So RadioLab put out a fantastic episode of their podcast the other day all about K-Pop stars. These are girls that from a young age are put under a contract and trained night and day to become teen pop sensations. They put in long hours, go through diets, dance routines and the gamut of all kinds of beautification techniques. But part of their contract is that they do not date or get married or have any romantic relations at all.

There’s an economic reason for that. The (predominantly) male demographic that consumes the media these idols make do NOT like them dating. The RadioLab story told about how it got leaked that one of these idols had had a relationship, and the popularity of that singer dropped considerably.

Why?

Because it removes the fantasy. The male audience can daydream about these girls possibly being with them because their available. The entire industry is fueled by this fantasy of absurdly cute girls that are unavailable—but still—there might be a "chance."

So when one of these cute girls says something like: “I’ve never been kissed.” There’s a small feeling in their audience’s mind that fantasizes “What if I was her first kiss?” It's never going to happen, but there’s a monetary value in being able to have that fantasy.

And this isn’t just Korea, Japan has this culture of virgin pop stars as well. And there are boy bands that are also put under the same “do-not-date” scrutiny.

From my western perspective, this behavior seems bizarre to me. Why should it matter if a singer you listen to is dating/married? Shouldn’t you be happy for them? Why does the monetary value of a pop singer depend on whether she is “available” or not?

But this got me thinking: where do I see this behavior in western culture? I have a firm belief that humans have been humans for a long time and we really aren’t that different from each other. So this sentiment should be expressed in some way in the western world as well. Right?

And then it hit me: Flash Sentry.

Admit it. You hate this guy.

My Little Pony makes no effort to disguise that it’s not a fantasy. It’s a cartoon about horses. But there is still this mild idea that these girls ponies don’t date. That they are pure. And that something would be lost if these characters were to find love.

There is a brony subculture that likes the idea of treating MLP like some kind of dating sim. Here are all these nice girls and wouldn’t it be nice to be around them?

But, if they were to have an on-screen boyfriend, would the “popularity” of that character drop?

I feel like we saw this with Flash Sentry. Twilight was our wonderful adorkable girl we liked and possibly fantasized about, but then this other guy came on the scene and ruined our (already impossible) chances.

The point I’m trying to make here is that maybe we’re not so different from the guys that worship these K-Pop idols. Would we feel betrayed if all the mane six suddenly started being romantically involved with somepony? Would the popularity of the show go down because even though we know this is a fantasy, we still had entertaining thoughts elsewhere?

Or am I totally wrong?

I’d love to hear y’alls thoughts.