gender, spectrum status, and My Little Pony obsession.

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Dont even know exactly what this "My Little Pony" thing is ( is it a TV show, or what?).

But many on this forum seem to be obsessed.

So lessee how "My Little Pony" obsession correlates to (a) gender, and (b) whether you're an aspie or not.

Maybe this isn't the best place to ask if you want equal amounts of NT responses as well.

It has nothing to do with gender, or whether you're on the spectrum or NT.

Generally speaking, this probably belongs under another topic too.

AS has nothing to do with what you're obsessed with. I've never been obsessed with My Little Pony, I played with My Little Ponies when I was a little child but I didn't have an obsession or anything.

These came out long after I reached adulthood. However, I did watch a few episodes a few years back, out of curiosity. At the risk of causing offence, I found the show to be lame, and silly, and also, just a showy commercial for selling the toys and accessories.

I like the new MLP series a lot and watch it on Sundays when it comes on Treehouse but I'm not obsessed with it. I watch a lot of children's cartoons.....mostly just while I'm eating......and one of the shows I routinely watch is MLP. Anyways I'm a female and I'm on the spectrum.

I played with the toys as a kid but never seen the cartoons or anything. So no, not obsessed.

I think we are talking about a different show. If you watched it a few years ago you probably watched gen 3.5, which everyone agrees is terrible. Unless your definition of a few years is two or less.

Anyway, I believe there is at least a casual connection between being on the spectrum and being obsessed with the new show, and I can make several arguments for it. I don't think gender is a factor, but polls show that a lot more males are a part of "Brony culture", that's probably just due to nerd culture attracting more males.

Also, male and obsessed with pony.

It's Sooty and Sweep what I love (but I'm not obsessed with).

I voted "yes" but I just like the cartoon, I was a fan of Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends and love Tara Strong. Its a cute, interesting little show.

No, never have been. However, I am not a particularly feminine woman so that's probably something to do with it. I hate pink too and wasn't a girly child what so ever.

Never seen it, but my girls have. I have bought them the toys though.

I don't much care for cartoons, but I do like Family Guy and South Park.

I am female, am currently undecided about whether or not I actually have AS or am anywhere on the spectrum (though there are some days when I feel as if I am, and I do have some definite traits) and I do like ponies....just not to the point of an all - encompassing obsession. I mean, when I was younger, I really liked the classic G1 ponies and collected a bunch of those (I was born just as the fad was ending) and I also like the G4 ponies. I watch the show on Youtube sometimes, and I like it cuz I can relate to some of the characters (I've taken several pony personality tests and I'm a weird combination of Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle, which I think is accurate), it was created by Lauren Faust, who's also done work on other animated shows I like (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends being one of them) and the show and its characters are just CUTE. I happen to like cute things.

...I also had a bunch of G3 ponies too, but never liked them as much as I like G1 and G4, so I ended up giving a lot of my G3s to a little girl I know. I kept my G3 Pinkie Pie, Sunny Daze, Rainbow Dash and Star Catcher, tho, cuz they're special.

In addition, I also have the "brushable" toys of the Mane Six chars, Cheerilee and the Cutie Mark Crusaders (who doesn't love the CMC?) and Blossomforth (couldn't resist those sweet "Fluttershy eyes" of hers) and I bought a pink Princess Celestia at a flea market once. I also have a blind bag Big Macintosh and the TRU plushies of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. I'm just not as obsessed with ponies to the same degree that I was when I collected the G1 ponies. I still love them, tho, and can't imagine living a completely pony - less life.

I'm a Female to Male and I'm a fan and so is a very good friend of mine here on WP. I think the series is much better than the original MLP series. I also enjoy reading my friend's posts when she posts about it.

That's cool; I didn't know you were trans. I always just figured you were a (born XY) guy. It's odd, because often times I don't get a "gender" vibe from people online at all, and don't care about gender, but I couldn't help thinking "guy" in your case.

I think I get why people like the show so much. First, it's a well-done show. Yeah, designed for little girls, but still well-done, with good animation, good voice acting, good writing. It's the sort of show that your four-year-old watches and then you sit down to watch it with her and get just as much enjoyment out of it.

Secondly--why guys? Well, I don't know how it started, but I think guys, especially in America, have needed something like this for a long while. Culturally you expect that guys are going to be rough, tough, unemotional, etc; but that's not the whole picture. If you've ever seen a man with his newborn baby, you can see how caring and protective guys can be too. A male artist can be just as fascinated with color and beauty as a female one. I think American guys needed "permission" to indulge those parts of their personalities, the parts that are there and exist no matter how masculine they are, but have been connected to girls so long that guys feel like they've lost access.

So here comes this almost aggressively feminine show--all about friendship and cooperation and overcoming obstacles as a team. And guys like it, and don't care that people know they like it. Ironically it has become almost a declaration of masculinity: "Yeah, I like ponies, and I'm a guy; and that doesn't threaten my masculinity. I like the cute and idealistic stories. Being a guy means you can like what you like, and it doesn't change that you're just as male as you were before."

I'm not a huge fan of the show myself, but I've seen a few episodes and enjoyed them enough not to turn them off midway through. I see why people like it. Honestly, if I were into watching TV at all, I'd probably be watching it too. But... I'd have to sit still and stare at a screen. Sitting still is something I don't like to do. Even when I read things on my computer screen or from my bookcase I tend to grab my latest afghan and work on that just to keep my hands busy... So I'll probably never be a MLP fan. But I sure as heck don't think any worse of anybody else who is.