I’ve never understood the furry hate. People treat it as a kink akin to someone being into taking a shit on your stomach. Except somehow worse.
It’s not my thing, but I’ve known people who are into it and they’ve all been nice people. I hung out with a bunch of them one of the times I was working at a con and they were fun people to hang around when they were out of their fursuits. And yeah, I didn’t quite know how to react to them when they were in the fursuit, but I just stayed friendly. That seemed to be fine with them.
Furries are odd fellows, but I would never say anything against them for fear of all IT infrastructure spontaneously trying to kill for the rest of my life because it’s just odd, not harmful. De gustibus non disputandum est.
Right. They’re just into something weird. No big deal, lots of us are into weird things. The weird stuff I’m into doesn’t involve spending lots of money or wearing a costume that must be very hot after a short period of time, but if that’s what does it for you, cool. I’ll be over here watching hours of old public domain movies and industrial films.
Huh… I’ve been here a smidge under 20 years, and I’ve never met a fur who shares that sentiment. Awkward and quiet about it, sure, but nobody who is like “bad grrrr gross grrrr”. Almost exclusively in my circles it’s on the range of “I don’t mind at all, be weird with me” to (where I sit) “literally get freaky with me whenever and however, here are my kinks on f-list with all my sona details, also here is my 4K webcam and we can become content creators if you want too” levels of casual/open/positivity.
‘we are here for a good time, not a long time’. So, literally, fuck it. Do what/who makes you feel good.
I’m autistic and an LGBT ally and I still find furries off-putting. I try not to judge, but in general I treat them like street proselytizers and the mentally unwell homeless: don’t make eye contact and keep out of smelling range.
I’m gonna copy another comment I made on this post since it’s the best thing I think I can say about it. But just know I once felt as you do and probably still would if my sister wasn’t a furry.
I think the kink and fursuit parts are what most people understand about furries because that’s the most signal boosted and bizarre parts about it. However, furries often have other things that really attach them to it, and the kink is a further expression of that.
For a lot of people, neurodivergence is a core feature. I struggle with speech a lot. I’m learning ASL but few people speak it. The flexibility to communicate in howls, barks and yips on occasion is extremely helpful. The furry community is full of people who just get this and will treat me very normally when I’m nonverbal. The scared kid in me still expects to be hit for disobedience, so it’s incredibly healing.
Some folks who like fursuits like them because they present a barrier and literal mask that helps them feel safe and protected from bad sensory experiences in public. Some attach themselves into a fursona character and find a way to express parts of themselves they couldn’t elsewhere. My sister describes her fursona as a manifestation of her inner child unburdened by abuse, and made the character female years before she worked out she was trans.
When you consider how much kink and trauma go hand in hand, how much furries lean on their identity as a way to feel safe engaging with others, and how much genuine joy people find in their fursona, the kink makes a whole lot more sense. It’s less about being attracted to “rejected Disney mascots” specifically as it is about the comfort and safety a rejected Disney mascot persona can bring to people who need it. For as much as it’s helpful in the outside world, it would in fact be weirder for none of that to come into the bedroom too.
Yes, and people perceive homosexuality as degeneracy too. It applies to both. Homosexuality is also not about sex. You can never have sex your entire life and be gay.
It’s about who you love, not just who you have sex with. Two women who are asexual (don’t experience much in the way of sexual pleasure) who have a long term committed romantic relationship may not technically be “homosexual”, but they are definitely seen and treated as such. And I think the term “gay” very comfortably applies.
You can have sexual orientation without ever having sex. For example you can be heterosexual and never find a sexual partner - that doesn’t make you asexual, you’re just a heterosexual virgin.
Yeah, I can see that. The weird thing is, why the fuck are others giving a shit about what the fuck I do? It turns the conversation on its head when you ask what they are into.
