I really admire the creators and writers of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic for avoiding and attacking negative tropes aimed at young women.

One of the first is that “nerd” is a bad word, and being studious is an undesirable skill that will land you friendless and unwanted. Twilight Sparkle, an avid book enthusiast, is repeatedly shown solving her real-life problems with the help of her much-loved literature, and is also the “glue” that holds her group of friends together. She loves books and being with her friends- “bookworm” doesn’t have to correlate with “antisocial.” And it would be just fine if she wasn’t overly enamored of the company of others, but as it is, she’s a wonderful example of a character whose strengths and weaknesses are relate-able and realistic

Other words for later posts in this series: Bossy, diva, and timid.

petfossil.tumblr.com/