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Bronies on the Iron Throne Perceptions of Prosocial Behaviors and Success Bridget M. Blodgett University of Baltimore @bblodgett

Bronies on the Iron Throne

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Bronies on the Iron ThronePerceptions of Prosocial Behaviors and Success

Bridget M. Blodgett

University of Baltimore

@bblodgett

The Bard: Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. What is in this for me?

Caleigh: A straight-to-the-point kind of man. Impressive. What do you get for freeing me? Well, you’ll get me, riches beyond your wildest dreams, my kingdom at your feet, and me.

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

The Bard deserved all of the items that Caleigh was offering him, even in the endings where he does not end up with the woman, riches, and power it is implied that The Bard chose to forgo his deserved rewards.

2015 PCAACA Conference

Woman as Reward

• Given the construction of the male geek as:• a socially-challenged outsider

• rejected by those in power

• found unsuitable as a potential partner,

• The idea of women as a reward can be particularly compelling in geek spaces

• Belief men should be rewarded for “good behavior” is often an internal conflict within masculine geek groups regarding gender and marginalization issues

4/1/2015 2015 PCAACA Conference

Good of the Group

• Rewards should be delivered to the dominant group simply because they are the good guys

• But when some men support women they are seen as acting against the good of the group

• They must be selfishly hogging the anticipated rewards of attention and female flesh for themselves

• This is seen as being both divisive and hypocritical• Everyone wants what is entitled to them

• Defending minority groups becomes the action that breaks group coherency

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

The Media Knight

• Many iconic franchises in geek culture draw upon pseudo-medieval source material

• Ballads, poems, and stories of Medieval times drew idea of proving oneself worthy of very valuable property, often despite humble or lowly origins

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

Tolkien and Courtly Love

“It takes, or at any rate has in the past taken, the young man's eye off women as they are, as companions in shipwreck not guiding stars. (One result is for observation of the actual to make the young man turn cynical.) To forget their desires, needs and temptations.” (Tolkien, 2014)

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

Arwen and Eowyn are most defined by the character’s relationship to Aragorn leading to tension between the female characters and their fathers Elrond, Lord of Rivendell and Theoden, King of Rohan

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

Lord and Lady Geek

This desire--to be lord, and possess the symbolic lady--shows up in a range of geek canonic texts.

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

Benevolent Sexism

• Manifests primarily as paternalism and the desire to protect some presumed quality of women

• Keeps the objectification of women as non-actors, items of value to be protected

• The rhetoric of Gamergate, and particularly the feeling of ownership have taken over discussions of Quinn’s body and sexuality, suggests that a similar sense of entitlement

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

Knights of the Internet

• Smaller heroic deeds are often substituted by the modern white knight• opening the door• paying for a meal• giving compliments• time spent listening to a woman

• This entitlement can result in feelings of frustration, anger, and aggression against the group or individual who seems to be thwarting the knight’s entitlement

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

Pejorative Knights

• Paint a man who has chosen to defend women as an outcast from the brotherhood of the geek

• A white knight is not someone who is the righteous defender of the weak and imperiled but someone who has gone seeking their own self-interest

• subject to derision, fearful of demanding their full rights and respect when it comes time to defend their identity

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

Unlike the media targeted at teenage girls, geek media strongly urges the main characters to remain true to their identity. It is their natural nerdinessand awkward interests that make them attractive in the end.

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

Knights and Community

• White knights are not seen as outsiders.

• Their motivations are painted as understandable

• The appellation isn’t so much othering the person as it is providing a warning about the wrong path

• White knights are humanized within the narrative

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015

The white knight serves as a rallying cry, not only for more people to come forward but also for the group to more carefully patrol their own identity for imposters or heretics that could expose them to weakness from their opposing group

2015 PCAACA Conference4/1/2015