Furries

[DonIago]

As a furry myself, it's safe to say that a lot of what I would associate with the more "mainstream" furry movement raises my eyebrows, though I don't feel it's appropriate for me to judge, particularly if everyone involved is providing consent and nobody is being harmed.

That being said, as with many other movements, the furry fandom is plagued by the fact that the more extreme members tend to be the ones who also attract the greatest degree of media coverage and hence lead to exaggerated stereotyping.

No reporter would use me as an example of the fandom because I would fail to be entertaining.

Yep. Because I don't walk around in a fursuit talking about yiffing other fursuiters, a reporter wouldn't come within a mile of me, either. It's all about ratings and what brings them in. Nice, normal folks don't do that. Guy who walks around sniffing other people's crotches? Yep. Girl with Spock ears talking about how she's going to have a Klingon child someday? Yep.

Now you have something to aspire to.

 

[Yoda]

Oh boy ... I must say, I'm somewhat surprised at the lack of understanding with which furry fandom is met here. I guess I expected Trek fans to be a little more open-minded ...

To be fair, I'm a completely normal nerd stereotype myself.

That is the angry, grumpy, bitter "if you don't watch Battlestar Galactica you're an idiot" kind of nerd. Kind of like a shorter Dwight Schrute... with somewhat better social skills and no weird beet farm upbringing

With large parts of Battlestar Galactica being about humans having sex with machines I'm actually surprised you're not more tolerant towards furries.

Oh God! You're giving the furries ideas. They're gonna build busty fox robots and get jiggy!

 

[Amaris]

Now you have something to aspire to.

Ha. Yeah.

Wait...which part? The "being a nice respectable member of the furry community" part or the "guy walking around in a fursuit sniffing crotches" part? This is something I need to know.



J.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

I must admit...I think it's pretty weird, and I don't really get it.

Scifi fans, I get. Usually there are movies or TV shows or books that generate such fandoms.....and it's the personalities of the characters in those media (or the personalities of the actors, possibly) as well as the storylines of those movies, TV shows and books that tend to generate the interest. Not the lifeless images of the initially rendered characters on a page or computer screen. Scifi fandom centers around storylines and characters - what is underneath those simple rendered images. The look of the character and the costume is very much secondary to the personality of the character and the storyline that character is involved with.

As I understand Furry fandom, it's about the images and the suits. And to me, that feels sort of empty of meaning...and makes me wonder what the draw could be, if it was not some sort of bizarre sexual thing.

That said....I think alot of scifi fans take fandom too far as well. I mean, there is a REASON they made Trekkies, you know? And there is a reason why the fans waiting on line for Star Wars were such an easy target for Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

I love scifi and Star Trek...but when a person decides he needs to learn Klingon as a second language, it's time to put down the remote and go get some fresh air. And when a woman moves into a particular apartment, just so she can see the the roof of Brent Spiner's house on a good day...it's time to go get some frakkin' THERAPY.

 

[Amaris]

I must admit...I think it's pretty weird, and I don't really get it.

Scifi fans, I get. Usually there are movies or TV shows or books that generate such fandoms.....and it's the personalities of the characters in those media (or the personalities of the actors, possibly) as well as the storylines of those movies, TV shows and books that tend to generate the interest. Not the lifeless images of the initially rendered characters on a page or computer screen. Scifi fandom centers around storylines and characters - what is underneath those simple rendered images. The look of the character and the costume is very much secondary to the personality of the character and the storyline that character is involved with.

As I understand Furry fandom, it's about the images and the suits. And to me, that feels sort of empty of meaning...and makes me wonder what the draw could be, if it was not some sort of bizarre sexual thing.

It's just the fantasy of it all. Take me for instance: I have a close kinship with animals and nature in general. My faith is a part of that, so the evocation of human sentience in animal form is an outlet of that. I want to draw furry art. I have no real interest in drawing furry art with sexual connotations, I want to draw it in more of a religious/mystic connotation, the idea that we are a part of mother earth, a part of nature. I believe animals have souls. That is a major part of what drives me in that regard.

For example, I love this kind of stuff:

This is anthro art.

That said....I think alot of scifi fans take fandom too far as well. I mean, there is a REASON they made Trekkies, you know? And there is a reason why the fans waiting on line for Star Wars were such an easy target for Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

I love scifi and Star Trek...but when a person decides he needs to learn Klingon as a second language, it's time to put down the remote and go get some fresh air.

I can understand the sentiment. Too much of anything, even good, can be unhealthy. It's important to balance it out.

J.

 

[melancholymecha]

for you guys who are squicked out by furries, how do you feel about:

mythological hybrids(mermaids centaurs)?

characters like Beast, Nightcrawler, Tigra?

or some poor person who got caught in a transporter accident with a cat and ended up looking like this or this?


just curious...

