Follow up on Boys who like "girl" toys: Bronies

Adult Male My Little Pony fans? Bronies are true rebels. 

There's no reason a quality cartoon about love and tolerance shouldn't inspire passion in young straight men, argues author Rebecca Angel.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/01/my-little-pony-bronies-rebels

Disallowing men to choose to identify as a My Little Pony fan is just one more way we arbitrate boys and girls into rigid categories of what is acceptable in terms of gender roles. What I find disturbing (but not surprising) is the vitriolic backlash commentary that follows Angel's article. 

The intensity with which others 1) mock adults for liking something meant for children and 2) reinforce the arbitrarily gendered nature of entertainment provides further proof about the costs of (resisting) gender conditioning. The teasing, whispering, shaming, and ostracizing evident in the comment sections exemplify some of the costs associated with those actions that resisting gender conditioning.

Jayson Gaddis takes a similar position in his discussion of his son's desire for pink: "Not wearing pink is just another way we box boys in to what’s acceptable and what is not in terms of gender roles. If a boy plays with guns, sticks, trucks, and plays sports, he’s a “normal” boy and conforming to acceptable boy behavior. If he plays with dolls, wears pink, is overly emotional or sensitive, or dresses up like a girl, he’s going to face the gauntlet of shame and judgment. Other boys will tease him. Other parents will whisper about him. Some teachers, pastors, or coaches might even try to change his preferences or they might overtly shame him for it. These are some of the costs of gender conditioning (the biggest obstacle facing men today)." As upsetting as the readers' comments on Angel' s article in the Guardian, it pales in comparison to the chart Jayson Gaddis found "encourag[ing] masculine behavior in our sons." As the Princess Free Zone has also expressed, I find upsetting that such a list still exists in 2011.
http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/my-son-wears-pink-hes-either-gay-or-a-girl-right-raising-boys/