What is a Furry?

[Neko-Shell]

First off, I'm part of the "Furry Fandom" myself, and I have to say, it's not as bad as you think. Most of us are actually nice, fun loving caring people, not sex-crazed(uh, okay, we get horny like normal people, but most of us can keep it at a tolerable level)freaks.

 

There's nothing genetic about "furry-ism", some of us do it simply for fun, some of us get into it because we need a place to belong, or simply for the hell of it and not actually care about it(you'll most likely meet some nice people along the way of it though).

 

And for that "beastality" thing, first of all, we're ROLE-PLAYING, unless one of us goes outside of the fantasy thing and actually ****s horses and foxes, you shouldn't be quick to say anything like that. -.- It pisses me OFF that some people that I'm starting to see are trying to give us a bad name. I got something to say to you guys; You're weird just like we are. You've got your likes that some of us think is stupid/wrong/illogical, so you can't really dis us.

 

If you see one of us ACTUALLY acting like a beaver IRL building a dam made out of sticks, okay, let 'em have it.

 

-- And no, I don't have "species identity disorder", I can tell where the lines are between fantasy and reality, and I'm pretty sure half of my other furry friends do too, and we may take it a little too far sometimes, but we still manage to draw the line some where.

 

"Being a furry (and donning a costume) is a way a socially-repressed person can go out into the world (including, and often especially, sexually) protected. They can act out, and be acted upon, without getting hurt and without hurting others.", Wrong on the last part, kudos for the first part(well, not for all of us anyways, but there's quite a few socially repressed people in the "fandom"), we're animals with human traits, right? We have the ability to hurt, and be hurt as well, we're not gods, we can't get away with anything bad, we have to deal with consequences, and hurt, just like you guys IRL.

 

"you see them all the time at sci-fi conventions. They are a truly strange lot. I have no idea why they pretend to be animals, but I have a feeling it's just an excuse to do weird sexual things." <-- Only the idiots do that. Us who actually like to be in touch with the animal we feel closely related to are, apparently, sensible(call me an idiot or whatever you want, i have no experience in psychology, just calling it how I see it), but, to see some of these people's reactions to "furries" just overwhelms me with laughter. If you wanna call us gay in a number of ways, don't say it behind our backs while recording a video of your "findings" XD It just makes you look like a ******* retard.

 

-END end rant

[Mokele]

And for that "beastality" thing, first of all, we're ROLE-PLAYING, unless one of us goes outside of the fantasy thing and actually ****s horses and foxes, you shouldn't be quick to say anything like that.

 

Um, there are a number of zoophiles associated with the furry fandom, and I know this from direct experience.

 

You want to claim you fandom isn't ****ed up? FurAffinity, one of the largest furry art sites, recently had a controversy over "cub art", art depicting child furs in sexual acts or situations. The admins put it up to a vote as to whether this should be allowed or not. Over 50% of the members voted to allow it. Now, not all voted because they approve, but rather because they're afraid their kink could be next, but if your kink is on a slippery slope near anthro-child-porn, that's very, very not good.

 

 

Look, I know how this works; I've seen this arguement before. I know the furry community as a whole is excessively defensive, and will tirelessly fight percieved insults to the fandom, especially on the issue of sexuality. But in those fights, you hamstring yourselves by pretending there isn't a problem, that there isn't a *sizable* number of furs openly engaging in some really ****ed up stuff when all you have to do is scan VCL to see that's true.

 

The problem is that the furry fandom is exceptionally accepting of any and all kinks/perversions/whatever, and those voices and their art tend to be loud and visible, which means that non-furs are likely to see stuff that freaks them out, leading to a bad impression. You can't simply deny that stuff is out there. The best you can do is note that not all furs are in it for sex, and even those that are, not all are terrifyingly kinky.

 

Mokele

[Neko-Shell]

I saw that poll on FurAffinity. ~_~ I didn't vote for either side, because frankly, "cub art" is just depraved to me, it's just another form of "loli" art, I'll admit.

 

"Um, there are a number of zoophiles associated with the furry fandom, and I know this from direct experience.", Okay, yes, there are, but there's a lot of GOOD furs out there, so you can't judge everyone of us for someone else's "likes", even if they're disgusting.