I’m a fur for the happy cuddly sfw stuff, but I also want to bury my knot in an adorable subby boy too. I went all-in on both halves of the fandom basically as soon as I found out about it, and I’ve never been apologetic or put up with any shaming. And there’s nobody who would pass up the opportunity to double their penis length and girth, grow a thick knot, have badass razor-sharp teeth, jaw muscles to go with it, can hunt and defend themselves without any outside object assisting them, and also have the aura that comes with it, just walk in the room and the mood immediately shifts. At least, no top/dom. I’m sure bottoms/subs are out there that want to feel helpless and vulnerable. But subs aren’t the people that are being little bitches about what I do in my bedroom.
furries get a lot of psychological safety out of embracing animalistic traits in all contexts. Speech is extremely difficult for me and being able to “awooo arf x3 wuf bark!” my way through normal day to day conversations with partners is such an inexplicable relief that I hope people with a passing understanding of neurodivergence can empathize.
For as beneficial as these things are in normal day to day life, it would in fact be far weirder if it didn’t extend to the bedroom too. Like play-gnawing a partner to say “I love you” and then getting to the bed with them and just saying “ok for this one thing in particular I am a normal human who doesn’t howl!!!”
Idk it makes me kinda uncomfortable tbh, so maybe my insight is useful here? Not that I’d stop them from doing their thing in private or at a con I won’t be attending, but I would like to stay as far away from that shit as possible personally. Here’s my reasons, some of which of course won’t apply to every furry, like all groups they’re not really a hivemind, but…
-The anonymity is cool, but to a degree anyone in a mask or full suit (be it a shiesty, clown costume, etc) outside of common events like Halloween immediately makes me a bit wary, sure probably nothing will happen but also if they do commit some crime they’ll be harder to identify out of that costume. The only benefit furries have over others here is the cost of those suits, that’d be an expensive costume to have to ditch, but at a con they can blend in in the suit (“Idk the guy who stabbed me was like…some blue dog or wolf thing, goddammit.” Lol)
The fact that they insist it isn’t sexual, when it clearly is at least for many. It gives me the same “don’t involve me in your kinks” feeling like if I saw a dominatrix and her sub licking her heels in a McDonalds, and the fact that for many it is sexual means that the ones that are “just for fun” get caught in that crossfire and make me feel that same gross feeling. Again not kink shaming, just non consensually involving the public in your kinks shaming, as consent is important.
The fact that everyone wants to be an animal and for many that is sexual is uhh…not not creepy. It’s sorta pseudobeastiality even if those people say “well I don’t really want to fuck a real dog” ok sure, I actually do believe that, but it’s still uncomfortably close and I wouldn’t be surprised of some of them do.
It seems to have some overlap with the contingent of online people that like to call themselves wolfkin and stuff, like vulpine.club or whatever that masto instance was. I’m not sure how much overlap, but I have seen some creepy shit posted from the individuals there, and the complete lack of reality those people live in is maybe not bad but it is startling and makes me uncomfortable. Again, I agree with their right to do it, but I blocked the instance, ykwim.
That’s basically it. Again I’m not saying let’s hunt them down lol, I’m just saying I don’t want to be involved at all whether it is or isn’t sexual, and sharing my personal feelings on why it makes me uncomfortable especially when out of place.
Edit: OH I can’t believe I forgot to list the biggest reason!
An insignificant portion of furries are actual literal nazis. Like, not “was there in '33” nazis, but neonazis that literally idolize those people, wear armbands, I’ve seen nazi uniforms that are somehow fucking big enough to fit on a fox mascot suit (must’ve belonged to Göring, or maybe Sgt. Schultz), etc. So like, that’s fucking weird too.
I’ve seen these sentiments a lot, usually not spelled out like this though. I think the unease often comes from associating anthropomorphic animals with children’s media exclusively. That way it seems scandalous that there is an adult component to the subculture. Pretty much every subculture/fandom has that, of course, but people don’t seem to mind as much when it’s anime, goths and so on.
The fact that they insist it isn’t sexual, when it clearly is at least for many.
