>The original creator of MLP says MLP was never intended to be ‘for girls’ but was for kids and their families of all genders and ages to enjoy.
>Lauren Faust said her aim for the show was to write something that takes feminine concepts and uses masculine cartoon structure so it would break through the stereotype of “Eww that’s a girl’s cartoon” and be considered just a cartoon in general.
>The show has, time and time again, given hundreds of shout-outs including 4 entire spin-off movies and a spin-off animated series to the brony fanbase
>Society really has made leaps and bounds of progress towards throwing out the stereotypes of what’s “For little girls”
And yet
People, even bronies
Casually refer to Friendship is Magic as “A show for little girls”
Whether they’re defending it (”You don’t need to judge it so harshly, deep down it’s a show for little girls, after all.”)
Or attacking it (”I can’t believe you’re a man watching a show for little girls”)
That phrase, “For little girls” keeps being used
And I’m just wondering like
How people are still under the impression that it’s a “little girl show”
When there’s towering evidence from the creators of the show, the franchise, and from the show itself to support the contrary
And just “The characters are primarily female and pastel colored” and “One of them makes dresses” to support the “little girl show” theory
I argued about this the other day. The show has messages everyone can relate to but people seem to believe that the focus is for girls. I’ve heard of people watch the show and say it’s not really male focused so it’s a girls show and the idea that men don’t have these exact same problem is just contributing to both sides of the stereotypes.
It’s also the idea that the show can never really break off into really good story telling because the concept of the show always comes back to making friends and that limits what the cast can do. An entire episode could be a full on Dragonball z tier fight but no matter what the villain HAS to be defeated with friendship. I agree a bit but I’ve also seen shows completely break their own formula for some amazing story telling.
But these are the ideas I’m hearing that make people think it’s “a girls show”. Personally I just consider it a cartoon to be watched next to the likes of Adventure Time, Gumball, Star Vs. and other “Normal Cartoons”. But because My Little Pony is a product that’s been associated with girls for decades, it might take a little longer to stray from that idea.