 

"Look, I know how this works; I've seen this arguement before. I know the furry community as a whole is excessively defensive, and will tirelessly fight percieved insults to the fandom, especially on the issue of sexuality. But in those fights, you hamstring yourselves by pretending there isn't a problem, that there isn't a *sizable* number of furs openly engaging in some really ****ed up stuff when all you have to do is scan VCL to see that's true.", Can you blame us for being defensive? I've seen some of the harassment that goes on first hand, and it's not funny, people expect us to "play fair" when we discuss the sexuality thing, but let's face it; You start calling someone gay or stupid or whatever they can muster up and giving out threats(granted, they can't/probably won't deliver on them, but still), you're of course gonna see us get defensive. Some of us don't pretend there's no problem with what others do/draw/say, because some of us still actually get disgusted by some of this stuff. The whole "fursuit yiffing" thing ain't that weird, trust me, and never will be, and zoophilia, well, okay, you have me there.

 

"The problem is that the furry fandom is exceptionally accepting of any and all kinks/perversions/whatever, and those voices and their art tend to be loud and visible, which means that non-furs are likely to see stuff that freaks them out, leading to a bad impression. You can't simply deny that stuff is out there. The best you can do is note that not all furs are in it for sex, and even those that are, not all are terrifyingly kinky.", Okay, yeah, maybe we do accept too many kinks, but you gotta understand, these people have minds of their own, which are, sadly, VERY open, add in free will, and, well.. I don't have to say, do I? And as for the art? It's a way of expressing one's self.... Most of it, some just do it for the hell of it. And if what some of us do freaks people out, then why the HELL are they looking at the stuff in the first place? They need something to rant about on somethingawful?

 

And also, why would you go poking around the adult rated art on VCL? Do you enjoy studying us or something? x.o; there's pg stuffs too..

[Mokele]

Okay, yes, there are, but there's a lot of GOOD furs out there, so you can't judge everyone of us for someone else's "likes", even if they're disgusting.

 

Precisely, and that should be the first line of defense. Not "we're not pervs" but "we're not *all* pervs".

 

Can you blame us for being defensive? I've seen some of the harassment that goes on first hand, and it's not funny, people expect us to "play fair" when we discuss the sexuality thing, but let's face it; You start calling someone gay or stupid or whatever they can muster up and giving out threats(granted, they can't/probably won't deliver on them, but still), you're of course gonna see us get defensive.

 

I don't know if I buy "harassment". Ok, there's the Somethingawful trolls and everyone else that takes a crack at y'all, but people make fun of or denigrate others all the time online, and the really stupid ones threaten. But it's all online, really.

 

I remember when a webcomic I read did a few on furries, expecting a backlash. The LJ group associated had some discussion, and one very good point was raised: people make fun of furs for precisely the same reason they throw rocks at a beehive. There's a guaranteed reaction which will be furious, disproportionate, and ineffectual. The old saw about 'ignore them and they'll go away' may not be totally true, but I think the fur community has proven that reaction is certainly the worse course.

 

Okay, yeah, maybe we do accept too many kinks, but you gotta understand, these people have minds of their own, which are, sadly, VERY open, add in free will, and, well.. I don't have to say, do I? And as for the art? It's a way of expressing one's self.... Most of it, some just do it for the hell of it. And if what some of us do freaks people out, then why the HELL are they looking at the stuff in the first place? They need something to rant about on somethingawful? And also, why would you go poking around the adult rated art on VCL? Do you enjoy studying us or something? x.o; there's pg stuffs too..

 

One thing I have noticed is that furs don't seem to have the same boundaries about sexual topics as other people. I've had furs bring up their personal kinks in chat rooms the way I bring up the weather, and on most art sites, there's no division between the PG stuff and adult stuff, so if you browse you get both. I'm on deviantart, and when I go through the day's most popular pictures, I wind up with furry inflation porn.

 

I'm not saying that there's any way to change it, just that this is why a lot of people react the way they do.

 

Mokele

[Dak]

I've had experience with members of the furry fandom, and there's a range, from normal folks who just like cartoon animals, to those who like them too much, to stuff that's so ****ed up I shudder in horror at the mere memory (seriously, yiff and fursuiting is *normal* compared to some of the widespread kinks in furry fandom).

