This is disturbing in every possible way.
UPDATE: WEll now it seems that the original account was made up, although I see some posts that seem to indicate that there was an incident. That’ll teach me to wade into tumblr. I’m investigating further on all fronts.
There are dozens of My Little Pony conventions held across the US now. Yes dozens. And I”m sure they are mostly amazing times, However, it seems that there is an unwelcome element that may be infiltrating them as shown in this long tumblr post. Here’s the main problem as recounted by a booth worker at the show: We met a little girl who was there with her family. She got a button drawn at our booth, told us all about her favorite ponies, and was overall just too damn cute. She had an MLP lanyard filled with pins she’d gotten in the vendor’s room, and gave me a Fluttershy pin because she liked my cosplay. She ended up just hanging out with us for a while and bein’ super cute. We call her Babby because she’s 11 and precious.
The next day, she runs up to the booth, terrified, and asks if she can please hide under our table for a few minutes. Turns out a dude had been following her around the con all day, and tried to get her to come up to his hotel room. Alone. She tells us she thought he was okay at first because he was wearing an MLP shirt, but she didn’t want to go anywhere with him, and he made her uneasy. At one point, after she’d refused, he grabbed her arm in the elevators and tried to get her to follow him. She ran, and now she wants somewhere to hide.
And then:
At this point I’m ready to set him on fire, but when I ask if she needs me to go report him, she shakes her head. She doesn’t want to get in trouble, or make anyone mad.
So the alleged child molester was not reported to anyone. Which makes my hair stand on end. The above post has lots of comments from people who feel that the child victim’s wishes not to make trouble should have been honored, and also the bleakest take on the natural evolution of human civilization this side of The Road:
You keep talking like there’s this perfect system that’s totally in favor of victims that will act swiftly to protect the well being of little girl who experience an attempt at an assault or even actually are assaulted/raped.
There’s not. Okay. You keep acting like there was good, reliable help to get in the first place.
I’m here to tell you THERE IS NOT. I was targeted by a grown ass man who picked me up in a fandom meant for kids when I was 13/14 years old. And let me tell you, there ain’t help to get. Because we live in a system where the onus is on the victim to prove, to a standard that juries seeking death penalties aren’t held to, that they were not only raped/assaulted but that they were “good” victims who didn’t do anything wrong.
With all due respect, we’re talking about a CHILD MOLESTER HERE. The wishes of a child should be taken into account but they are not rational in the eyes of the law or society because SHE IS A CHILD. This fucktard should have been pointed out to con organizers because, and this is the bottom line:
If a con that attracts children does not make it clear that report of abuse and possible crimes will be taken seriously, that con should be fucking burned to the ground and the ashes mixed with salt.
This is not a “shades of grey” area. A child molester attempted to abduct a child. That is wrong wrong wrong wrong, and the fact that so many of the posters above seem to think this MLP was an atmosphere where this ILLEGAL behavior would be tolerated is frightening. And depressing as hell.
One last thing from the original poster above.
But I also met a lot of skeevy dudebros. A lot of guys in fedoras loudly discussing sexual shit in a room with children. Guys who drew/sold/displayed really fucking inappropriate “fanart,” including gross bodypillows that had no purpose in a little kids’ toy convention. I met a guy who gushed with absolute glee about the pleasure he derives from “corrupting innocence.” I met a lot of people who wanted to take something sweet and nice for children and make it about THEM. A lot of guys who wanted to make it about their dicks. People who made it UNSAFE for the intended audience to even be in attendance.
I was often surprised that anime and manga cons did not become predator magnets, but every time I have been to one, I see a sort of self policing atmosphere where the con runners are fans themselves and have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior. I know there have been more and more incidents but in the beginning it seemed pretty innocent and fun for all.
If Brony cons do not have the same kind of guidelines, something is very very very wrong.
There’s conflicting reports about the veracity of the original post.
I’ve heard both that it was made up “for notes,” and that it’s accurate.
Any update on which is the truth?
It was fabricated and the original tumblr account associated with the story (not the one linked in the opening paragraph) is all Nick Cage posts now.
http://saintcheshire.tumblr.com/
This is an area where one needs to be very careful about presumption of innocence with the alleged perp, because a child can misunderstand or mislead, and someone’s life can be ruined unjustly. But is also just as important that incidents be reported and accusations be taken seriously, because children do get abused and that can ruin lives too.