In my experience people push back against that characterization because the existence of an adult component seems to make everything else disappear or read as dishonest for some people. There is plenty of perfectly innocent, family-friendly content and we genuinely like it for that, not as a sex thing. Those things can coexist just fine with neither diminishing the other.
feeling like if I saw a dominatrix and her sub licking her heels in a McDonalds
If you remove the sex/fetish stuff from the BDSM community you’d really have nothing left, if you remove it from furries you’d still have a group of people who really love anthropomorphic animal characters, just not also in that way.
Also, ew, who goes to McDonald’s?
The fact that everyone wants to be an animal and for many that is sexual is uhh…not not creepy
If we just roll with that, what do you think about all the people who fetishize vampires, for example? That’s pretty much mainstream now (not just because of Twilight) and it’s literally undead, blood drinking, mind controlling monsters.
"Idk the guy who stabbed me was like…some blue dog or wolf thing, goddammit.” Lol
You’ll be relieved to know that most people in costume can’t see or hear very well, so you’ll have the advantage in a knife fight.
An insignificant portion of furries are actual literal nazis.
Yeah, in open groups with tens of thousands of members you’ll have some bad people, not really surprising is it? Look at anime, comics, warhammer, … anything nerdy and not-so-nerdy, they are there too.
That might be part of it, I have to admit people who want to fuck rainbow sprinkles or whatever that MLP horse’s name is are also similarly creepy to me. I almost can understand if the cartoon is more humanoid but, like people who were going crazy over rule 34 of that cop rabbit? Dude…little weird, and not in a good way.
I agree those things can coexist, but when for a significant portion of the people it is sexual it is going to taint the meaning naturally. Especially if there’s not really a clear delineation, like for example: diapers. There’s many people (guaranteed most diaper wearers and I’m only talking adults), for whom it isn’t sexual. If you see an old guy with a puff in his pants, you can assume pretty well he just medically needs them. But it’s pretty easy to spot someone who, instead of needing them, is one of those ADBL guys if you see them on the subway. For furries, they all look the same, there is no “tell” like a bib and pacifier. If there was, I’d only be creeped out by the sexual ones, but I just can’t tell, and the pageantry of it all just makes it all feel more like the ADBL crew.
Oh no I’m not saying “no kink allowed ever,” that’d be crazy! I’m just saying “keep kink behind closed doors (at least reasonably, like, a sex club is technically ‘public’ but it’s obviously OK, I mean like not at the park lol.)” Fair about McDonalds haha I haven’t been myself in years, just an example of a public place where it’s reasonable not to be subjected to others’ kinks.
Yeah I do also think the vampire fetishists are pretty creepy, or can be especially depending how into it they are. Bloodplay is actually one of my few hard No’s (along with scat because ew, and gun/knifeplay because not “safe”). But if they just want me to wear a cloak and bite their neck a little, and maybe say “I vant to fuck your butt” in a fake Romanian accent, I can work with that (well, can I without laughing remains to be seen lol).
Lol, the stabbing part was more of a joke, and as I said that isn’t exclusive to furries but anyone with a full mask/full costume, but since furries fall into that category they’re included, the anonymity does make it hard to report things, (which IRL would probably be like they grabbed someone’s butt or something but sexual assault isn’t as funny as stabbings as far as jokes go).
Very true, but it seems like it’s a larger proportion than normal, though I must admit that could simply be because there are more say comic fans than furries, so the nazis are better drowned out, maybe. Still though I’ve seen enough that on the rare chance I do see another furry in the wild (well, I’ll probably just stay away, but barring that) I’d have to figure out if they’re one of the horny or racist ones before I feel comfortable with “ah no they seem like a…well not normal person but at least they won’t hump my leg or bust out a ‘roman salute.’”
How does that even work, btw? The nazi ones are all blonde dogs? Do they hate people who dress as rats/mice? Do they say “the scalies will not replace us?” Lmao sorry I can’t resist making fun of nazis here and there haha.
I agree those things can coexist, but when for a significant portion of the people it is sexual it is going to taint the meaning naturally.
