Bronies: Friendship is Magic (Guest Post By Jim)

When he's not patiently waiting for me to finish photographing his dinner, my boyfriend likes to watch My Little Pony.  Today, he joins us to answer every question you've ever had about why on Earth a grown man would do this.  (FTR, I like it too!)


I am a twenty-three-year-old man who enjoys a television show targeted at little girls.

The show is called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (MLP:FIM). Any questions?

Question: You sound creepy.

That’s not a question, but you’re right – the prospect of a grown man enjoying a little girls’ show about ponies does sound creepy. I thought bronies were creepy too when I first heard about them.

Question: “Bronies?”

It’s a portmanteau of ‘bro’ and ‘ponies’. The term refers to an older fan of MLP:FIM. It applies to both men and women, though female bronies are also called ‘pegasisters’ (geddit?).

Question: I have a question about bronies – Why? Just... why?!

Why do adults like a children’s show? Well, for lots of reasons actually.

Here’s my number one reason: It’s a really good show. For reals.

I am not kidding. 

MLP:FIM has all the hallmarks of a great animated TV show: it has interesting characters and spends time developing them, it has great writing with multi-layered humour for its multiple audiences and a spectacular, vivid and colourful animation style.

Think the characterisation of Friends, plus the intricate universe of Star Wars, plus that warm fuzzy feeling you get at the end of an episode of Modern Family when the characters work out their problems and it all ends happy ever after. Oh, then add ponies. Don’t forget the ponies, man.

Best of all, the whole package comes wrapped in a special kind of optimistic spirit that recalls childhood itself.

Good animation, you say?

 

Question: OK, so that might explain why little girls like the show. But why do you like it?

Well, all those fundamentals production values have a pretty universal appeal, but MLP:FIM also specifically targets its brony fanbase.

During the release of the first season of the show, its creators realised that the show was gathering a huge following online amongst older, particularly male, fans in their teens and twenties.

Instead of ignoring this unanticipated audience, they decided to embed messages for them in the second season. For instance, in the episode The Cutie Pox, ponies are seen in the background that clearly resemble key characters from the cult movie The Big Lebowski.

Question: Are you trolling? That all sounds nothing like the My Little Pony show I remember as a kid.

No I am not trolling you, would I do that to the Expect Cowgirls readership? (Answer: yes I would, but not on this occasion).

There is a good reason that MLP:FIM sounds, and is, nothing like the MLP show you remember as a kid – that show stank. 

In fact, that whole genre of animated kids shows for girls stank. While boys got animated gems the likes of Pokémon and The Big Knights, girls got cutesy, insipid melodramas about fighting with your friends and boy problems.

Here’s what MLP:FIM’s creator Lauren Faust (of Powerpuff Girls fame) has to say about animated shows targeted at girls:

"The female characters have been so homogenized with old-fashioned "niceness" that they have no flaws and are unrelatable.  They are so pretty, polite and perfect; there is no legitimate conflict and nothing exciting every happens.  In short, animated shows for little girls come across as boring... This perception, more than anything, is what I am trying to change with My Little Pony."



Lauren Faust

And on what she's trying to achieve with MLP:FIM:

"Cartoons for girls don't have to be a puddle of smooshy, cutesy-wootsy, goody-two-shoeness.  Girls like stories with real conflict; girls are smart enough to understand complex plots; girls aren't as easily frightened as everyone seems to think."

Sounds good to me. You should totally check out the first episode on youtube.

After all, friendship is magic.

Guest Post: Shep's Sciencey Guide To Weight Loss

My old friend Shep is an experienced blogger and an expert on weight loss and exercise. He has very kindly agreed to do the very first guest post for Expect Cowgirls:

This guide will not be easy, nor will it be quick. There is no way to achieve long term sustainable weight loss without effort, discipline and, above all, time. Despite this disclaimer, losing a decent amount of weight and keeping it off long term is possible so let me show you how with these simple tips.


1. Stop eating shit. This is the most obvious but one of the hardest rules to stick to. It also involves the most common sense out of any of my tips. Does McDonalds taste great? Yeah, most of it does. Does everyone know it’s terrible for you? Yeah that’s pretty well known. So why keep eating it and other similar junk foods? Mostly because it does taste great and is usually pretty cheap and convenient. That shouldn’t count for anything if your goal is weight loss. This is why this is tip #1: 70% of weight loss is diet related and 30% is exercise related. If something seems like it will be bad for you, such as fast food, soft drinks and chocolate bars, it probably is bad for you. Common sense says cut that shit out so get some self-discipline and cut that shit out.

2. Treat yourself. But Shep, you said to stop eating shit in the previous point! That’s true, and here is how the two can co-exist. If you’ve worked really hard at your diet, cut out excess shit and are starting to notice changes you have earned a treat. I don’t mean go smash a buffet at Sizzler (but that’s inadvisable for other reasons), I mean have a small bowl of ice cream or a few beers. Discipline works best when there are rewards for keeping it up. If you have a weakness for chocolate, like I do, allow yourself a small bar on a Friday afternoon as reward for a dedicated week of good diet and exercise. This way you will enjoy your discipline as a means to that sweet sweet candy.


3. Exercise. I could write a book on exercise so I’ll condense it down to two easy components: cardio and weights. Do both and you’ll give yourself such an advantage over diet alone. Exercising muscles burn kilojoules, which is the base unit of energy (also known as calories). An overabundance of kilojoules in your system equals weight gain. Therefore exercise = less kilojoules = less weight. Simple maths! It’s obvious that cardio (e.g. running, swimming, cycling) burns kilojoules, you can feel your breath increasing and sweat forming as you burn the energy but what about the role of weight training? Even light weight training or body weight training has a place in weight loss. Before you start: no you won’t become a huge beefcake; unless you lift huge weights and eat way more food than you need (related to point 1). Light weights build lean muscle and more muscle means more capacity to burn kilojoules. More simple maths. To sum up exercise: buy shoes, buy dumbbells, any exercise is better than nothing and regular exercise is better again.

4. Monitor and set goals. Way to go, you’re following steps 1-3 like a boss. So how much weight have you lost? You don’t know? You have to measure that shit! My best advice for measuring weight loss is to weigh yourself once per week, first thing in the morning and directly after your morning wee. This is advisable because you have daily weight fluctuations that will make it appear like your weight is extremely variable so weighing weekly will give you a good average. Make it before breakfast so you’ll be as light as possible and feel great about yourself. Feeling great about yourself will aid motivation and adherence.



5. Be realistic. See those nutjobs on the Biggest Loser dropping 10kg per week? That’s ridiculous and unsustainable. If you want to lose 5kg give yourself around 12 weeks. This timeframe is realistic because you are dropping the weight safely, giving your body time to readjust to the smaller you, and because of those natural variations in weight that will mean you may lose 1kg one week or gain a few hundred grams in another. Remember, it’s about averages over the long term so be patient and aim to drop 500g per week.


6. Chin up! You’re doing this to be a better person, not to punish yourself. You will lose weight to get a jump start on living, to fit into nicer clothes or to achieve a fitness goal. Losing weight should be a positive experience so enjoy what you do and look forward to the results.


I will leave you with a personal story as evidence that the above system works. In mid-2010 my weight fluctuated between 92 and 95kg, not hugely overweight but uncomfortable. I began my journey to weight loss with 3-4 walks per week lasting 30 minutes each. I progressed this as the weeks turned into months until you fast forward to now. I have weighed consistently under 83kg for the past 13 months and last October I ran my first half-marathon. It is possible people!


Thanks Shep for sharing this!