By: Adam

Adam
Tue, 19 Nov 2013 08:54:11 +0000

'anon'--There are weirdos who like plushies and whatnot, but I suspect the bulk of the men who watch the show do so because the personalities of the Mane Six represent a cross section of desirable female personality archetypes. Most of the female characters on TV have less than appealing personalities, but here you have six perfect 'women.' Most guys who watch the show end up having crushes on one or more of the characters, as straight men are attracted to personalities, and will overlook things like, oh, the fact that these are cartoon non-humans. And this is why you see humanized pony representations, Equestria Girls, and women dressing up like MLP:FIM characters. And, even with the cartoon ponies, Hasbro's marketing team was clever enough to make the characters emotionally and physically (curvy bodies, long legs, big eyes, etc.) appealing to the dads and big brothers who would otherwise not watch the show. Not to mention allusions and cultural references men get (e.g., Big Lebowski), as well as action sequences.