the wonderful world of bronies

sharing the little girls room with my little pony-wallpaper in the breakfast club loo, shoreditch

What are Bronies? Well, boys and men who love My Little Pony of course! Some of you may think that's a big, 'No way!' but I say 'Yes way!'  It reminds me of all those off beat boys I knew and loved when I was in my late teens who weren't afraid to live outside the box and embrace their feminine side.

Recently over 4000 fans gathered at the My Little Pony convention BronyCon 2012, in the USA, many of them dressed as their favourite pony of the show.  Outside men and women danced and sang songs from the cartoon-hmm, yes, well, I may find that a bit weird, but then that's not a gender specific objection.

I love 10 year old Grant  in this video and how cool is his Dad (I take it that is their relationship) for not getting totally freaked about his son's love of cutesy multicoloured plastic pony cartoon characters!

Lauren Faust the chief animator for MLP said  “We live in a society where saying that something is for girls is the equivalent to saying that something is stupid, or saying that something isn't worthwhile.”

“I think that's awful and I think that kind of attitude needs to be changed, and these men are doing it. ... They're proud that they're forward-thinking and modern enough to look past this misogynistic attitude.”

I'm with Lauren, let's have less of these gender stereotypes where mothers and fathers get worried if their little lad prefers to prance around in a pink pony costume rather than a Spider-Man one.  One of the things I love about equestrian sport is that men and women compete against each other on a level playing field.  However, in the UK, boys who love ponies often get pressurised into turning their backs on such a 'girly' obsession, and trot off to join their mates in the supposedly more masculine occupation of kicking a ball around the turf instead. Which is crazy when you think about it, as you need to be a lot braver to be a horseman than a footballer, and a shame as it's a lot more character building.

Of course there are Brony haters, it comes with the territory when you dare to be different but I say, Go Bronies, go Bronies!!!

Are you a Brony lover or a hater? Do you know of any other offbeat equine related trends? I'd love to hear about them.