What do you think about other groups then? There’s plenty of people cosplaying characters from media, sometimes in a very tame way, sometimes very much not. Those can be the same people, in the same outfits, minutes apart. You have people cosplaying Princess Leia in basically lingerie, is that alright?
maybe say “I vant to fuck your butt” in a fake Romanian accent, I can work with that
[Insert words of judgement here]
The nazi ones are all blonde dogs? Do they hate people who dress as rats/mice?
Nah, they are just your average white supremacists except they also have a fursona. It doesn’t have to be intermeshed like that.
Surely you can see that dressing up as a character like that is different from furries. First of all, there’s a lot more people that do that specifically for “halloween” or “for this photoshoot” or “for a con” than “let’s go to Target on March 07th dressed as Slave Leia and do creepy stuff” which, yeah, I’d have similar questions about wtf was going on if that was a thing that ever happened. Like yeah if I go to comic con or whatever and people are dressed like comic characters? Ok. If I go to furcon or whatever and see furries, cool. If I go to the coffee shop and see either a furry or someone being creepily sexual as some comic person, you betcha I’m equally creeped out either way. Idk why it seems to be hard for people to parse.
“Ah, you vill not judge me for my kinks, bleh bleh bleh, vatch me suck ze blood from my victims in public, I don’t care if you think ve should take it somewhere appropriate! Watch us do ze Mash, ve do ze Monster Mash right here in front ov everyone.”
The fact that they insist it isn’t sexual, when it clearly is at least for many. It gives me the same “don’t involve me in your kinks” feeling like if I saw a dominatrix and her sub licking her heels in a McDonalds, and the fact that for many it is sexual means that the ones that are “just for fun” get caught in that crossfire and make me feel that same gross feeling. Again not kink shaming, just non consensually involving the public in your kinks shaming, as consent is important.
Okay, but when do you see people in fursuits just walking around in public? I can’t think of a time. I don’t think they are involving people in their kinks. Not most of the time anyway.
I mean it only happened once so far, but it was still weird, and it seems to have happened to others as well since I’ve heard others talk about running into furries in public. Just because it hasn’t happened to you doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened to anyone y’know?
But how does this compare to “I don’t care what they do in their own bedroom, but I don’t want to see two men holding hands or kissing in public?” Because it really doesn’t feel much different to me. Was the person you saw simulating sex at the time or just wearing a fursuit?
They were doing that “cute anime girl” type thing, idk, so maybe? Frankly, to refer back to my dominatrix example, I don’t care if say this guy that comes up when you search “guy licks boot on subway” insists it’s not sexual it’s just because he has an oral fixation and I’m just sexualizing it, the people who do it sexual reasons have ruined it for him and it now carries connotations of a sexual nature. So a furry doing odd egirl type shit in public, whether they think it’s sexual or not, comes off as such and gives me the creeps. It is what it is.
Gay people can also go way too far with sexual shit in public, there’s actually a huge debate within the community about whether or not kink should be at pride events for example, and I’d say wearing a whole furry suit is more akin to wearing leather or latex BDSM gear than “holding hands or kissing,” and your example is frankly disingenuous.
This. People should be allowed to wear what they want. Even revealing things. It’s not a crime to have a sexy/ugly/fat/average body. People should learn to ignore what people look like and focus more on their behaviour and values. Focusing on the attire makes people freak out because DIFFRENT!
It’s not unnecessary, you brought it up! Why do you specify gay people kissing or holding hands then in your previous comment? Unnecessary to you right back then. So much “no u.” You can’t direct a conversation towards gay people just to claim that the guy replying is unnecessarily talking about gay people, that one is on you.
But yes, straight people, like MY ORIGINAL DOMINATRIX/SUB EXAMPLE, and the video I sent of the man licking a woman’s boot, can also do creepy stuff. Try and keep up. Jfc, you have your sights set on trying to pin me as a homophobe so bad you can’t see that I’ve been the one talking about straight people doing the creepy shit all along while you brought up the gay angle.
