Hon. Mechwarriors;
MLP FIM was made within a children's show format. The conflicts inferred from this context would necessarily be darker and more brutal as you stray from these origins in various fanfics. The Everfree forest is feared by most ponies and is home to some monstrous creatures of legend. Your typical pony is thus far more grounded and level headed in the face of violence than your typical human being in the 1st and 2nd world. Here is a picture derived from one of the minor events from the show that would be frankly a harrowing and defining moment for many.
This is a beautiful pic of a heroic conflict between the ponies and some everfree timber wolves.
MLP as a story is generally uplifting, and manly heroics like this are ascribed to the ladies, but really, this sort of action is the purview of men. Will the ladies step up at need? Surely, but in human society you would expect the Sherrif's dept. or neighborly frontier clan militia to handle this sort of event. The lack of sexual dimorphism in the ponies make it very easy to identify with the adventurous theme of the show, and thus you have a large source for the Brony fan base.
In this image we see a purported war room strategy session taking place. There is one stallion and a dragon at the table with three mares. This is widely skewed from the norms of human history. I mention this because it is a show made for human kids in which the normative authority structures are female in roles that put their femininity at risk. Again can women do this sort of thing? Sure, but it does not occur to this degree in human history. The closest we come to is the Celtic traditions of matriarchy. Bodacia led her people in battle, likely painted in wode, but the army was composed of every able bodied man.
Part of the female normative authority roles in the society depicted are a combination of L. Faust's deliberate incorporation of Feminism and Hasbro's occasional veto which kept her from defining the male role as well as she would have liked. Faust frequently filled the role of law enforcement and the military with men, but it is clear she wanted to emphasize that men and women were complementary people able to live well in any role regardless of the advantages or handicaps we might bring to the service be they gender, social, or "spiritual".
Thank you for your time in considering these thoughts. I hope the pics prove welcome additions to your galleries.
Respectfully
Samaritan
Edited by Samaritan, 12 July 2012 - 06:39 PM.