4. The Bros Who Love My Little Pony

            Jennifer Goforth Gregory, a writer for the Atlantic, wrote an article about grown men who love the show My Little Pony. There is a convention called BronyCon, which is held in Baltimore and is attended mostly by males, and in costume. The word “brony” was made in 2011, and it is a combination of the words “bro” and “pony.” In 3 years the subculture has gained 8-12 million fans. A survey in 2013 over 50,000 fans found out that 85% of them were male with an average age of 21. Bronies get a lot of attention because people would expect the fans of the show to be young female girls, however most bronies are male and adults. Knowing bronies are mostly male, people would they are all gay, but Patrick Edwards, a researcher and faculty member of the University of South Carolina Upstate, says “There is a slightly lower percentage of gay men among Bronies than the general population. Male Bronies are actually less likely to be gay than other men.” Gregory tells of her experience in BronyCon, and how it was completely unexpected; she thought she would see deviant or perverted behavior, however she did not feel uncomfortable at any time, the atmosphere was accepting and they men acted as masculine as they would anywhere else. According to the registration data, 65% of the attendants were male, 34% were female, and only 10% were younger than 14. She then tells of Jesse Kendra, a 22-year-old medical sales representative who attended the convention in a costume he made with his grandmother a few weeks before it. Gregory asked Kendra what his favorite part of the convention was, and he responded by saying he enjoyed meeting people he had talked to online and how positive and accepting everyone was.

            Gregory wrote the article not only to inform people about what BronyCon is, but also to explain about the people in it and remove doubts people have about the subject. She gives background information about where the word came from and about the fans it has acquired in the past few years. She eliminated confusion people might have had about the people attending the convention with information by researchers. She then tells of her personal experience attending a convention, and how she was surprised about how everything worked. She also gives specific information from registration data to prove her point. Lastly, she tells of a young man who attends the convention and his personal opinion on it. The article was written causally, to inform the reader about the subject, remove possible misunderstandings about it, and show how the environment Bronycon is accepting and friendly.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/bros-and-my-little-pony/375793/2/