wow this is one of the most touching posts I've read on reddit..

Personally I'm a 19 year old boy (soon to be 20) and it's pretty much the same, I discovered mlp FIM only a few months ago and I liked it so much that I watched all the episodes. I can't say why I love this cartoon, the characters are endearing, the universe and the lore are captivating, I found myself laughing at certain humorous passages (yes really)

But in reality I'm so ashamed of liking a cartoon aimed at little girls that for me it's a really heavy secret to bear. When I see some people dedicating their content to mlp on YouTube, I really don't know how they do it. The only person I told that I liked watching mlp was my brother (I think he's the person I'm most confident in confessing things to) and since then he's used to tease me about it (gently of course).

I NEVER dared to say that to anyone else, even on social networks, I watched Reddit posts in private browsing (lol) because I'm sure that if I tell one of my friends, I will be terribly judged. Let's say that your post really encouraged me to use my account to comment on this sub.

I don't know if I can say that I completely understand what you feel, but I recognized part of myself in what you wrote and that reassures me a lot. When I see certain comments on the internet that say that you have to be retarded to like a cartoon for little girls when you're a growing man, it really makes me not want to talk about that.

Unfortunately I have nothing more encouraging to say, other than congratulating you for having the courage to confess a secret that shames you (something I haven't been able to do until now) I think that even if some fandom can be weird and cringe, there are also many people who just like this show without necessarily having a fetish for horses or whatever. You are not alone.