What is fascinating to preteen girls about horses? Why are unicorns, of all potential mythical beasts, so totally cool?
I've heard a theory that it's a sort of proto-sexuality. There's something attractively masculine in a horse that's safer than a man, but still fulfills the same... purpose?
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Nahhh - horses are perfect all on their very own. But add a little magic - or heck, what about Pegasus wings? - and perfection just upped itself a notch.
Some repressed person came up with the "proto" theory, I'm sure . . .
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I used to play a unicorn/princess game, which was a make-believe in which my two friends and I were unicorn princesses and "flew" (read: galloped while flapping our arms) across the playground after school. Looking back, there were many things entwined in this game; the age-old playing at being noble-born and scattering largess to the populace, the existance and possession of the ability to fly and work magic, and also a sort of mysticism; we played at calling the sun into the sky and putting it to bed, awakening the flowers and the sea, and healing the sick and wounded. We also battled the evil witch who liked to take us captive in her lair (we took turns being the witch, the captive, and the sister who came to rescue the captive and battle the witch). I think the reason I liked it so much was the archetypical elements. Taking the form of the unicorn provided a safe way for us to free ourselves from the constraints of being human. If we were human, in our community and with our upbringing, we had to believe in the Judeo-Christian God or at least something like him, and so could not worship the sun, moon, and earth. (We didn't really want to, but pretending to do so provided a connection with the mythical past we had been reading about.) If we were human, we were limited by the things humans can do; even the most powerful sorcerer is limited by some rules, and there comes a point where his powers are unbelievable, and it's just "not fair" for him to be able to do something. A unicorn, however, can possess all the powers we dream of having without constraint or limit.
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Wow. My friends and I just pretended we were Ghostbusters or Ninja Turtles. Our underlying psychological inspiration for the games at which we played was . . . uh . . . we liked the Ghostbusters and the Ninja Turtles.
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Dragons have pretty much the same ability to take on any power or character you want, but (in most cases) with a more malevolent twist. (I've heard of evil or brutish unicorns, but they're not what little girls think of when they think of them.)
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Verily, during the same period of time (I was 8-11, my friends two years younger), my friends and I wrote simplified adaptations of some of the plays of Shakespeare and made everyone act in them. So we did the same kind of thing. Kinda. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Well, I can't say we ever wrote out any scripts. We much preferred an improvisational style. (Which is a highfalutin way of saying we were pretty much just children playing a game, and making it all up as we went along.)
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All I was saying was that we took characters that resonated with us and adapted their stories to be ours, just like you. (We missed most of the innuendo, and ended up doing a lot of improv, as well. Although we tried to keep the improv in "make believe" games where it belonged, and got very grumpy when our actors tried to do it in plays we wrote "from scratch". Did I mention we grew up in a community where half an hour or less of tv per day was the norm?)
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Wow, ketchupqueen. We did some intense make-believe too, but that's one that didn't occur to us - not quite in those terms. I'm a little sad I'm too old to try that one out. Posts: 119 | Registered: Oct 2004
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You mean I'm supposed to grow out of this horse thing at some point? I think i'm going backwards, growing into it instead of out. I didn't even play horsey as a kid, not till fifth grade or so. Then i was galloping everywere.
I don't really like unicorns. Pegusus(es?) I find fascinating, but do ALL of the cool fantasy horses have to be white? I don't like white horses.
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In elementary school, our make believe was that we were botanists exploring other planets. Then the boys tried to plant bombs to blow them up and we'd have to run like heck
And earlier than that, we were dinosaurs which would duel, running four-leggedly into each other on the living room floor... ah, the good ole days.
I did go through a unicorn-drawing period in middle school, though I usually drew them blue or green.
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My friends and I started by playing horses, and the horses got more mythical from there. At the beginning of recess, we'd tell each other what we looked like, and then we'd gallop around the playground for an hour. Sometimes we'd be a maroon horse with a blue sparkly mane, sometimes a palomino with golden hooves. Personally, I was always a unicorn-pegasus with a golden horn and golden hooves and hair made of thin strands of gold. I figured no one could beat that for grandeur.
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Well, Annie, you did grow up in the My Little Pony era, didn't you?