 

i'm really intruigued. do tell.

 

Um, there are a number of zoophiles associated with the furry fandom, and I know this from direct experience.

 

it's almost not worth pointing that out. i'm sure there's alot of rapists associated with the rough sex scence. im sure theres alot of paedos associated with the uniform scence (for the 'schoolgirls'). it makes sence that someone with a totally unnacepted fetish would gravitate towards semi-legitimate substitutes for their fetish.

 

whilst that would make it true to say there are lots of bestiophiles/rapists/paedos associated with the furry/rough/uniform scence, i can kinda see where the 'normal' pervs are coming from when they say they're annoyed at the association.

 

more a comment than an argument or anything.

 

You want to claim you fandom isn't ****ed up? FurAffinity, one of the largest furry art sites, recently had a controversy over "cub art", art depicting child furs in sexual acts or situations. The admins put it up to a vote as to whether this should be allowed or not. Over 50% of the members voted to allow it. Now, not all voted because they approve, but rather because they're afraid their kink could be next, but if your kink is on a slippery slope near anthro-child-porn, that's very, very not good.

 

an it harms no one. cartoon charectors cannot be sexually abused by being forced to pose for porn when they're childeren.

 

certainly, if your into cartoon child porn you should take a long, hard, look at yourself and seriously think about what else your into, and the ethics associated, and premptively mentally fortify yourself to do the right thing if your ever in a situation where you need to, BUT at the same time it's astoundingly clear that the act of looking at cartoon child/'cub' porn (dear god ) is perfectly non-harmful to anyone.

 

maybe, for the non-actual-bestiophiles, they merely recognise the difference between a harmful fetish that needs to be supressed, and a superficially simlar, yet fundamentally dissimilar in effect, fetish, and how annoying it is to confuse the two and suppress that which does not need suppression.

[Neko-Shell]

I'd uh, like to fix what I said about cub art earlier, *ahem* I find the SEXUAL cub art depraved, when it's drawn in a cute, child friendly way, then it's okay. >_>;; ahem, anyways.

 

As Dak said, it doesn't harm anyone to look at/draw the stuff, however, you can't expect to NOT be judged. Sorry if I seem a little "stupid" in what I said on here, but it just pisses me off how when a bad group of furries(Not even sure they're into it for anything other than the justification of their kinks), us GOOD ones get judged as well. ; It's not fair, for one, and it's only gonna make us get even more defensive and uptight about this stuff. But sadly, nothing will change the whole "kink allowance" thing going on in this fandom, as long as people have the ability to think and do things for themselves, so I guess the best thing to do is either only stick with the good ones(at least 10%, keywords at least, of us are good, the rest are.. Hell, you know for yourselves right?), or just stay away from us completely, I suppose. Just be glad some of us are mated/celibate. XD

[Mokele]

but it just pisses me off how when a bad group of furries(Not even sure they're into it for anything other than the justification of their kinks), us GOOD ones get judged as well.

 

That's always the way of it, for every group. Christians get judged by the actions of Psycho-Fundamentalists, good reptile keepers get judged by the idiots who let their 20 foot python roam the house, clean weightlifters are assumed to use steroids because of high-profile users. The bad makes more impact than the good, so we remember it more and it governs out impressions more.

 

Mokele

[Beastysakura]

when one thinks of fetish in the first place, you can almost always find an answer not in biological but in the psycological reasons.

 

fetish tends to arise in the earlier years of life, when habit and concept develop before you are able to understand the reasoning behind the things you do.

 

when it comes to furries i find that a lot of the time, they are people who experienced a traumatizing moment in life and when no one was there for them, a pet or a form of wilderness was available for comfort in some form.

i have a friend who makes a wonderful example. When he was very young he grew up in a household where the father left them, and his sister died, and through all of this he had his dog, and the social connection he was able to make with the animal, on a much deeper level, impacted him to associate with animals. i feel that this is the case for many furries. some where in their life they experienced some heavily emotional or physical impact that hurt them and an animal was there for support. That is why you find furries acting out the animals they enjoy, because they feel that they communicate the best this way, the way their support does, the way that their "bestfriend" does.

