Clop is erotic or pornographic fan art, fan fiction, fan films, fan games, and other fan labor based on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, and further generations of the My Little Pony franchise.
 An example fan-made My Little Pony–inspired character in a sexually suggestive pose | |
| Years active | 2010–present |
|---|---|
| Location | Worldwide, but especially popular in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Puerto Rico[1] |
| Influences | My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic |
The term clop, derived from a hoofbeat, also means 'masturbation' in this context. Clop content emerged on the web around 2010 and typically focuses more on character romance. A study suggests that about 19% of bronies (My Little Pony fans) have engaged in "clopping". Critics who view it as a problematic aspect of the fandom fear that it might taint the reputation of the My Little Pony fan community as a whole.
Etymology
editClop is both an onomatopoeia and a pun or wordplay on the slang word fap, itself an onomatopoeia as well.[2][3] Clop is also used as a verb, meaning 'masturbate'. Related terms include clop-fic for erotic and slash fiction centered around My Little Pony characters, and clopper for a person who enjoys this type of material.[4][5]
History
editClop is considered to be either a subset of brony fandom, furry fandom, or both.[6][7] Compared to other types of fan art, clop features homosexual ships more prominently.[8] The topic has received scholarly attention.[9][10][11][12][13] Clopping (masturbating to clop) is frowned upon by some My Little Pony fans.[6] However, in 2015, The Guardian reported that the 4chan brony community saw not clopping as a form of heresy, and viewed having sex with a real person negatively.[14] As of July 2015[update], the most popular character in clop was Rainbow Dash, followed by Rarity and Pinkie Pie.[1]
Demographics and geography
editAccording to internal studies,[which?] 19.05% of bronies have engaged in clopping, but it is assumed that the percentage is actually larger.[6] A 2015 survey by Pornhub revealed that most cloppers were millennials between 18 and 24 years old, and men were 37% more likely to search for clop than women.[1][15]
Clop is watched the most in Eastern Europe, with Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic being the top four consumers. Puerto Rico is fifth.[1]
Reception
editGianna Decarlo, a journalist for The Baltimore Sun, condemned clop as one of the problems of the My Little Pony fandom, calling the erotic art an "unstoppable force of sexual deviancy" from which "not even a simple Google search is safe."[16] EJ Dickson of The Daily Dot wrote that clop enthusiasts were "black sheep in the community" of bronies, most of whom fear that cloppers will give the entire fandom a bad name.[17]
See also
edit- Cartoon pornography – Cartoon characters in sexual situations
- Rule 34 – Internet slang regarding pornography
- Yiff – Slang term used in the furry fandom
References
edit- ^ a b c d Fellizar, Kristine (24 July 2015). "Millennials Are Masturbating To 'My Little Pony' Porn, Says New Survey, And Rainbow Dash Is The Fan Favorite". Bustle. Bustle Digital Group. Archived from the original on 2021-11-09. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^
Dark, Stephen (June 15, 2016). "State of Brony". Salt Lake City Weekly. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
A Booming Fringe Community of Utah Youth Finds acceptance through My Little Pony
- ^ Notopoulos, Katie (November 21, 2013). "The Terrifyingly Violent New Genre Of "My Little Pony Fan" Art". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
- ^ Mullis, J. (2017). Boyle, Jan; Wan-chuan, Kao (eds.). "'All the Pretty Little Ponies': Bronies, Desire, and Cuteness" (PDF). The Retrovision of Cuteness. Goleta: Punctum Books: 88. ISBN 978-1-947447-28-8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ Jones, Bethan (1 April 2015). "My Little Pony, tolerance is magic: Gender policing and Brony anti-fandom". The Journal of Popular Television. 3 (1): 119–125. doi:10.1386/jptv.3.1.119_1.
- ^ a b c Raethel, Thomas (8 September 2013). "The Mysterious World of Bronies". Critic - Te Arohi. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ Dickson, E.J. (24 April 2021). "Nel mondo dei fan nazisti di My Little Pony". Rolling Stone Italia (in Italian). Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ^ Bridges, Rose (30 May 2012). "My Little Pony: Lesbianism is Magic". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ^ Silverstein, Andrew. "My Little Brony: Connecting Gender Blurring and Discursive Formations" (PDF). Colloquy. 9 (Fall 2013): 98–117. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ Schimpf, Kaitlyn Elizabeth (22 October 2015). "Straight from the Horse's Mouth: A Case Study on the Adult Male Fans of My Little Pony". MacEwan University Student eJournal. 2 (1). MacEwan University. doi:10.31542/j.muse.192.
- ^ Robertson, Venetia Laura Delano (January 2014). "Of ponies and men: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the Brony fandom". International Journal of Cultural Studies. 17 (1). SAGE Publishing: 21–37. doi:10.1177/1367877912464368. S2CID 146577717.
- ^ Burdfield, Claire (1 April 2015). "Finding Bronies – The accidental audience of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". The Journal of Popular Television. 3 (1): 127–134. doi:10.1386/jptv.3.1.127_1.
- ^ Bailey, John; Harvey, Brenna (April 2017). "'That pony is real sexy': My Little Pony fans, sexual abjection, and the politics of masculinity online". Men and Masculinities. 20 (1): 27–48. doi:10.1177/1097184X15613831. S2CID 147019683.
- ^ Gabbatt, Adam (12 March 2015). "What a masculinity conference taught me about the state of men". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ Sophie Kleeman (July 23, 2015). "Why Millennials Are Masturbating to "My Little Pony" Porn". Mic. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
- ^ DeCarlo, Gianna (August 2014). "The problem with bronies: a look at the corruption of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"". Baltimore Sun. baltimoresun.com. Archived from the original on 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ EJ Dickson (February 23, 2014). "How do bronies feel about the first My Little Pony porn?". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2022.