And because involving people in your kinks against their will is creepy whether your bits are showing or not, exhibit A: man licks boot on subway. Just do that shit in private (or private enough public locations, like a bar, con, club, etc). There’s places for that, the subway, park, store, whatever, ain’t it.
The fact that they insist it isn’t sexual, when it clearly is at least for many. It gives me the same “don’t involve me in your kinks” feeling like if I saw a dominatrix and her sub licking her heels in a McDonalds
i think this whole dialogue is just, fucking stupid to be honest. If we want to complain about porn, and NSFW material, we should be banishing the entire fucking human race to death instantly because the porn industry is a massive mover of money.
The fandom with the biggest sex positive scene is literally humanity. Who gives a shit what furries do. They just happen to very sex positive and open about things, as some people do. It’s both hyper sexualized and extremely wholesome. It’s just the duality between those things that confuses people.
Funny example of this, on the image board e621, you aren’t allowed to leave weird sexualized comments. You get banned for that. But you can also post the most heinous NSFW material ever there as well assuming it abides by the rules (which is basically just “drawn furry art”)
It seems to have some overlap with the contingent of online people that like to call themselves wolfkin and stuff, like vulpine.club or whatever that masto instance was. I’m not sure how much overlap, but I have seen some creepy shit posted from the individuals there, and the complete lack of reality those people live in is maybe not bad but it is startling and makes me uncomfortable. Again, I agree with their right to do it, but I blocked the instance, ykwim.
this one is interesting, but from my experience and understanding, otherkins are completely different and irrelevant to furries, i would probably argue that there is an expected negative overlap. TBF there is probably some overlap, but it’s probably similar to overlap between for example, car guys and minecraft players. Rather than like, car guys and professional racers.
No see again, where porn is acceptable is at someone’s house, not in public. The people on the train do not need to see you watching porn whether you’re cranking it or not, and whether it’s furry porn or not. Again if I go to a furry porn website (or even if I scroll by a thumbnail on a regular porn site) I’m not gonna be saying “oh shit what are furries doing here,” I’m saying if I see furries at like, the park, or the train, or Best Buy or some shit, then it’s a problem. I can just not go to furry cons or sites and block the masto instances and stuff, that’s not a big deal. And maybe I should note I’m talking about them being like suited up in public, not just out in regular clothes. I think that should be obvious based on what I’ve said (and because how would I know without the suit) but it may be worth noting.
It really feels like some people replying stopped reading before “in a McDonalds.” At least that’s better than the people trying to justify doing their kinks in public, the fact that a bunch of people in full costume can’t respect consent as much as the BDSM community can isn’t really comforting.
Interesting to note about the possible overlap or lack thereof, and possible correlation but not causation, thanks for your insight on that!
No see again, where porn is acceptable is at someone’s house, not in public. The people on the train do not need to see you watching porn whether you’re cranking it or not, and whether it’s furry porn or not.
nobody is arguing for this? Public obscenity laws exist for a reason.
are you comparing fur suits to literal porn? If so, then i may argue we ban all public display of sports attire because i find it distinctly related to sex.
If you see a furry in a mcdonalds, they’re probably buying food because their hungry lmao. It’s not like it’s some weird BDSM psyop.
Interesting to note about the possible overlap or lack thereof, and possible correlation but not causation, thanks for your insight on that!
I am relating fursuits to BDSM leather, gimp suits, pup play gear, latex, etc, yes. Sports attire clearly doesn’t fit this category, save maybe the cheerleaders of course I suppose. I was talking about fursuits in public from the get go, in the quote you quoted me in fact. You brought up porn, that’s why I responded about porn in public. Seems maybe you’re one of those people who don’t bother reading what they’re responding to?
How eat with suit on? Why not just not wear the suit in public? At least the gimp while being similarly inappropriate in public despite your protests can unzip the mouth, that just seems like added difficulty to me.
that’s like relating halloween costumes to BDSM gear. Or like i said, sports jerseys.