 

[Gepard]

Looking beyond the bad publicity, I think our greatest problem is the horrifying mediocrity of most furry fiction and artwork.

Sturgeon's Law, people. Sturgeon's Law.

I think the greatest cause of damage to the fandom's image is the rank immaturity of its members. Take a look:

(From FurrySociology.net)

According to this, Jay and I are already over the hump and in the minority on age. I think it shows in how the fandom's members conduct themselves online, as demonstrated by The Dead Nations' experience with us. Most of the content of furry message boards and journals and chats, is, frankly, childish and petty. It also goes along with a certain lack of decorum--I'm willing to bet that there's folks on this board who go in for slashfic, but we don't see them talking openly about it (aside from Temis, of course ), or whining about not being accepted for their interests. It's damaging to the furry fandom to have its members behave that way, and does nothing to promote the tolerance that we all say we want.

If people click the ChewFox link I provided earlier in the thread, it's good document of very recent drama that saw a lot of people behaving very shamefully. Frankly, I'm more sympathetic to the woman who got on national TV and talked about fucking in her fursuit ("Strategically Placed Holes" ) than to the people who howled in rage and hurled insults, trolled, and flamed over the "damage" this did to our image. Yeah, guys, you're really helping.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I find this whole furry thing a bit unsettling, but I'm sure they'd say the same thing about me. So I prefer to keep my trap shut.

 

[Amaris]

Looking beyond the bad publicity, I think our greatest problem is the horrifying mediocrity of most furry fiction and artwork.

Sturgeon's Law, people. Sturgeon's Law.

I think the greatest cause of damage to the fandom's image is the rank immaturity of its members. Take a look:

(From FurrySociology.net)

According to this, Jay and I are already over the hump and in the minority on age. I think it shows in how the fandom's members conduct themselves online, as demonstrated by The Dead Nations' experience with us. Most of the content of furry message boards and journals and chats, is, frankly, childish and petty. It also goes along with a certain lack of decorum--I'm willing to bet that there's folks on this board who go in for slashfic, but we don't see them talking openly about it (aside from Temis, of course ), or whining about not being accepted for their interests. It's damaging to the furry fandom to have its members behave that way, and does nothing to promote the tolerance that we all say we want.

If people click the ChewFox link I provided earlier in the thread, it's good document of very recent drama that saw a lot of people behaving very shamefully. Frankly, I'm more sympathetic to the woman who got on national TV and talked about fucking in her fursuit ("Strategically Placed Holes" ) than to the people who howled in rage and hurled insults, trolled, and flamed over the "damage" this did to our image. Yeah, guys, you're really helping.

Yeah, I'm in the 3% and 26% category, respectively.
Honestly, when I started looking at the fandom as a whole, I didn't realize that there were so many younger furries. I have always been attracted to the artwork, and I have always had a very active imagination (I see stardust where others see sand, that kind of thing).

J.

 

[Yoda]

for you guys who are squicked out by furries, how do you feel about:

mythological hybrids(mermaids centaurs)?

Well... they have a mythology. That in itself makes them different. I would have no interest at looking at drawings of them all day, and would think anyone who did was weird. Studying such things in the context of understanding a culture is fine. *Fapping* to it is bad.

characters like Beast, Nightcrawler, Tigra?

In general I have a negative view of comics and comic fandom, but I can handle such characters in the context of a good story.

or some poor person who got caught in a transporter accident with a cat and ended up looking like this or this?

Lumped right in with the furries.

 

[Amaris]

I find this whole furry thing a bit unsettling, but I'm sure they'd say the same thing about me. So I prefer to keep my trap shut.

Hey, it's alright. I wouldn't expect someone to just accept it without having questions or apprehension.

Something I was just thinking about:
When people say they have a spiritual connection with animals, that they feel like they're spiritually associated with a fox or a dog or a bear or something like that, most people would laugh at them like they're crazy. However, if I were to say "I believe Jesus helped me win the lottery", there'd be tons of "amen"s and "hallelujah!"s. It's what we're conditioned to accept, what we believe to be true. It is fascinating how our culture develops.

for you guys who are squicked out by furries, how do you feel about:

mythological hybrids(mermaids centaurs)?

Well... they have a mythology. That in itself makes them different. I would have no interest at looking at drawings of them all day, and would think anyone who did was weird. Studying such things in the context of understanding a culture is fine. *Fapping* to it is bad.

Animism is one of the oldest known religions. In animism, many things have souls, including animals themselves.
They were worshipped as gods, or as natural extensions of the nurturing earth. They're certainly older than most mythologies.



J.

 

[Gepard]

Well... they have a mythology. That in itself makes them different. I would have no interest at looking at drawings of them all day, and would think anyone who did was weird. Studying such things in the context of understanding a culture is fine. *Fapping* to it is bad.

