Yes, it's a show for little girls. There are some elements of the show that indicate it was made by adults with some sense of awareness, and a small subset of the Internet population has ridden that detail well beyond its inherent value.

At this point it's become representative of a larger subculture that really has nothing to do with the actual show and has tenuous links to it at best. There are still actual ponies around, but it's really about solidarity with other like-minded people. People which, for the sake of forum decor, I will just say that I couldn't really have less in common with.