The bottom line: cons (especially those catering to children) need to have people on site who are qualified to handle these reports, and attendees need to be made aware of how to use them. Leaving it up to adult attendees and exhibitors to figure out and decide how to handle a situation can lead to mistakes in one direction or the other (e.g. do nothing, or beat the tar out of the alleged perp), and those scenarios are not good ones.
See, you run this and automatically convict the hypothetical man in question.
But when it comes to the Bryan Singer thing… there’s just crickets.
It’s quite simple:
1) You help the child in a safe way, keeping him/her calm.
2) You find a convention staff member, and you escort the child to the convention office.
3) The convention then accesses the guest registrations, in particular the contact information they have on file for the child’s membership. (Who to call in an emergency, parental guardians at the show, possible allergies, etc.)
4) The parents are then contacted, either by cell phone, public address system, or security using bullhorns in the public areas.
5) The parents then decide what course of action to take.
I know that ReedPop is using RFID tags in their convention badges to prevent counterfeiting. Are they sophisticated enough to locate people in a crowded convention center?
Are the adults paying for the child’s membership online being sent notifications on child safety? Do children know what to do in an emergency? Is there a safe space for kids and families (like a Kids Con room)?
The idea that a BRONYcon of all places (as in: a convention that specializes in the sometimes awkward and always delicate interaction between grown adults and small children) not having a plan already in place is just inexcusable.
Question: how much are Cloppers embraced by the Brony fandom in general? From my very limited exposure, they always seemed like an open secret in the community. Nothing wrong with it per se but I’ve always been interested in how people organize a children’s convention knowing that there are a sect of people you’re marketing to who will only show up because they want to have intercourse with your child’s favorite cartoon.
If a child comes to you frantic and scared, and asking for help you ask where her parents are and if they’re nowhere to be found you call the police Immediately. It’s their job to figure this out, not yours. A child has no capacity to understand what’s going on or have wishes about pressing charges. Be the adult.
This is not difficult stuff.
Okay — dudebro’s hanging out at a My Little Pony convention, and you’re actually SURPRISED that a percentage of them are pedo’s!??
You are correct: This shit needs to stop right damn now. But anyone who didn’t see this coming a mile off really is living in rainbow-fuckin’-fantasyland.
Some friends of ours have a 14 year old son. He was active on a Pony website. He had trouble with grown men pretending to be girls and trying to lure him to meet up. Icky stuff can go on in that Pony world.
Remind me to point out to MHF that comics and their collectors got the same negative attention for decades.
” Perhaps it is best if we leave the sparkles to the young.” Perhaps not. Adults enjoying a very good children’s show is a good thing, and honestly I think it’s a good sign in our culture, one which could learn a lot from the life lessons in this particular kids’ show. Adults getting together to celebrate that is a good thing. Adults behaving inappropriately with children is a bad thing. These need not be conjoined at all.
JRC says: “Remind me to point out to MHF that comics and their collectors got the same negative attention for decades.”
hah..?
Was that supposed to make any sort of contextual sense? We’re talking here about a product that is specifically designed, aimed & marketed to the appeal & tastes of preteen girls. The fact that it also attracts a significant amount of grown 20+-something men in a non-ironic fashion points to only one of two possibilities: 1) Poor taste. 2) Access to hunt.
Comics far less so. Remember that sales used to be in the millions due to servicemen & other adults seeking cheap entertainment. The only forces then that tried to tarbrush comics as something more unwholesome came from Wertham & his ilk, looking to stir up trouble & make names for themselves. You know – like Hannity & O’Reilly do today.
The point being – comparing the stigma of being a comic book fan in the pre-Nerd Age compared to the current Bronie Enigma is like comparing apples to anvils.
While we’re at it, can someone PLEASE tell Janelle Asselin to out the people who threatened her with rape? There are those of us with wives and partners and kids and friends who want to know that cons are a safe space and that potentially violent people are removed from the premises. This is a public safety issue that concerns all of fandom. Heidi- please tell her that she has the safety and security of the community at large to consider here. This is NOT a game.
“We’re talking here about a product that is specifically designed, aimed & marketed to the appeal & tastes of preteen girls. The fact that it also attracts a significant amount of grown 20+-something men in a non-ironic fashion points to only one of two possibilities: 1) Poor taste. 2) Access to hunt.”
This only follows if one accepts that “a product that is specifically designed, aimed & marketed to the appeal & tastes of preteen girls” intrinsically means that liking it is a sign of “poor taste,” in which case even preteen girls shouldn’t be wasting their time on it. Have you actually seen the show? It’s genuinely really good.
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
― C.S. Lewis