Talk:Cutie mark

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My Little Pony Mid‑importance

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... that cutie marks in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic have been analyzed in psychoanalytic case studies as metaphors for self-discovery and identity formation in teenagers with learning disorders?

Source: In a 2021 psychoanalytic case study, a therapist describes a teenage patient with learning disorders who introduced the concept of cutie marks, explaining them as "designs on a pony's right hind quarter which represented what a pony's specialty was." The therapist interpreted the patient's subsequent focus on designing clothing as her metaphorical way of finding her own "cutie mark"—identifying and developing her unique talents despite earlier struggles.^[1]

ALT1: ... that Christian fans of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic have used the concept of cutie marks in their fan works to explore religious narratives, like portraying Christ as a pony whose cutie mark appears posthumously? Source: In his 2014 article Reconsidering religion and fandom, history professor Andrew Crome examined the use of cutie marks as theological symbols in Christian brony fan works. Crome analyzed how fan creators utilized the established concept of cutie marks to explore religious narratives and ideas. In one example, DracoDei's "Pony James Version" portrays Christ as an earth pony whose cutie mark appears posthumously, showing "his hoof covering something" that symbolizes his covering of sin. Crome noted that since cutie marks represent raisons d'être in Equestrian society, Christ's lack of mark until death served to "further establish his humility," which illustrates how fans incorporate established show elements to communicate religious concepts within the brony community.^[2]
ALT2: ... that LGBTQ+ individuals have adopted cutie marks from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as personal signifiers, with some fans getting tattoos of their favorite pony's cutie mark as a form of identity expression? Source: Scholars have analyzed cutie marks as symbols of identity expression for fandom communities. In her queer studies book Personal But Not Private, author Stefanie Duguay examined how LGBTQ+ individuals use cutie marks as personal signifiers. She documented a case study where a brony couple adopted Rainbow Dash and Soarin' cutie mark tattoos. According to Duguay, these fans were able to strategically employ fandom symbols alongside digital hashtags that bridged multiple communities to enhance their discoverability in digital spaces.^[3]
ALT3: ... that some commentators have interpreted the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "The Cutie Map," where ponies' cutie marks are replaced with equal signs, as a critique of enforced equality and social conformity? Source: Some commentators have interpreted the cutie mark concept as a metaphor for individuality. In his analysis of the two-part episode "The Cutie Map", Brandon Morse of The Federalist described the episode as a critique of enforced equality at the expense of personal uniqueness. The episode features a village where all cutie marks have been replaced with equal signs, which Morse interpreted as commentary on social conformity. In his analysis, Morse draws parallels between the episode's villain, Starlight Glimmer, and what he describes as "today's social-justice warriors," noting how the character uses "fabricated issues as scare tactics" to maintain control.^[4]
ALT4: ... that in her review of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Emily St. James of The A.V. Club wrote that "Cutie marks are the Equestria equivalent of tramp stamps"? Source: In her review of Friendship Is Magic, Emily St. James of The A.V. Club wrote that "Cutie marks are the Equestria equivalent of tramp stamps".
Reviewed:

Created by GregariousMadness (talk). Number of QPQs required: 0. Nominator has fewer than 5 past nominations.

GregariousMadness (talk to me!) 23:01, 10 April 2025 (UTC).[reply]

GregariousMadness are you nominating this under the Good Article criteria of Wikipedia:Did you know/Guidelines? If so can you point to when it was approved in the seven days before your nomination? Thanks :) John Cummings (talk) 09:46, 11 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
- @John Cummings: The article was expanded from a redirect on April 9, 2025 and thus eligible for DYK. @GregariousMadness: ALT3 is not reliably sourced, as The Federalist has posted misinfo on its site in the past, see this RSP entry. 🌙Eclipse (she/they/all neos • talk • edits) 15:00, 11 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  - @LunaEclipse: I knew that The Federalist was listed there, but I believed it was fine to use it with attribution since that would be sufficient to prove verifiability. For example, I thought the sentence ... the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "The Cutie Map," where ponies' cutie marks are replaced with equal signs, is a critique of enforced equality and social conformity would be inappropriate, but the sentence some commentators have interpreted the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "The Cutie Map," where ponies' cutie marks are replaced with equal signs, as a critique of enforced equality and social conformity? would be more appropriate, since I'm not reiterating any claims that the unreliable source made, rather just claiming that there exist commentators who espouse this stance. GregariousMadness (talk to me!) 21:39, 11 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    - Hi LunaEclipse thanks very much for the explanation, I'm glad you spotted it, don't know why I missed it. GregariousMadness I'm happy to review this, but Alt 3 is definately not passing, bad source and also seems to propigate what appears to be a homophobic consiracy theory, you could always rewrite it if you have a better source, the federalist is on the list of unreliable sources Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Perennial_sources. Please fix the ref for Alt 1 and could you switch the ref on Alt 2 for the academic book it talks about, I'm not familiar with that site so don't know if its considered reliable but the book should be, its a really nice hook. Please ping me when this is done and I'll have a look :) John Cummings (talk) 21:56, 11 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
      - The Fandomentals is pretty much a fan-run website. Not reliable. 🌙Eclipse (she/they/all neos • talk • edits) 22:11, 11 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
        @LunaEclipse: @John Cummings: Huh, I must have accidentally included that sentence when I copied over the source, my apologies. That source is irrelevant to the hook, so I removed it. I've fixed the source as requested as well. Thank you! GregariousMadness (talk to me!) 22:21, 11 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

General eligibility:

New enough:
Long enough:
Other problems:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: Lets use Alt 2, I think interesting and the most clear description for a general audience, also an academic reference (please add in the page numbers if you can). Earwig doesn't find anything for copyright violation and everything is referenced to academic references. QPQ not needed. John Cummings (talk) 09:31, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Hall, Roderick S. (2021). "Connecting with Children and Adolescents and Deepening Psychoanalytic Treatment: Creative Possibilities for In-Session Use of Digital Media and Devices". The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. 74 (1): 325–334. doi:10.1080/00797308.2020.1859280.
^ Crome, Andrew (2014). "Reconsidering religion and fandom: Christian fan works in My Little Pony fandom". Culture and Religion. 15 (4): 399–418. doi:10.1080/14755610.2014.984234.
^ Duguay, Stefanie (2022). Personal But Not Private: Queer Women, Sexuality, and Identity Modulation on Digital Platforms. Oxford University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780190076184.
^ Morse, Brandon (2015-04-08). "My Little Pony To Children: Marxism Is Not Magic". The Federalist. Retrieved 2025-04-09.

[Hall-2021-1] Hall, Roderick S. (2021). "Connecting with Children and Adolescents and Deepening Psychoanalytic Treatment: Creative Possibilities for In-Session Use of Digital Media and Devices". The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. 74 (1): 325–334. doi:10.1080/00797308.2020.1859280.

[Crome-2014-2] Crome, Andrew (2014). "Reconsidering religion and fandom: Christian fan works in My Little Pony fandom". Culture and Religion. 15 (4): 399–418. doi:10.1080/14755610.2014.984234.

[3] Duguay, Stefanie (2022). Personal But Not Private: Queer Women, Sexuality, and Identity Modulation on Digital Platforms. Oxford University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780190076184.

[Morse-2015-4] Morse, Brandon (2015-04-08). "My Little Pony To Children: Marxism Is Not Magic". The Federalist. Retrieved 2025-04-09.

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