisdom to know what parts of our lives make us happier, and the courage to dump the rest of the bull shit in the face of people who lack the aforementioned wisdom.