There is absolutely nothing wrong with Bronies.

I personally have a serious issue with bronies. They are not like homosexuals, where the feelings and preferences are inherent, and thus tolerance should be encouraged. Becoming a brony is a learned behaviour, which borders on pathology. Grown men liking little girl’s things indicates a couple of serious of problems, of which I want to share with you. Burden of Proof: My opponent has the burden of proof to make an argument that proves there is absolutely nothing wrong with bronies, and then he must defend that argument so I that I do not show there to be anything wrong with bronies, or that his case remains proving that there is nothing wrong with bronies. Definitions: Brony: I do not agree with my opponent’s definition, in that he lessens the qualifier of ‘brony’ to ‘enjoys the show’. Whatisabrony. com, a website run by bronies, defines a brony as “A brony is a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that is outside the target demographic of little girls” [18]. You can enjoy something without being a fan of it, hence enjoyment of the show is not enough to become a brony. The official Wikipedia entry says that a brony is “Older fans of the show use the word "brony", a portmanteau of the words "bro" and "pony". Though this generally refers to male fans, the term is often applied to fans of any gender outside the target demographic” [19]. Knowyourmeme. com describes a brony as ““an Internet slang term used to describe a teenage or adult male fan of the TV cartoon series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (MLP:FiM)” [20]. Escapism: The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment [16]. Gender Roles: a set of behaviors that indicates one's gender [17]. P1: MLP: Friendship is Magic, is a show intended for young girls The primary target audience of the show has always been young girls (ages 3-12). In her journal article, Vauhini mentions that the “viewership is predominately female” [1]. This is consistent with Hasbro’s view of the show, who recognise the brony community as “a small group of My Little Pony fans who don’t necessarily fit what one might expect to be the brand’s target audience” [1]. The “Merchandise Target” includes “Adult fans” AFTER young girls (ages 3-12) [2]. That is to say that despite this huge influx of ‘bronies’, the primary and secondary merchandise targets are young girls (3-6 Primary, 7-12 Secondary). If you read that correctly, you would understand that this show (since the show is designed to sell merchandise, as is the case in any television show business, wherein the business has merchandise to sell) primarily targets 3-6 year old girls. In her researched article, LaMarche says: “the term [brony] is sometimes used to describe both male and female fans outside of the target demographic” [4]. With this sentence, it is clear that there is an implicit understanding that the target audience is not bronies. For what it is worth, the Wikipedia entry flatly concedes that bronies enjoy the show “despite the target demographic of young girls” [3]. There is no doubt that this show is intended for young girls, not teenaged or adult men (or even women). A1: Gender Roles are important As indicated by my first premise, bronies are not conforming to gender roles, and I am about to argue that this is a serious problem. Gender roles are hardwired deep within the genetic code. To have bronies so blatantly defy these biological imperatives indicates that there is something wrong. In his published work, Rhoads argues that “men and women still have different natures, and, generally speaking, different preferences, talents and interests. ” He further goes on to explain this phenomenon, that “these differences can be explained in part by hormones and other physiological and chemical distinctions between men and women. Thus they won’t disappear unless we tinker with our fundamental biological natures” [5]. Women and men are fundamentally different. At the University of Pennsylvania, researchers found that the wiring in men and women’s brains have some stark differences. For example, “in one brain region, women have more connections between left and right hemispheres, and men within hemispheres, while in another brain region, it is the other way around” [6]. When men conform to their male gender psychology, they become far better candidates for fatherhood. “Fatherhood is indispensable, and is premised on masculinity. Research is quite clear that children need a loving father to protect, defend and guide them. Children growing up without fathers experience numerous problems, including: - an increased risk of being involved in crime and criminal activities - a greater likelihood of involvement in illicit