That was literally the point lmao.
You brought up porn
yes. for an irrelevant reason
that’s why I responded about porn in public.
fursuits are not porn, public indecency is not porn, and fursuits are not public indecency.
How eat with suit on?
take off the head.
Why not just not wear the suit in public?
they don’t? Like most of the time? Whenever you see a furry in public chances are, there’s a fur con, if not, they’re probably not causing problems.
At least the gimp while being similarly inappropriate in public despite your protests can unzip the mouth, that just seems like added difficulty to me.
To be honest I dont see anything productive to this insight, you are just talking through your own silly meaningless prejudices where you can’t resist sexualizing the totality of an identity in order to rationalize your disgust for it, nor can you resist casually associating said identity with the potential for violence.
It is a bit like picking your nose in public, no one is really interested in seeing it.
See you’re doing the thing where you insist it isn’t sexual, despite it clearly being sexual for many, maybe not for you, but in essence you’re attempting to gaslight me by pretending it’s on me for “sexualizing” people doing shit like this which is clearly meant to be sexual. Like, just look up “furries” and scroll around images, a decent amount are going to be vaguely creepily sexual like that, or whatever the fuck this is. But yeah, that’s all my imagination, right lmao.
By the way I forgot to mention that an insignificant portion of them are like, actual literal nazis, but add that to the list. Knew I was forgetting something.
I’ve said multiple times that this applies to all people, I even included an example of a straight couple exhibiting similarly creepy behaviors in my very first comment.
Frankly it only applies “more” in that there are more “straight people” than furries (which, by the way, is not a sexual orientation. First of all if YOU are to be believed “it isn’t sexual” so how the fuck can it be a sexual orientation? Hmm? And second of all there are gay furries and straight furries etc, the sexual orientation is separate from the type of BDSM, latex, fursuit, or leather dog mask and chain an you’re wearing.)
Narrow nothing, kink is fine, but it isn’t appropriate in public. You just want to subject people to your kink against your will (which btw flies in the face of safe, sane, consensual.)
“Narrow nothing, kink is fine, but it isn’t appropriate in public. You just want to subject people to your kink against your will (which btw flies in the face of safe, sane, consensual.)”
I agree heterosexual cis gender white men have a huge issue with not getting consent! They should really keep their creepy kinks (like for example domestic abuse or racism or making creepy unsolicited comments to women… and girls) out of public spaces.
Wait, so you’re fine with domestic abuse, racism, and making creepy unsolicited comments to women and girls, as long as it isn’t in public where you’re subjected to it but kept behind closed doors? Huh, well this took an unexpected turn. So, you’re one of the nazi furries I see.
Most of society is saying that men doing those things is bad and they should stop, not using them to justify their own immoral behavior subjecting others to their kinks without consent. “Criminals rape people so I should be able to ignore consent too” really isn’t a great position to hold.
Btw, sexual assault, racism, domestic violence, and catcalling are not “kinks,” something is seriously wrong with you. CNC is, but the first C stands for consensual. Raceplay is, but that also is only between two consenting adults, the rest of the train doesn’t need to hear you call your SO the N-word. BDSM sometimes can involve slapping or paddles and the like, but again that is between consenting adults, the train does not need to watch you smack your girlfriend around even if she says “thank you sir may I have another.” Catcalling, idk, humiliation or praise kink I guess? Still only ok between consenting adults. Seeing a pattern here? CONSENTING ADULTS. Your absolute disregard for consent is frankly concerning.
It might be different for others but I’ve been around furries, have had furry friends, and it still on some deep level that I can’t control makes me a bit uncomfortable. Like I do not judge, and I fully support consenting adults doing whatever they want, but if someone in a fur suit sat next to me on a train, I would be a tad bit uneasy. For me, I think it’s the sexualizing animals that gets me. I’m not saying furries do anything bad to real animals, just that the way I view animals is something incompatible with any form of sexualization.