 

many fetishes seem to be this way, and an excellent example is S&M a heavily popular fetish, one that i explore myself. and i find that the same is true there but instead of animals, the S&M community finds capture and attention the filler for the hole in their developed self.

so once again you have child growing up in troubled home, no attention, no real sense of love or comfort, no one wants them around, and then later on in life, they find some one who wants them more than anything and is willing to give them praise and attention, and even go so far as to tie them up and keep them as their own. and there you ahve it, the perfect S&M couple.

 

in any case i find this to be the most reasonable explanation for those kinds of situations, or questions. fetish is amazing, and the reasons behind them are deep seated ideas, that should not be shunned in culture, but (in cases that are not harmful to children or unwanted) should be embrased as healthy outputs for difficult to deal with emotions many people have to grow up with.

 

now what would be even better to think about is self bondage, wonderful discussion topics.

 

[MrSandman]

Furry is the name of my lovable puppy. Although he's 13 that doesn't matter. He can be quite brutal when killing, racoons, mice, birds, and squirrels. Not to mention, the occasional chicken, and rabbit.

[hayleycomet]

I suppose one thing about expressing your sexuality as a pretend-animal might

be the freedom from social constraints. Literally a license to express your 'animal side'.

I sound like a furry don't I? But I swear I'm not...

[iNow]

In kung fu, the fighter frequently takes on the spirit of an animal, like the tiger, the crane, the praying mantis, or the dragon. Also, during meditation, the fighter can focus on different energy points specific to the animal they are channeling. I had a lot of fun with the deer point near the tailbone. I felt rather "springy" when the heat of my body went to that area.

 

 

However, since the werewolf isn't real, we never trained on that. However, we did train in the dragon system. Strange.

[YokoNuruku]

Honestly, I think both sides need some wake-up calls. As a furry, there are a lot of things that I can be accepting of, and I can also be VERY protective against fur-haters that say completely ridiculous things against us. First: Fur-haters need to realize that what the Furry Fandom has as kinks are only different from non-fur because it HAS FUR. You could probably find "normal" art with the same gore, child porn, scat, and various other twisted things. It isn't just Furry and we DON'T need to be attacked for it. Another thing: if you don't like the content of a place like VCL or FurAffinity's adult work, THEN DON'T GO THERE.

 

It is very difficult to STUMBLE across that stuff unless you aren't paying attention. Especially with Furaffinity, this is true. The only way you can view the adult material there is if you turn off the filters from your CONTROL PANEL, meaning that you would HAVE TO BE A MEMBER!! Common sense, people. As for a lot of fur-haters claims that we purposefully set ourselves up for persecution by bringing our fandom out into the open, I have this to say: ANIME, STAR TREK, NRA!

 

The only way in which we bring this crap out into the open is by some stupid furs putting things where they should not be, and that is easily taken care of. And even that is not abnormal. You will most likely find some unrelated and often times questionable material on the internet, which I am reminding all is a mixing pot of every sort of positive and negative information, and the difference between them is often misconstrued.

 

If you want to talk about our conventions, that is optional attendence too. If you want to go into the fact that you sometimes see furs in their suits on the streets, I also can say this: PROFFESION! Consider that it might be someone that actually has a reason to be in the suit. They might be an entertainer and have nothing really to do with the furry fandom at all. And if they do, there are so many worse things seen on the streets than animal costumes, people.

 

Now, the Furries have a few things they need to learn too.

 

NOT EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET YOU!!!

 

Sure, some people think its weird, but if that's all they say, then don't attack them for saying it. People have the right to an opinion, even if it makes you want to kill them. Also, stop using the CSI episode of "Fur and Loathing in Las Vegas" as an example of "fursecution". There are a lot of things on there that can be CONSIDERED INSULTING! Now, a specific case on a furry relationship gone wrong is nothing you need to be jumping on as fursecution!

 

Most of all, both sides need to learn discretion. Seriously, I think that the subject should be permanantly left alone, but you know the nature of things. That kind of wish could never be granted because humans are too in love with the sounds of their own voices.

 

One thing I have noticed is that furs don't seem to have the same boundaries about sexual topics as other people. I've had furs bring up their personal kinks in chat rooms the way I bring up the weather...