drug use, alcohol consumption and tobacco use - a greater chance of committing suicide; a greater likelihood of developing mental health problems - an increased risk of sexual promiscuity and other sexual problems, including, gender confusion issues - an increased risk of becoming a victim of child sexual abuse - a greater chance of growing up poor or in poverty. ” [10] The negative impact of fatherlessness is well-documented [7] [8] [9]. This is not to say that every male should become a father, but this is to say that by not embracing their male psychology, men (and teenaged boys for that matter) would be ineffective, damaging fathers, should they decide to have children, since certain father traits, which are required to effectively parent as a male, are absent. Clearly, this is a problem, and suggests that embracing fluid gender roles (by being a brony), men are severely damaging their ability to become a father. The male gender is essential for fatherhood. Women are not attracted to what are essentially emotionally immature men (watching a television show made for little girls). David Angelo from Askmen. com made a top-ten list of traits that women are attracted to, and things like ‘dominance’ and ‘sexual mastery’ are entirely inconsistent with being a brony (emotional immaturity) [11]. Datingtip’s Beverly Bird constructs a list of something similar, of which being emotionally immature does not register [12]. Again, I re-emphasise that this show is designed for young girls, not grown men. What type of woman would want to hang around with men who watch young girls’ television shows? A2: Emotional immaturity is a serious issue The fact that bronies emotionally relate to a young girls’ television show should indicate emotional immaturity. To put this in perspective, as teenaged boys and young men consider things like the meaning of life, or how to attract mature women, these bronies are still immersing themselves within a fantasy world. BronyStudy (2013) showed that people inclined to enjoy MLP: FIM have: “higher displays of absorption, and spend ‘more’ time on the internet and play more video games” [13]. This kind of behaviour indicates escapism from the ‘real world’ (life in the non-virtual world), which suggests that these bronies are disliking life, to some degree, that they feel the need to escape it. Whilst some level of escapism (such as recreational activities) is good, in fact encourage, this systematic ‘becoming a brony’, to the point where you are a fan of the show, is incredibly damaging to their psychology [14]. In his 1990 work The rationality of escapism and self-deception, Longeway concludes that “the function of escapism is to compensate for irrational patterns of belief formation and to maintain effectiveness in the face of despair” [15]. In Psychological escapism: predicting the amount of television viewing by need for cognition, Henning and Vorderer show that escapism is more likely to be present in the lives of people who have little to do. ‘Having little to do’ almost always extended from having little interaction with the outside world, which should to be quite damaging [21]. In short, escapism in moderation is acceptable; becoming a brony indicates serious emotional issues. References: [1] Vara, Vauhini (2011-11-04). Hey, Bro, That's My Little Pony! Guys' Interest Mounts in Girly TV Show. Wall Street Journal. [2] Ossie (2014-04-04). EqG Rainbow Rocks Early Concept Art + Rival Band Name. All About MLP Merch. Blogger [3] “Despite the target demographic of young girls” (. http://en.wikipedia.org...) [4] LaMarche, Una (2011-08-03). Pony Up Haters: How 4chan Gave Birth to the Bronies. New York Observer. [5] Steven Rhoads, Taking Sex Differences Seriously. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2004, pp. 4-5. [6] . http://www.medicalnewstoday.com... [7] David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem. New York: Basic Books, 1995 [8] Wade Horn and Tom Sylvester, Father Facts, 5th ed. Gaithersburg, MD. : National Fatherhood Initiative, 2007. [9] Warwick Marsh, et. al. , Fathers in Families. Wollongong, NSW: Fatherhood Foundation, 2005. [10] . http://www.gendermatters.org.au...(low%20res).pdf [11] . http://au.askmen.com... [12] . http://datingtips.match.com... [13] . http://www.bronystudy.com... [14] . http://dailyfreedom.com... [15] Longeway, John L. Behavior and Philosophy, Vol 18(2), 1990, 1-20. [16] . http://www.thefreedictionary.com... [17] . http://dictionary.reference.com... [18] . http://whatisabrony.com... [19] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [20] . http://knowyourmeme.com... [21]B, Henning, P Vorderer, Psychological escapism: predicting the amount of television viewing by need for cognition. Volume 51, Issue 1, March 2001