Speaking as somebody who doesn’t see abuse as innate and prefers to work on canon(s) that doesn’t have widespread abuse or treats it as a “normal”, I do think differe generations would have different reasons for owning a fluffy. But thing is, it ultimately boils down to “why” fluffies would be made in the first place, and why they are the way there are.
In a satirical canon where fluffies are “incomplete” MLP, or are a parody of girls cartoons toys made flesh, than sure, I could see how mistreatment of them would be a punchline to said stereotypes. But I’ve developed a fondness for stories that actually tried to explore fluffies in a more serious way. After all, cartoons and comcis centered about intelligent neotenic animals or a babyspeak theme are not new, as seen with Baby Looney Toon and Muppet Babies.
Following on that trend, a canon I prefer to work with is that interest in fluffies grew out of an interest in a show or property. The base can be MLP, or it can be a pastiche of MLP (lately I’ve been writing a show called My Little Fluffy). Conversely, rival companies could come up with thei own franchsies they want to market with their own fluffy pony biotoys.
From there, it would be good to look into why the millennial and Gen Z generations liked MLP so much. It was a phenomena that baffled people when it first happened, but, on 4chan, it was a meme. An ironic meme that became a bit more serious. But, thats not to say MLP:FiM didn’t have merit, for a show to become a meme, it needs to have some quality that it is either good, or outrageously and hilariously bad. Anti-bronies would easily the latter, but the fact remains that /co/'s interest in MLP:FiM was because Lauren Faust was working on it, and the aesthetics of the show harkened to the days of classic 90s cartoons.
I am hesitant to explore Gen X, which is defined as a 60s to 80s period, because I cannot imagine those people being interested in MLP or an MLPlike show, and from their, the subsequent products (nlcuding fluffies). Fluffy canon, imho, should be understood as the result of a phenomena that affected an unusual male demographic consisting of millenians and gen X.
I did a writeup about how it was a group of bronies that created fluffies. It also makes sense to understand the unusual nature of the MLP:FiM fandom. They may seem cringy, but I’d argue that bronies are diverse. Hell, we still have MLP fans within fluffies (Foxhoarder comes to mind), as well as myself.
@RQ I’ve actually been wondering whats your thoughts on Gen4 MLP, aka MLP:FiM. Part of my reason for liking MLP:FiM is because it is not “sticky-sweet shit”. Part of the reason why /co/ was interested in MLP:FiM was because it harkened back to 90s cartoons of a similar aesthetic like Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Lab. (after all, Lauren Faust is the wife of Craig McCracken, and they both worked on the Powerpuff Girls)
I sometimes wonder if the latter, non-MLP:FiM fluffy artists/writers, especially the anti-brony ones, typified fluffies as “sticky-sweet shit” based on an assumption of MLP on its Gen 1 to Gen 3 incarnations, as opposed to the more interesting Gen 4. I know @Pushka felt that they were attacking fluffies base don what they disliked in Gen 4, but too much about assumptions about “wuv and huggies” of fluffies in latter fluffy canon reminds me of setereotypes and presumptions of being an “MLP fan”, without knowing why MLP:FiM had the fandom it did.