 

I won't deny that, but PEOPLE, not just furs, do that. I hate it when some of my friends randomly go on a rant about their crazy sex lives. Frankly, I'm not interested and I think that its better left for the bedroom. And the people I'm talking about aren't even furs. Well... that was a lie. There's one. ONLY ONE.

 

when one thinks of fetish in the first place, you can almost always find an answer not in biological but in the psycological reasons.

 

fetish tends to arise in the earlier years of life, when habit and concept develop before you are able to understand the reasoning behind the things you do.

 

when it comes to furries i find that a lot of the time, they are people who experienced a traumatizing moment in life and when no one was there for them, a pet or a form of wilderness was available for comfort in some form.

i have a friend who makes a wonderful example. When he was very young he grew up in a household where the father left them, and his sister died, and through all of this he had his dog, and the social connection he was able to make with the animal, on a much deeper level, impacted him to associate with animals. i feel that this is the case for many furries. some where in their life they experienced some heavily emotional or physical impact that hurt them and an animal was there for support. That is why you find furries acting out the animals they enjoy, because they feel that they communicate the best this way, the way their support does, the way that their "bestfriend" does.

 

I think that holds true too. Looking into it, I've found that to be the case myself. When I was a kid, I had a pet cat that I loved more than anything in the world. One day, something very bad happened to it in my house (I had a bad home) and it ran away. That cat was my only comfort from my responsibility of taking care of my little sister when I was only seven years old because my dad couldn't get a job, food, or a proper house and it was up to me to keep my sister alive. Since then, I can't stand the thought of animal cruelty and I guess it just went deeper than that.

[DrP]

Am I just being weird or does anyone else find this slightly arousing??

 

 

 

 

It's Kate Garraway doing a contriversial report on the ethics of drinking milk from another animal.

[DrP]

Anyone seen this Orangina Ad.? Might be one for the furries?

 

 

[iPeppers]

I don't know who said this but:

 

He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

 

I believe that was the song Bat Country by the band Avenged Sevenfold. haha

 

But seriously, who doesn't love playboy bunnies? There are also plenty of people who want to be like them, and I don't think it's all that surprising.

[pioneer]

Humans are messed up critters. I realize the liberal and PC crowd will accept the bizarre as their norm. But maybe we need to try to define natural and differentiated it.

 

Here is how it works. Our natural instincts have distinct goals in mind. Hunger is there to feed the body. Sex is there to procreate, etc. The brain helps this along by dangling carrots on the string, such as pleasure and enjoyment, to help lead up to water. The driver of the carriage or natural instinct has the final goal in mind, but the horse only the sees the carrot. Culture fixates on the many ways we can get the carrot, and in the process, the driver leads the horse to water.

 

Because the carrot is a trick or special affect to fool the horse, the silly human critter comes up with endless ways to achieve this short term goal. I suppose there is nothing wrong with how the horse twists and contorts to get the carrot as long there is forward progress. Some of the techniques even get the carrot to swing so the horse gets a nibble here and there. But other times, the horse is too preoccupied and takes too long to reach water.

 

If you look at furry in a symbolic way, it suggests an inner urge to be more like animals. Or it is an impulse to hook up with natural instinct. This is actually healthy. The problem is the science can't define instinct maybe due to social pressures. Because horse and carrot science is acceptable the furry people get stuck at the horse and carrot and don't reach water. It could be economics. There is only one goal for food, for example. But there are endless horse and carrots scenarios. This is big business in all ways.

[aroowolf]

hi everyone, while browsing the net i found this page and decided to clear some things up (i have only read the first page of posts).

 

Furrys are not all sex crazed fantics. its a media thing. sure, sex fantasies may sometimes exist but not with everyone.

 

everyone you ask has a different understanding of furs and this is mine.

 

i believe its a way we can meet friends and truly express ourselves through different types of media, eg. artwork, stories and music. its a way we can better understand ourselves and the world around us. its enjoyable, and fun to take on the character that you dream you are every night.

 

Think back to when you where ten years old. Where you fascinated about animals? did you use to watch cartoons with anthromphs running around? its the same but your just older.

 

Well thats pretty much my impression, you could have a look at wiki fur, google it.

 

o yeah, its more about finding people that can accept you and talk to you, not about your looks.