So what about folks who go to art museums to look at all the old paintings and carvings? I do that, for pretty much the same reasons I look at furry art. Sometimes it's not just about "Studying" it but about aesthetic appreciation.

Something I was just thinking about:
When people say they have a spiritual connection with animals, that they feel like they're spiritually associated with a fox or a dog or a bear or something like that, most people would laugh at them like they're crazy. However, if I were to say "I believe Jesus helped me win the lottery", there'd be tons of "amen"s and "hallelujah!"s. It's what we're conditioned to accept, what we believe to be true. It is fascinating how our culture develops.

That gives me an excellent excuse to repost this:

And just to balance it out, furry jedi:

Gep, crazy.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I find this whole furry thing a bit unsettling, but I'm sure they'd say the same thing about me. So I prefer to keep my trap shut.

Hey, it's alright. I wouldn't expect someone to just accept it without having questions or apprehension.

I figure since I'm a virgin, I have no right to have an opinion about sex or any subset thereof. Because it can quickly backfire on me - whatever I might feel about furries, I'm sure they'd be going "eewwwww! This guy's 39 and hasn't had sex yet? What kind of sick fuck is he, pardon the pun?" So I think I would have lost that particular battle.

That being said, if there is ever a live action Thundercats movie, and it looks anything like this, I might look twice at Cheetara...

 

[Kestra]

I don't get it. I especially don't like anything to do with cats or anything in that general area, though I'm not sure why. Maybe because that seems to be popular so I see it the most?

I dunno, I don't care what other people are into but I'm not a fan.

Edit:

Mr. Laser Beam, that's ridiculous. You have as much of a right to an opinion as anyone else. It may not be as based on experience, but who cares. Everyone has opinions on things, including that which they haven't experienced. And if someone's going "ewwww he's a 39 year old virgin!" then they probably have their own issues.

 

[Gepard]

I figure since I'm a virgin, I have no right to have an opinion about sex or any subset thereof. Because it can quickly backfire on me - whatever I might feel about furries, I'm sure they'd be going "eewwwww! This guy's 39 and hasn't had sex yet? What kind of sick fuck is he, pardon the pun?" So I think I would have lost that particular battle.

Yeah, you crazy sexless person you!

Gep, like a virgin.

 

[Amaris]

I figure since I'm a virgin, I have no right to have an opinion about sex or any subset thereof. Because it can quickly backfire on me - whatever I might feel about furries, I'm sure they'd be going "eewwwww! This guy's 39 and hasn't had sex yet? What kind of sick fuck is he, pardon the pun?" So I think I would have lost that particular battle.

That being said, if there is ever a live action Thundercats movie, and it looks anything like this, I might look twice at Cheetara.

Ah, that reminds me!
I love Thundercats, just love the show. Silverhawks, too. Oh, and Starcom, but I'm getting off track.

Anyway, I remember my friends watching some of the cartoons with me a few years back. They kept talking about how hot Cheetara was and how they'd love to "do" her. Well, fast forward a few years and we're on the subject of furries (after reading the news a Furry convention was coming to a nearby city), and the response was "That is so sick. Who would find an animal attractive?"

I lolled.

J.

 

[Gepard]

^It is funny how, once you examine it, "normal" behaviors and attitudes have a lot of furry and proto-furry opinions mixed in.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

That was a really cool trailer, wasn't it? I thought it was pretty funny that Gigi Edgley required no EFX, the trailer guy just lifted a bunch of Farscape scenes - she's pretty much Cheetara as it is.

 

[Amaris]

^It is funny how, once you examine it, "normal" behaviors and attitudes have a lot of furry and proto-furry opinions mixed in.

Indeed they do, my friend.

That was a really cool trailer, wasn't it? I thought it was pretty funny that Gigi Edgley required no EFX, the trailer guy just lifted a bunch of Farscape scenes - she's pretty much Cheetara as it is.

Oh yeah. Cheetara will be easy to bring out.
And I wonder just how many guys who would normally say "Furries?! Ew!" will think about "doing" Cheetara. I bet more than a few.

J.

 

[melancholymecha]

I find this whole furry thing a bit unsettling, but I'm sure they'd say the same thing about me. So I prefer to keep my trap shut.

Hey, it's alright. I wouldn't expect someone to just accept it without having questions or apprehension.

I figure since I'm a virgin, I have no right to have an opinion about sex or any subset thereof. Because it can quickly backfire on me - whatever I might feel about furries, I'm sure they'd be going "eewwwww! This guy's 39 and hasn't had sex yet? What kind of sick fuck is he, pardon the pun?" So I think I would have lost that particular battle.

Im a virgin too, & Ive already expressed my thoughts here. I may not know what sex is really like, but I know what pleases my eye!