Questionnaire for Bronies

[KefkaCultist]

Questionnaire:
1) What age, gender, and nationality are you?
20, male, American

2) What other culture(s) or subculture(s) do you associate yourself with?
Anime, furry, metal-head, goth, gamer, LGBT, and uh... anything else related to geek culture

3) What do you think defines someone as a brony?
a person who likes the show MLP:FiM that isn't the stereotypical target (i.e. little girls)

4) How did you first hear about the show?
The millions of threads on Escapist

5) Why do you like the show?
Because it's got really good animation and the writing is really good which makes the episodes actually have substance to them unlike too many kids shows these days.

6) Do you actively try to get people to like the show or "convert them" to bronyism?
Nah, people know I watch it, but I don't force them into watching.

7) What are some of the stereotypes about bronies that you hear? Are they based on truth or outright lies?
That all bronies are gay, furry, into bestiality, paedophiles, and lonely fat dudes. These are all blatant lies because, while I do fit into two categories (refer to #2), not everyone who watches the show is. Also, I know for a fact that I'm not any of the other three. As proof, my skinny friend who also watches the show is engaged (to a girl), thinks my furryism is weird, and is not into bestiality nor is he a paedophile.

8) Do you like the brony community? Why/Why not?
They're okay, but I never really visit the forums/groups or anything. I will say that every once in a while, there's a few that go a bit overboard with their fandom.

9) What is the most important aspect or trait of Brony culture?
being open minded and liking the show?

10) Rate how big your fandom for the show is on a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being the largest.
4.49

 

[Magicmad5511]

1. 17, Male, English

2. Gamer. That's really it.

3. If they are male and a fan of MLP: FiM to a degree that you keep up with the fandom you are a Brony

4.I'd heard the popularity of it vaguely but didn't really care. Then one day on here on a past Pony thread had someone suggesting the 3rd episode to the OP. I watched it out of curiosity and was hooked.

5.It is brilliantly well written with well developed and lovable. Also once I got into the fandom, the fans are brilliantly creative (I like the fan fiction).

6.No. Quite secretive about it amongst my friends actually.

7.Stereotypes are we're strange and love horses. These are lies.

8.Yes. They are brilliantly creative and spread only love(in theory anyway). Also the fanfics I've read are surprisingly well written. They're brilliant.

9.Enjoying the show I guess. It's not a religion. It doesn't have rules.

10.I'd say about 3.5. I keep up with the fandom thanks to Equastria Daily but I've never made anything for it. I just enjoy it.

 

[badgersprite]

1) What age, gender, and nationality are you?

21. Female. Australian.

2) What other culture(s) or subculture(s) do you associate yourself with?

LGBT, Geek, Gamer, Fandom and internet culture in general.

3) What do you think defines someone as a brony?

Do you like the show? Do you interact with the fan community in some peripheral form or another? Are you not in the target demographic? Congratulations! You're a brony!

4) How did you first hear about the show?

People bitching about bronies on The Escapist, I think.

5) Why do you like the show?

It's funny. It's also a pretty accurate (though exaggerated) depiction of what being a young girl is like. It treats the characters as characters first and girls second. And it doesn't fall into a lot of the traps of other children's shows. Like, Rarity isn't portrayed as a villain, even though that kind of character usually is "the *****", but at the same time she's not a representation of all girls as if that's the only possible way to be female.

6) Do you actively try to get people to like the show or "convert them" to bronyism?

No. I mean, I talk about it with my online friends, particularly when they ask about it, but only because we met through another fandom, so whenever we talk about specific fandom stuff, bronyism can be kind of relevant as a point of comparison, just like any other fandom we talk about.

7) What are some of the stereotypes about bronies that you hear? Are they based on truth or outright lies?

I don't hear that many. Maybe the one that bronies are pervs who want to sexualise ponies. Just about everything I've seen, including shipping, is really tame and innocent. It's totally harmless. Whenever bronies do want to corrupt ponies it's usually by crossing it over with something really dark or horror-related, not anything sexual. Yeah, there are some people who sexualise it, but they're a small minority and they're easily avoided.

8) Do you like the brony community? Why/Why not?

I love it. It's immensely creative and positive and it has the widest variety of fan material of any community I've seen. It's impossible to get bored, and the fan conflict over stupid shit is practically non-existent compared to my other fandoms.

9) What is the most important aspect or trait of Brony culture?

Creativity. Sharing anything, any skill, any contribution to the fandom is welcomed with great positivity. Being a brony totally reignited my creative spark, because there's such huge variety in the sort of things people produce.

10) Rate how big your fandom for the show is on a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being the largest.

4. Concern for privacy based on bad experiences in other fandoms is the only thing stopping me from being a 5.

 

[Zyxx]

1) What age, gender, and nationality are you?
25 (as of October 30), male, (United States of) American.

2) What other culture(s) or subculture(s) do you associate yourself with?
I'm a pretty heavy gamer and a big anime fan.

3) What do you think defines someone as a brony?
Teenage or older male who willingly watches and enjoys My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

4) How did you first hear about the show?
I think it was the references on Halolz, followed by the mentions on the Escapist.

5) Why do you like the show?
It's well-written, solidly acted and has solid and likeable characters. The animation's nice to look at and there's some VERY catchy music. I'm also impressed with some of the lessons that they incorporate - the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their puberty metaphor is a particularly notable one that might help undo some of the damage caused by oversexualized media.