That being said, I fully support furries doing whatever they want as long as it isn’t forced on me. All the furry friends I’ve had over the years have been wonderful and creative people, and have never made me feel uncomfortable.
For me, I think it’s the sexualizing animals that gets me. I’m not saying furries do anything bad to real animals
if it makes you feel any better, it’s not animals directly, it’s animal attributes. There is a very very specific dividing line between “furry” and “animal”
Also, being a “furry” is remarkably easy. Are you a fan of anthropomorphic animals? Congrats, you’re a furry. It doesn’t require you to wear a fursuit or anything else. That means that if you’re in the fandom of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc. You. Are. A. Furry.
That means that if you’re in the fandom of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc. You. Are. A. Furry.
technically, this isn’t exclusively true since most of the time the specific fandom actually supersedes the anthro aspect of it. For example if ur a sonic fandom nerd, you’re a sonic fandom nerd, but you may not have a general interest in anthropomorphic characters more broadly, in which case you wouldn’t be a furry. These things are not directly related.
The more correct definition here would be “a fan of anthropomorphic characters more broadly, specifically those within the furry community, and the furry community itself more broadly” It’s also worth noting that most of the time it’s actually done via self admittance. There are fursuit makers who do not consider themselves to be furries. It’s odd, but it’s how works.
Otherwise we start to define people who drive cars as “car people” and that’s just, wrong.
For example a lot of people have pets, dog/cat whatever, they talk to their pets, that’s literally anthropomorphizing an animal. Or personification, it’s the same shit at the end of the day though. Does that make those people furries? Because they speak to their dog in a language it doesn’t understand? Or apply human concepts to their pets that don’t really exist?
For me at least, I’m uncomfy with like, how close furry’s rejected Disney mascot kink is to a beastiality kink. Not to say they’re even that close! I’m surely oversensitive here! But I think that’s where my overall lack of pure acceptance comes from.
It’s goofy to me that the people out here like “fuck yeah, that fox with anime eyes is sexy.”
I try not to be a hater, but I have trouble with this scene so I let it be. “Consenting adults; none of my business.”
I think the kink and fursuit parts are what most people understand about furries because that’s the most signal boosted and bizarre parts about it. However, furries often have other things that really attach them to it, and the kink is a further expression of that.
For a lot of people, neurodivergence is a core feature. I struggle with speech a lot. I’m learning ASL but few people speak it. The flexibility to communicate in howls, barks and yips on occasion is extremely helpful. The furry community is full of people who just get this and will treat me very normally when I’m nonverbal. The scared kid in me still expects to be hit for disobedience, so it’s incredibly healing.
Some folks who like fursuits like them because they present a barrier and literal mask that helps them feel safe in public. Some attach themselves into a fursona character and find a way to express parts of themselves they couldn’t elsewhere. My sister describes her fursona as a manifestation of her inner child unburdened by abuse, and made the character female years before she worked out she was trans.
When you consider how much kink and trauma go hand in hand, how much furries lean on their identity as a way to feel safe engaging with others, and how much genuine joy people find in their fursona, the kink makes a whole lot more sense. It’s less about being attracted to “rejected Disney mascots” specifically as it is about the comfort and safety a rejected Disney mascot persona can bring to people who need it.
It’s okay to not understand something someone else is super into. The issue comes when you judge them to be lesser than you for it. And when you use them as an object of derision.
There are plenty of people out there who will never understand homosexuality. Even find it disgusting. And if they just kept their mouths shut about it and treated gay people the same as they did anyone else, the world would be a better place.
I’ve never understood the furry hate. People treat it as a kink akin to someone being into taking a shit on your stomach. Except somehow worse.
It’s not my thing, but I’ve known people who are into it and they’ve all been nice people. I hung out with a bunch of them one of the times I was working at a con and they were fun people to hang around when they were out of their fursuits. And yeah, I didn’t quite know how to react to them when they were in the fursuit, but I just stayed friendly. That seemed to be fine with them.
