Yeah, I'm out. It's funny how this shtick when bashing on subcultures never changes. "It's full of Asperger" and "It was made for one demographic and anyone outside that demographic enjoying it is clearly defective" are such old jokes, I think everyone knows the punchline by now.
Better stick to Culturally and Socially Approved
Content for Your Age, Gender and Demographic, people. Never enjoy anything that wasn't made specifically for you and your perceived age and gender/orientation. Seriously, that kind of thinking is ridiculous.
I don't think there's anything wrong with liking a show meant for little girls. I think the problem once again with this discussion is that people fail to grasp the nuance in terms.
Steven Universe (again, I use this due to its female showrunner, and the fact its cast is primarily gender identify feminine) is a show meant for all ages, and is created thematically for all ages. The entire storyline from the word go is quite demonstrably built with adults
and younger age groups in mind, with complex elements that are actually written with the type of intellectual depth that requires analysis and is virtually impossible for most children to grasp at its deepest.
My Little Pony is a show meant for little girls, which happened to find a sweet spot that appeals to other age groups as well. They discuss its thematic elements as if they're speaking to a class of young kids and each theme, even when occasionally delving in more sensitive matters, is explained in a manner clearly meant for children, with a slant toward female children. Any adult wanting to peer into these subject matters can gain nothing substantive from this exercise, because the nuance is sucked from the proceedings. It's meant to be simple, easily digestible and completely devoid of controversy. Of the ten or so episodes I've seen thanks to my niece, not a single one was elevated beyond the depth of a book for a seven year old.
This is not to say an adult is "wrong" for liking MLP. They are not 'wrong' for thinking it's totes awesome to buy rainbow flurry fuck dolls and drooling over MLP "lore." But one show is demonstrably for little girls and adults happen to also like watching it, and one show is built from the very word go for all ages and has the writing and nuance for adult intellectual analysis. Again, I do not mean this as an insult to MLP. But the fact that some people seem to get offended at calling MLP a show for little girls is ridiculous. That's what it is. Just as some shows are for little boys, some are for adults, and some are for all ages. And none are wrong if they all somehow have cross appeal, despite their target audience.
It is not 'wrong' if for some reason you decided all day long to obsess over Dora the Explorer. That's fine. You be you and enjoy what you enjoy. But Dora the Explorer remains a show for preschoolers, despite whatever cross appeal it may have found. And I think the distinction is important, because once again it is
not semantics. Just as understanding some movies are simple and some movies are far deeper is not "pretentious", it's the simple reality that place these works in context.