weesh still thinks MLP is only for girls

[weesh]

I don't think it's bad to get him a pony. 6 year olds aren't too judgmental about eachother so he probably wont get teased much. Once he hits about 8 or 9 he will probably get teased.

Oh yeah. And it is easy to agree on the forums. It is more of a "how do I act when taken off guard?" thing.

[Rainbolt]

I'm a girl so I can't speak as guys but simply. Guys you should watch ponies because you want to watch ponies. It don't matter what others think yo, they ain't you. They have no right to say weather you can watch a show or not or what gender, age, or even look like. It's a hard thing but once you stop caring what others think- well then you find yourself open to a lot more possibilities. Good luck with your situation But I'm sure it's okay! I mean hey when I was kid I played with all the trucks and dinosaurs and wanted nothing to do with barbies XD

[Rosewind]

Does gender even need to matter? Just like whatever you want, and encourage the people you know to do the same.

[Cadabra]

I don't think you really need to worry much about him being made fun of, unless from older kids. In my experience a six year old will play with whatever unless an older kid makes then not want to play with it

I have to agree with this statement. As a female child I loved playing with my older brother's toys, and I loved Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, and Ghost Busters toys along with my Ponies, Care Bears, and Barbie dolls. Then again, I was obsessed with musicals, so anything that I could use to reenact scenes from my favorite musical numbers from my favorite musicals was welcome to me. I remember using my Ponies for Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella coach, or my brother's Dinosaurs to be the Audry 2 plant from Little Shop of Horrors until my mum got me an Audey 2 figurine that could open its mouth. Now as an adult and a videographer, I am thinking of turning a zombie idea I have into a movie musical based on inspiration from Repo the Genetic Opera. Being exposed to different things and having my creativity fostered as a child has helped me to express my creativity, so exposing this young man to ponies can not hurt him.

In the end, he gets to decide what he wants to do with his life. You just have to be there to help him find his talents and encourage him to be his best. Think of this time in his life as him trying to find his cutie mark, and you being there to help him along.

[Motion Paradox]

There is one other thing that occurred to me. Right now I am his only source for the actual show, and he asked for DVDs. If he can watch the show without me, then my coming over may be less special to him. We normally watch at least one episode per visit as it is. This fear may be irrational, but I am not always rational.

I don't really see why it would be a problem, perhaps because my family never placed any importance on gender roles and I was home schooled so I didn't have classmates forcing them on me after kindergarten, but one of my mother's students has a four year boy and he loves Ponies (his favourite is Rainbow Dash) and nobody's bothered him about it.

But I don't think you should worry about him not wanting to watch it with you when he visits, when I was 8 my baby sitter would bring her Ponies down from the attic whenever I visited and we would play with them. I had my own Ponies at home, true they were second generation Ponies instead of the first generation Ponies she has, but it was still special, even that one time we mixed the two and mine where the space Ponies that lived on the moon (my explanation for why my Ponies more long and thin, they were adapted to the lower gravity on the moon....I remember my lesson from Magic School Bus well )

[MyLittlePonyTales]

There is one other thing that occurred to me. Right now I am his only source for the actual show, and he asked for DVDs. If he can watch the show without me, then my coming over may be less special to him. We normally watch at least one episode per visit as it is. This fear may be irrational, but I am not always rational.

Oh dude, don't even worry about that. Kids can watch movies on repeat like two or three times over and be totally fine. I bet he'll be thinking of you if he watches by himself.

[Lilia]

As a female, I can't really say what it is that drove you to push for more 'boyish' toys for a six year old boy. He is still young enough to not care that he's a boy and that ponies are generally 'girly' but old enough to not want to play with the trucks and other toys meant for boys. I remember back when I was six...Barbie heads were mounted on our fence regularly...first by my brothers, and then by me. It didn't matter that they had fire trucks and tonka toys and I had EZ Bake Oven and Barbie, only that we got along (usually). I didn't have ponies back then--I had Transformers: Beast Wars and Captain Planet.

Give him the ponies for Christmas, don't sweat if he'll be teased or not. He's his own person, and I highly doubt he cares one whit what others think.

[Hippo]

There is a problem I have with MLPFiM being classified as a show that challenges gender roles. For the most part, it is true. This show completely annihilates what a demographic could possibly be spelled as. However, people's interpretation of what these gender role bendings mean tends to vary.

I once was watching a show where they had kids pick out Halloween costumes of opposite gender types to see the reaction of the parents and other adults around them. One little boy tried on a princess outfit, and it shocked the mum. And someone walked up to her and said, "You need to support your sons sexuality."

Wait. wut?

I understand that a show like My Little Pony can challenge gender roles, but only in the way we see them play out. The only reason why My Little Pony feels like its for girls is because it's always been for girls. If in 1982, Hasbro decided to market ponies towards boys, and it stuck, then today we would be talking about how awesome pegasisters are that they are able to not care that a pony cartoon is 'just for guys'. Challenging gender roles is about breaking the barriers because both sexes can equally enjoy the same thing, not about switching to the other side and being 'ok with someone's sexuality'. Just because a boy wants to wear a dress doesn't make him gay. Just because a little girl wants to wear a superman costume doesn't mean she's destined to lesbianism. And just because I watch My Little Pony, doesn't mean any more feminine than someone who's favorite cartoon is Family Guy.

To me, challenging gender roles does not change what roles belong to which gender, it means that any role that could be acquired by either side is obliterated.

[weesh]

...And just because I watch My Little Pony, doesn't mean any more feminine than someone who's favorite cartoon is Family Guy...

The trick is to move that from something you say and believe to something that you act appropriately on when a situation is thrust upon you without warning.

[Hippo]

The trick is to move that from something you say and believe to something that you act appropriately on when a situation is thrust upon you without warning.

Its really only a trick to people who have a solidified concept of what they believe. This deviant culture we're in is exactly that. Deviant. Some go at it headstrong, some hide in the closet. Either way, its the opinions of a majority that tell me that MLP is for girls. It doesn't mean their right. And it certainly doesn't make me think a certain way. Everyone is affected by society, but no one is forced to believe and say anything as it pertains to this kind of thing, at least not in America. People have peer pressure. But peer pressure is by no means a fair way of determining and defining if something socially acceptable or not. If anything, it may define the exact opposite.

[Starfox64x]

Gender stereotypes are very hard to get out of your head... You've been pushed to believe certain thigns your entire life... Hot wheels commercials with only boys, and barbie commercials with only girls playing with them...Every 'girl' toy is pink and most boy toys are blue, things like this get stuck in your brain, and to contradict that is very hard, even if you WANT to believe anyone can like anything...

I'm still weary of my own fandom, just because i know if anyone hears that i like MLP, they'll think soemthing wrong with me because i dont fit into the stereotypes that they've learned over the years.

As for what to do in this situation... whatever makes you and everyone else happy... if the perons honestly wants MLP stuff, get it for them... if you dont really want to get it, then try getting soemthign else for them that they'll like...