We played horses as well, but it was "Black Stallion" based.
And Myr, your games remind me of "The Watsons Go to Birnimgham," when they played dinosaurs, and one mean kids said "Let's bury them," then he came back at night and stole them all.
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I never understood the unicorn appeal. I was into centaurs with pegasus wings or plain old horses, once I figured out how to draw the faces. P.S. For group play the game that stands out is "movie break" where we'd pretend we were watching a film (of Uchiha Itachi running around the front yard.) Then he would go off screen and this was movie break. Then we'd pretend we could step into the movie screen but then it was "un-movie break" and the monster would come out and chase us until we screamed "movie break" again. For three children with a combined IQ of 500, it was a really stupid game.
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I STILL love My Little Pony! I got one for my birthday two weeks ago even. (Mostly because I was a little unnerved by turning 20, and my family was making fun of me.) The Movie was the best. Oh, and what about Lady Lovely Locks? My sister and I would go to Church on Sundays pretending like we were riding our horses. I was always Lady Lovely Locks, and I got to ride the beautiful Silky Mane. Those were the days.
We played horses a lot at YMCA camp too. We would start making lanyards, leave the strings reeeally long, and then have one person be the horse and put the "bit" in their mouth, and then we'd run around all over the place.
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quote:In elementary school, our make believe was that we were botanists exploring other planets. Then the boys tried to plant bombs to blow them up and we'd have to run like heck
Hey, we used to play that we were fighting the "Evil Vet" who kidnapped innocent puppies, kittens, and bunnies and sent them to animal research firms-- on the moons of Jupiter! That was a fun game, too. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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The combination of going to church and horses makes me think of Lady Godiva for some reason. Was the horse = freedom from male constraints on femaleness pre Lady Godiva or not?
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Now, I would love to figure out the appeal of My Little Ponies, which are my daughter's current obsession. I think her "perfect equine" would be a pink and puple unicorn with Pegasus wings and a golden horn ( with extra long mane and tail for styling). I completely don't get it.
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I was never into horses and never really played them. As a result, unicorn games and toy unicorns were things other girls did and had. I had orphanages, schools and tiny villages on steep mountainsides and lego adventures in the land of the Big People but no unicorns and no horses.
I don't know why this was. I was supremely influenced by my brother, who is of course not interested in unicorns and horses, so there's that. Also, I was just not in the unicorn/horse group. I remember other people had horse-riding parties and lessons (some of which I attended) but I never did.
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I didn't want to be or have a horse when I was little.... I wanted to be a velociraptor. I thought they were cute.
My brother asked me once if I knew any 'crazy horse girls'- fat twelve year olds who draw pictures of their imaginary horses all day becuase they have no friends. (He can be rather mean...)
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I think it's the magic and purity of them that appeals. It's not so much the images. It's the concept. The idea that a supernatural creature with mystical abilities would ally itself, be my beloved companion, and defend me against all comers is nearly irresistable. Personally, I think it's this appeal that *makes* Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series. They aren't unicorns, but they might as well be.
I don't know why all girls love horses, but I'm just as prey to the romanticism of horses -- the reality is sad by comparison, since the few times I've ridden were distinctly unromantic.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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I like how they smell in general. Even when they're muddy and filthy, they still smell good. I don't even mind smelling like a horse.
Riding is another matter. Hopping on somebody else's horse when you've never ridden before: Not fun. Riding a horse you know, or you trained, or you own or you bred: Heaven.
My unicorn collection was started rather reluctantly. My grandmother seemed to believe that I had to have unicorns at my age and began to shower me with them. I figured it was easier to accept them quietly and "lose" them later. then the rest of the family joined in on the action, saying "oh, Jenn has a collection..." About 5 years later I finally got "into" them. Now they're in every room of the house (except the bathroom so far).
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I've decided that horses will stay in the barn. I will not decorate my house with horses. My roomates have all this western stuff that while I think it's kinda cool, I would never buy.
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never thought I'd say this, but.... adding Dodgeball to my Netflix list... I gotta see this house!
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I never played unicorns, but I have collected them for as long as I can remember.
My dad is in the military and everytime he would have to go away for summer camp or anything else he would bring me home a unicorn. I thought it was great.
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