Gender in My Little Pony: Difference between revisions
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==''My Little Pony'' and gender==
As horses have traditionally been associated with girls, ''My Little Pony'' too quickly became marketed towards girls in the [[1980s]]. Despite this, the creator of the franchise, [[Bonnie Zacherle]] intended the original [[My Pretty Pony]] toy to appear to boys as well,<ref>''[[The Toys That Made Us]]''</ref> a sentiment followed up by [[Lauren Faust]], show runner of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]''.<ref>''[[My Little Pony Adventures]]''</ref> Despite this, branding for the toyline was unambiguously feminine until [[2016]], when the current logo of the brand was changed from a girlish pink to a neutral
Male characters in the franchise was relatively barren until ''Friendship is Magic'' diversified the cast. The only recurring males in ''[[My Little Pony (TV series)|My Little Pony]]'' were {{MLP|Spike}}, {{MLP|Danny Williams}} and [[The Moochick]] though, many episodes had one-off males, typically as princes, kings or knights. Most antongists of the show were males, but numerous heroic (or mostly heroic) males would also appear, most notably [[Alonzo]], [[Garth]] and [[Prince Philip|Philip]]. Stallions were even rarer, with most stallions being '[[Big Brother Ponies]]' and thus were often not around, though the odd non-brother stallion would sometimes show up, such as [[Knight Shade]].
===Gendered events and groups===
* Up until [[Generation 5]], the "[[main group]]", a recurring element in ''[[My Little Pony]]'' fiction which consists of such groups as the [[Ponies of Pony Valley]], [[Pony Pals]], [[Mane Six]] and [[Equestria Girls (group)|Equestria Girls]] consistented exclusively of female characters. [[Sunny's Friends]] however contains [[Hitch Trailblazer]], who as his name implies, was the first male to be apart of one of these groups.
** Obviously, males have often been closely ''associated'' if never 'officially' apart of these groups, including [[Teddy (Tales)|Teddy]], [[Lancer]], {{FIM|Spike}} and {{EQG|Flash Sentry}}.
* It was wildly believed the [[Sisterhooves Social]] was a female-only competition, but it was eventually specified that anypony regardless of gender was allowed to compete as long as they sought to uphold the spirit of sisterhood. Before this relevation, Big McIntosh performed drag in order to participate in the games.
===Gendered terms===
* '''Young male pony:''' Colt
* '''Adult male pony:''' Stallion
* '''Young female pony:''' Filly
* '''Adult female pony:''' Mare
Sometimes these terms factor into a characters name, such as [[Thrilly Filly]].
===Transgender and gender norms===
According to [[Lauren Faust]], there exist a transgender pony who appeared in [[Friendship is Magic season 1|season 1 of ''Friendship is Magic'']]. Fans have speculated this to either be {{FIM|Trixie Lulamoon}}, {{FIM|Sapphire Shores}} or [[Caramel]]/[[Toffee]] for various reasons. Several trans fans of the show have accepted Trixie as a transgender character for this reason.
The episode "[[Dragon Quest]]" has often been interpreted as a story about gender roles and norms. Spike, a boy who was nearly exclusively raised around mares, has developed a naturally feminine personality, which he grows insecure over when others mock him for not being traditionally masculine. Later in the episode, he briefly befriends several thuggish dragons who display traits of toxic masculinity, which he cannot replicate, ultimately believing he'd rather be a 'pony' than a 'dragon', with ponies of course representing femininity and dragons masculinity. Spike would go on to display many masculine and feminine traits, further cementing his breaking of gender norms by embracing whatever he's most comfortable with.
==See also==
* [[LGBTQ+ themes in My Little Pony]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Footer}}
[[Category:Society]]
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