 

written by a red and black wolf.

[Soupa]

I'll clear this up a bit more here on the subject of "furries"

 

The best way to define a furry is basically this.

Someone whom is a fan of anthropomorphic art, movies, and music. Which becomes deeper as the forms of entertainment become more intertwined with lifestyle.

 

Now the biggest misconception is that they are high in sexual activity, and this is far from the truth. And the only reason it seems most prevalent in allot of the mainstream media, is because how bizarre the idea of two people engaging in sexual activities whilst wearing suits designed to resemble animals. And in allot of those cases those are people whom started with bestiality, found out about the "furry lifestyle", and melded it with they're own personal lifestyle. In which case should never be confused as a "furry". Those types are quite simply perverted.

 

The main majority of furries are actually allot like the every day type person. Leading normal lives. But upon deeper studies on this life style, i've found a large amount of these types of people to be upbeat, positive minded type people.

[Fox]

so, i was crusin around the internet when that curiosity bug bit me. i wanted to find out exactly why i find anthropomorphic characters so attractive. i google search "furry fetish psychology" and this was one of the first links that came up. now, i realized right away that this site wasn't going to be a reliable source because people here seem to make a LOT of assumptions about something you know little to NOTHING about. take a good look at my user name i use it for everything i do online because i myself am a furry. but thats all it is, a user name.

 

you people also seem to think we are weird because of the wide range of fetishes that exist in the furry fandom but you cant possibly tell me that these fetishes don't exist outside of the fandom. look at it this way; if you have 98 blue blocks and 2 red blocks in a bag you have a 1 in 50 chance of picking a red block. on the internet there is TONS more non-furry porn than there is furry porn. so it makes sense that the bag i just described is regular internet porn. the furry bag of blocks would contain 9 blue blocks and only 1 red block. the chances of finding a weird fetish here is 1 in 10.

 

please know that these ratios are in no way accurate i'm just trying to make an example.

 

yes i know that i'm another post defending furrys but i mean come on! back some were in the beginning of this forum i read that someone likes to flame furrys and he didn't even know why.

 

witch brings me to my next point; sure we all defend our fandom to the death--ok maybe not THAT far-- but when ever some one makes a comment on this forum contradicting the norm everyone was quick to defend their own beliefs. furrys are no more defensive than anyone else. you will notice, however, that it is always the furrys that are on the DEFENSIVE. you'll never catch one of us flaming anyone who has not wronged one of us. it is for this reason that even more weirdos come CLAIM to be a furry when their not; all they want is a place to be accepted.

[ecoli]

 

you people also seem to think we are weird because of the wide range of fetishes that exist in the furry fandom but you cant possibly tell me that these fetishes don't exist outside of the fandom.

 

I can only speak for myself, but I never meant to imply that weird = abnormal or wrong, just unusual. But that's ok.

[sobe]

hello, im hear to put the myths to rest!

 

 

as a furry, i can give you guys the REAL furry perspective, so hear goes:

 

basicly, the furdom (the collective of furries) is just people who share the common feeling that thay want to be/feel they are/have a deep connection to animals. for some, its just for fun, and to others, they take it more seriusly. for the most part, were just like any one else. alot of furries like to draw and look at furrie art, animals that have human charerteristics, walking on 2 legs, having a distinctly human apearence with strong animalistic traits, ect. something odd i have relized is, most furries are bisexual or homosexual.

 

one of the more negitive veiws on the fandom is the "yiffy" aspect, yiffy is porn involving anthropomorphic charecters, though i want to stress the fact that NOT ALL FURRIES LOOK AT YIFY! this is one of the things that people who dont fully understand the furdom assume, that it is all about the sexual aspect, and though for alot of furries it is, it is not the entire meaning of being a furry, not by a long shot.

 

 

to sum it up, furries are people who like to act like or imagine that they are animals or have animalistic traits, though around normal people, they usaly act like a normal person.

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S

id like to apoligize for my spelling, i know its pretty bad lol.

[Mokele]

Ok, the entire last half of this thread has been furs showing up and posting only once, here, to defend their fandom. I think by this point, the discussion is dead, and watching its corpse twitch every time a fur discovers this thread is getting annoying.

 

Thread closed.