Grown Men Obsessed With “My Little Pony” Now Have Own Convention

SECAUCUS, N.J. — They are known simply as “Bronies” – boys and men who like the cartoon “My Little Pony” and now they have their own convention…

I guess the term, “Friendship is Magic,” is suddenlly going to an entire new level, “BronyCon Summer 2012” at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, drew 4,000 men, women, boys and girls, many in My Little Pony themed wigs and costumes.

“I thought about what people would say. ‘It’s creepy. It’s weird. It’s a … show for little girls,'” said Fjordbotten, from Staten Island, N.Y. “It’s just a great show … the story line, the plot, the beautiful animation.”

“I discovered that there’s nothing to be ashamed of being a Brony,” said 19-year-old James Penna of Mastic in Long Island, N.Y. “People are into what they’re into.”

The boy and men of the Bronies say they’re a misunderstood at best, contending that they’re about the show, friendship, love and tolerance, and they have no bad intentions, they say.

Hasbro released the first My Little Pony toys in 1983 and that resulted in one season of a TV cartoon spinoff of the same name. My Little pony was marketed to very young girls, but now Bronies have adopted the show.

“There are a lot of people who when they first hear about men watching a show for little girls, they’re taken to a creepy place,” one attendee said, “They think there’s something wrong with that, something devious about it. I think that’s unfortunate.