Breaching the Brony Closet: A Guide

[Rosewind]

Hay everypony! I see lots and lots of threads that feature someone afraid to tell their family and friends about their interest and enjoyment in FiM, so I thought I'd pitch out a little guide about how I'd personally go about handling it. I'd love to see input from other pony fans too, so this could possibly be the "go to" guide for bronies facing social awkwardness. However, before we can do this, we'll have to give you herd converts some mental tools to work with:

Feel good about yourself, and celebrate what makes a positive impact in your life.

Don't treat your enjoyment of this series like something that needs to be hidden. You have nothing to hide.

Understand that a lot of the revulsion toward My Little Pony as a property is directed toward the first three generations, which frequently gives people not-in-the-know the wrong idea.

It's not your job to educate everyone you know about why you like FiM unless you want to. This is especially bad if you're doing it in order to feel accepted for liking it. That's a bad angle to go for, as there are other, better methods that take less effort.

If you feel the need to tell your family and friends, I think the best approach to go for is the "business as usual" hook. No soap boxes or awkward explanatory talks that explain the details of what attracted you to FiM -- if they ask, tell them the truth. If you get an unfavorable response, stand up for yourself. There are plenty of things you can say to go along with that -- just keep it classy, and make it clear that their opinion isn't going to change anything. Why should it?

Now, I know there's plenty of you with the Fluttershy-type personalities that might not like the in-your-face approach, in which case I'd probably ask the person in question why it makes them uncomfortable that you like FiM. If you get something like "That's really gay," you might say "Why do you think it's gay? I don't understand how watching a cartoon can decide my sex preference." Really make them think about it. Tell them it's good. Tell them you enjoy it. Invite them to watch an episode with you. If that fails, big deal. If they're a true and good friend to you, they will understand and accept you for who you are and what you enjoy. If a family member teases you for liking it, ask them nicely to stop, and explain why you don't like it.

We as a community are a product of an idea to change "the rules" surrounding animated entertainment, something that has never happened before on the scale it has. Just by watching FiM, you're making history, along with thousands of others! Feel proud of yourself for that, and challenge "the rules" in real life too.

Do any of you have any tips or ideas about how you would handle this topic? Please share! I'm sure there are plenty of people that will stumble on this thread and gain some insight about how to tackle this tricky subject.

[SteelEagle]

Another key point is to stay relaxed. No matter how you may internalize it and blow it up, you aren't revealing anything all that important. You aren't telling that you're gay. Or that you have gender dysphoria. Or that you're a crossdresser. Or that you are a secretly a stripper in your spare time. Or that you lost your virginity. Or that you failed a class. Or that you got into a car crash three days after getting your license.

It isn't that big of a deal, no bigger than your choice to enjoy anything else in the entertainment spectrum. Accept that some won't accept it. Accept that some will get their little minds in a tizzy- these people are likely to do the same about many things, so no reason to worry about that. Accept that some will roll their eyes, call you gay, and laugh about it.

If someone asks you about it, say the truth and move on. It isn't that big of a deal and it shouldn't cause you to feel like you're coming out of the closet. If someone keeps on giving you guff about it, then they are just bad people to begin with. Otherwise, most people who have 'negative' reactions will be teasing you if they have any reaction at all. Handle teasing about this as you would teasing of any sort.

You aren' telling them that you're joining the army in a time of war or revealing sexual identity. You're talking about a TV show. Keep perspective and push on.

[accountdeleted]

woo for Chimney think from Rosewind.

... this is some wise words, methinks.

The only thing I would hasten to add is if you try to encourage people to watch the show do not force them. Not everyone will like it, regardless of how fantastically-amazingly-stupendously-brilliant the show is. Dont shove it down their throats, this is a sure path to them despising it; even if they know not why they do.

Even with all the reassurances, logic and gentle encouragement, some bronies (myself included) will not feel comfortable 'coming out'.

[DoctorWilliam]

This is a really good tutorial, both Rosewind and SteelEagle bring up really good advice. Honestly, the only bad thing that came out of coming out of the closet about my broniness was my brother constantly making fun of me about it in the most annoying manor, though my brother was a jerk to begin with. The rest of my family was completely fine with it. I even got some pony 'merch for Christmas.

We as a community are a product of an idea to change "the rules" surrounding animated entertainment, something that has never happened before on the scale it has. Just by watching FiM, you're making history, along with thousands of others! Feel proud of yourself for that, and challenge "the rules" in real life too.

On a side note, that made me feel really good about myself.

[Bronynumber299]

woo for Chimney think from Rosewind.

... this is some wise words, methinks.

The only thing I would hasten to add is if you try to encourage people to watch the show do not force them. Not everyone will like it, regardless of how fantastically-amazingly-stupendously-brilliant the show is. Dont shove it down their throats, this is a sure path to them despising it; even if they know not why they do.

Even with all the reassurances, logic and gentle encouragement, some bronies (myself included) will not feel comfortable 'coming out'.

I really need to take your advice and happy to use it my dad makes fun of me. Anyway I completly and seriosly thank you all for helping me .Actully Im sad right now I cant find anymore REAL bronies where I live and when I talk to my friends about the show there like what .And really peeves me Im actully thinking of having a brony meet up but dont do much stuff like that and dont know how or what to do.Im saving my money up to get at least one thing of brony merch and Im going to wear it at school doin the haters gonna hate walk

[Rosewind]

I've found that FiM has a curious addictive quality to it. The magic about it is that curiosity will grab positive attention, and that's the sort of hook you want. You really don't have to do anything besides be yourself and show off that you have taste in what you watch.

For those of you hiding the fact you are into FiM, that's fine -- but don't ever let it make you feel bad about yourself, or that what you are doing is in any way "wrong." That goes for everything in your life outside of pony, too.