I was at a party last weekend and a mom of boys came up to me and said she caught her sons watching My Little Pony.

When you think about all the things you might catch you kids doing, catching them watching a cartoon made for children probably shouldn't even make the list, but here we are.

She had concerns, concerns that were mollified slightly when her husband told her that I had told him My Little Pony is an okay show for boys. But still, there was a hint of concern there, like, is this show REALLY okay for boys. Really?

Yes. Really.

The question of "Is this show okay for boys?" really cheeses me off, actually. And not just when it comes to My Little Pony.

We go out of our way to make boys comfortable, to make sure they see that they're represented. This starts in childhood and follows them through school (check your kids' reading lists and see how many books are written by men or about boys/men).

Honestly, though, when I was a smug mother of one child (a boy), I didn't pay much attention to the lack of entertainment for girls. I didn't. I probably should have, but nope. I happily provided my son with all the Thomas the Tank Engine he could handle, noting, sure, how nice it was that there were, like, three girl trains among the hundred or so odd boy ones.

But once I had a girl, I woke up. I started to notice the lack of equity. Many shows are built around the three boys to one girl ratio. And these are the "good" ones. Girls, from a ridiculously early age, are supposed to accept the fact that they are underrepresented in pop culture. There will always be more boys than girls. Boy things are the default, the neutral option. We see this in everything from toys to bedding. Girl things are something "different," a niche. Boy things are for everyone. Girl things are for JUST GIRLS.

It's part of the reason I fight so hard, yes, to see more women -- any women -- populating films. We are fifty percent of the population. We are not a niche.

Enter My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. This IS the girl show. It's the girl show for every freaking body (or pony). The mane (pun intended) SIX characters are are all girls. ALL GIRLS. Yes, there are boy ponies in Ponyville, but the focus of the show is on the ladies. A woman is the mayor of the town. Princess Celestia is the HBIC. The girls in the show are focused on any number of things -- sports, fashion, books, party planning, taking care of animals, apples...or whatever Applejack is into.

If you changed out the mane six ponies and made them boys, I don't think much would change, story-wise. It's a show about friendship, about figuring out who you are. It's a show about working together to solve problems. It's, honestly, a damn fine show.

If they watch it, your boys will not be ruined. In fact, all it will do, probably, is teach them from an early age that girls are powerful, strong people with good ideas and big hearts, that they are capable of doing anything boys can do.

Well, maybe that is a terrifying thought.

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