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DeadAccount

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Is anyone else tired of the way the media has been doing reports of bronies? Sure, I think its great they're making the fandom more well-known, but what REALLY bugs me is how they almost always exclusively leave out women and children and keep referring to brony as "men who like ponies". There's nothing wrong with men liking ponies, and it shouldn't matter if men like barbies and girls like toy cars, but aren't women and children who really enjoy FiM bronies too? I think its extremely unfair how the media keeps crediting only the male part of the fandom for the series being a success, act like the viewers and fans of FiM who are female and children that also helped the ratings soar aren't of any importance at all and then just push them aside. Sorry if I'm BAAAAAAAAW'ing, and I know its silly to get angry/upset at some stupid news media tackling the brony fandom, but it really annoys me.

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Yeah, I'm of the opinion it's getting a little old too. Sure I'm male and pony lover but I wouldn't say the primary focus of it is males. The media just likes to focus on it because it's 'weird and sensational'. It's the same way when they come across female-prominent motorheads. The media really does like to sensationalize the breaking of stereotypes.

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Yeah, I'm getting tired of the way the fandom has been represented by the media, but really, this kind of reporting should be expected. News programs have to bring in ratings just like any other program, and the best way to do that is to focus on the pieces of stories that the reporters think the most people would be interested in. As Skye put so well, the media loves to sensationalize any kind of breaking of stereotypes, and that's because it draws in more attention than they would get if they reported the whole truth.

And dear god, that video... makes me even more "My parents must never know".

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Yeah, I can't really blame the media for how they report it. The adult male demographic is by far the most unusual and unexpected aspect of FiM's success, so of course it's what gets the attention. Without the male bronies there wouldn't even really be a news story worth reporting as I see it. If the reporters did a little more research they might realized the fandom is more evenly split, but thinking about it from the reporters perspective, if the story you're covering is the surge in popularity of a cartoon for young girls on the internet, you're probably not going to go in depth, and probably only going to focus on the most unusual or "interesting" parts of it.

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":1mzyq9be]And stuff like this doesn't help.

Personally? I see stuff like this as a racist joke of sorts. Yeah, it's funny, its a huge stereotype and most bronies will get a laugh out of it, but it has a shard of true hate in it, and people take that shard and use it. /minirant

I thought the video was funny, but

21k0bw5.png

the face at the end, JESUS CHRIST HOW HORRIFYING

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":1vqg7zsl]And stuff like this doesn't help.

Personally? I see stuff like this as a racist joke of sorts. Yeah, it's funny, its a huge stereotype and most bronies will get a laugh out of it, but it has a shard of true hate in it, and people take that shard and use it. /minirant

I thought the video was funny, but

21k0bw5.png

the face at the end, JESUS CHRIST HOW HORRIFYING

I KNOW, HORRIFYING.

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Haha, 'racist'. Guys, that video is just a parody, everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves. ;) Taking stuff like that too seriously isn't good.

As for the media reporting on bronies...I agree that it's not very nice, but as people have said it's all about ratings. If they can make us sound as weird and unusual as possible, people will watch. :/

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Haha, 'racist'. Guys, that video is just a parody, everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves. :( Taking stuff like that too seriously isn't good.

As for the media reporting on bronies...I agree that it's not very nice, but as people have said it's all about ratings. If they can make us sound as weird and unusual as possible, people will watch. :/

I dont take it seriously, but somepony is going to and then gos around complaining about bronies, then another one not knowing what they are just go "um..yeah..those brony people are [stereotype]!"

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Yeah, it is pretty annoying, but it's expected. There isn't really much of a news story in "Children are Watching My Little Pony", or "Females Watch My Little Pony". XP They're going to focus on the stereotype defying aspect because that's what people would be most interested in hearing about.

I think Hasbro still recognizes us (female fans), and the fandom does too. That's all that matters, really. The media probably isn't going to get the story right anyway. xD

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Yeah, I can't really blame the media for how they report it. The adult male demographic is by far the most unusual and unexpected aspect of FiM's success, so of course it's what gets the attention.

Yeah you can. It's not like they have to report it the way they do, they have a choice. So yes, blame them. (for what, idk) :) The way its being reported is silly.

Also the rainbows in that video made me giggle. XD

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Keep in mind the media landscape of today. We now have multiple 24 hour news channels, and they all compete against each other and strive to be at least moderately interesting to attract advertisers; so how to do this? Well sensationalize of course! "Geek" like fandoms make a convenient target in that regard because they are outside the mainstream and thus are considered "uncool" and "weird" by the general public. Sci-Fi sort of escapes this stereotype because it is such a large and old fandom, although Trekkies can still make a fun target once in a while. Other fandoms are defined in the media by the most outrageous fans you can fine in the fanbase. In Japan, anime fandom is only looked at when some Otaku does something crazy. For furry its CSI and the stereotype of fursuiters having sex. For FiM fandom it's the fact that adult males (two demographics outside the intended audience for the price of one) make such a large percentage of the fans. It is easy to make fun of such a demographic in this regard, its sensationalist, it's "weird", it gives viewers someone to sneer at, especially if the media finds the most extreme fan out there. Talking about how the show is very popular and kids and women of all ages doesn't bring in the ratings because that fact is simply "boring" and thus not newsworthy. That is just the nature of the media beast.

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"When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."

Pretty much.

But it's not just the new media that does it. Parts of the community seem to gloss over the female fanbase as well. This is why the term "brony" irritates me just a tiny bit. On the other hand, it's a cute lil word, and there's no point in fighting it by now. Most of the English language works like this, unfortunately, and I won't do myself any favors getting all worked up about it.

When I'm making a point about it, I'll sometimes refer to the female fanbase as "Equestria Girls," which at least has significance within the community.

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