6) Do you actively try to get people to like the show or "convert them" to bronyism?
Not forcefully. I do like to share it when I can do so without getting beaten to death. Never anything more than "Here, watch the first 3 episodes of this. Yes, I know what it looks like. If you make it through episode 3 and never want to see it again, I won't mention it any more."


7) What are some of the stereotypes about bronies that you hear? Are they based on truth or outright lies?
"Bronies are obsessive, incorporate MLP into everything they do or say, are stuck in a childlike mindset, are just pretending to like the show, and/or will eventually grow out of it." Like all stereotypes, there are facets of truth to it - the whole Brony movement sort of got started with people being really obnoxious about it on some #chan, and I'm sure there are some posers out there who don't really watch the show and just want to be part of this new "alternative crowd." Like all stereotypes, there are also exceptions, and there are plenty of Bronies who prefer just not to call attention to themselves when possible.
The claim that most or all Bronies are pedophiles is a patently ridiculous one which really shouldn't be bandied about as often as it is.

8) Do you like the brony community? Why/Why not?
I'm not very involved with the at-large (online) Brony community: nothing against it, I'm just too lazy to bother. I do like some of the ideas they come up with though, like the overanalysis of the show (racial and class divisions between the different kinds of ponies, the notion that there are so few male characters because Equestria is at war, and even gross stuff like the whole "Cupcakes" thing.)

9) What is the most important aspect or trait of Brony culture?
Love and tolerance. I mean REAL love and tolerance. While there are those whose claims that the show changed their lives are exaggerated or hyperbolic, there are also people who really have learned important things from the show, whose lives are tangibly better for its presence. The fact that a lot of Bronies must overcome social stigmas to even watch the show, let alone admit it, can be positive: when they realize that the expectations of what adult males can/should like are not necessarily accurate or important, they might also reexamine other arbitrary social regulations.

10) Rate how big your fandom for the show is on a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being the largest.
3.5. I watch it, enjoy it, and discuss it frequently with my Brony friends, but I don't usually bring it up in conversation unprovoked and I definitely don't paper my online interactions with it.

 

[JaceArveduin]

Questionnaire:
1) What age, gender, and nationality are you?
19yo white guy from America

2) What other culture(s) or subculture(s) do you associate yourself with?
I suppose gaming would be the only real one, though I read tons of fantasy books.

3) What do you think defines someone as a brony?
Someone who likes the show.

4) How did you first hear about the show?
Seen the threads here on the escapist and was bitten by curiosity.

5) Why do you like the show?
It's all sugary good natured fun. It's a bit of brightness in my otherwise pessimistic outlook on life. (read: I have no idea)

6) Do you actively try to get people to like the show or "convert them" to bronyism?
Nope, I try covert methods.

7) What are some of the stereotypes about bronies that you hear? Are they based on truth or outright lies?
A mixed bag, like all fandoms.

8) Do you like the brony community? Why/Why not?
Some are awesome, some scare me. I'm not going into details.

9) What is the most important aspect or trait of Brony culture?
That they somehow all get along to a certain degree. I can (almost) promise you it'd be much worse if you put this wide of a group in some fandoms.

10) Rate how big your fandom for the show is on a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being the largest.
2.5/5 I like the show, look at some pics, read some fanfics, and even started one, but I'm not going to go buying shirts or anything from it. I'm more into subtlety, as my avatar may reveal.

 

[EeveeElectro]

1) What age, gender, and nationality are you?
19, Female from UK.

2) What other culture(s) or subculture(s) do you associate yourself with?
Gaming, anime, comic books.

3) What do you think defines someone as a brony?
Someone who is not the demographic audience, but likes the show.

4) How did you first hear about the show?
I used to watch it as a child. I remember pissing my mum off when I was younger because I'd watch the 80s movie like 3 times a day... Looking back, it was pretty bad ;-;

5) Why do you like the show?
Probably because, like I said, I loved it as a child. However, I think this generation is much different.
I think the shows funny, well thought out and clever. I love the little nerdy references like the nods to Doctor Who and Star Trek. I think it's how cartoons used to be; now and then a recent cartoon will rise above the generic shit that is out these days. (Phineas and Ferb, anyone?)

6) Do you actively try to get people to like the show or "convert them" to bronyism?
No. I never force my opinion on other people regardless of how much I like something because I understand people like different things. The only "converting" I've done is when my boyfriend was watching it over my shoulder, nearly wet himself laughing at one of the episodes and has loved it since.

7) What are some of the stereotypes about bronies that you hear? Are they based on truth or outright lies?
Obviously a stereotype can't be true or false because everyone is different...
I haven't heard much, but I know Male Bronys get labelled as homosexual regularly. I tend to stay away from Brony hate because slagging off a group of people for liking something is pretty bad...

8) Do you like the brony community? Why/Why not?
I don't really like the OMG PONIES ALL THE TIME PONIES LOLZ obsessive types, but I like those I can have a little chat with about the show, then move onto something else.

9) What is the most important aspect or trait of Brony culture?
Tolerance and patience... Not everyone is gonna agree with you and some will probably try beat you down, but you just have to stick with it.

10) Rate how big your fandom for the show is on a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being the largest.
About 13 years ago: 5, I had ALL the ponies and all the merch, shirts, videos, toys, make-up... Now, about 2/3. I watch the show and that's it, really.