Furries are odd fellows, but I would never say anything against them
for fear of all IT infrastructure spontaneously trying to kill for the rest of my lifebecause it’s just odd, not harmful. De gustibus non disputandum est.Right. They’re just into something weird. No big deal, lots of us are into weird things. The weird stuff I’m into doesn’t involve spending lots of money or wearing a costume that must be very hot after a short period of time, but if that’s what does it for you, cool. I’ll be over here watching hours of old public domain movies and industrial films.
I remember a story about the US Military taking notes for the cooling solution of a certain fursuit.
One of the most consistent themes with furries I have noticed is unapologetic sex positivity.
That burns a lot of folks who insist sex is shameful and something to apologize for.
There’s a loud subculture of furries who insist sex is shameful and something to apologize for.
Huh… I’ve been here a smidge under 20 years, and I’ve never met a fur who shares that sentiment. Awkward and quiet about it, sure, but nobody who is like “bad grrrr gross grrrr”. Almost exclusively in my circles it’s on the range of “I don’t mind at all, be weird with me” to (where I sit) “literally get freaky with me whenever and however, here are my kinks on f-list with all my sona details, also here is my 4K webcam and we can become content creators if you want too” levels of casual/open/positivity.
‘we are here for a good time, not a long time’. So, literally, fuck it. Do what/who makes you feel good.
I’ve been into furry stuff since before my teens, also 20-25 years ago. Never have I heard of a furry who was also a puritan.
its mostly young/minor furs from my understanding.
I don’t know if anybody over the age of 16 unironically holds that position.
It’s a proxy for queerphobia.
It certainly feels that way sometimes. “I can’t say the other F-word, so I’ll call you a furry.”
Not quite, I mean more in the way any pejorative they’d use against a furry, that person thinks about queer people.
phobia of neurodivergent people as well, I think. A lot of the things people find weird and offputting are just like… autism or something.
I’m autistic and an LGBT ally and I still find furries off-putting. I try not to judge, but in general I treat them like street proselytizers and the mentally unwell homeless: don’t make eye contact and keep out of smelling range.
I’m gonna copy another comment I made on this post since it’s the best thing I think I can say about it. But just know I once felt as you do and probably still would if my sister wasn’t a furry.
I think the kink and fursuit parts are what most people understand about furries because that’s the most signal boosted and bizarre parts about it. However, furries often have other things that really attach them to it, and the kink is a further expression of that.
For a lot of people, neurodivergence is a core feature. I struggle with speech a lot. I’m learning ASL but few people speak it. The flexibility to communicate in howls, barks and yips on occasion is extremely helpful. The furry community is full of people who just get this and will treat me very normally when I’m nonverbal. The scared kid in me still expects to be hit for disobedience, so it’s incredibly healing.
Some folks who like fursuits like them because they present a barrier and literal mask that helps them feel safe and protected from bad sensory experiences in public. Some attach themselves into a fursona character and find a way to express parts of themselves they couldn’t elsewhere. My sister describes her fursona as a manifestation of her inner child unburdened by abuse, and made the character female years before she worked out she was trans.
When you consider how much kink and trauma go hand in hand, how much furries lean on their identity as a way to feel safe engaging with others, and how much genuine joy people find in their fursona, the kink makes a whole lot more sense. It’s less about being attracted to “rejected Disney mascots” specifically as it is about the comfort and safety a rejected Disney mascot persona can bring to people who need it. For as much as it’s helpful in the outside world, it would in fact be weirder for none of that to come into the bedroom too.
That’s not how that works; someone can only be described as an ally while performing allyship.
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Yes, and people perceive homosexuality as degeneracy too. It applies to both. Homosexuality is also not about sex. You can never have sex your entire life and be gay.
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It’s about who you love, not just who you have sex with. Two women who are asexual (don’t experience much in the way of sexual pleasure) who have a long term committed romantic relationship may not technically be “homosexual”, but they are definitely seen and treated as such. And I think the term “gay” very comfortably applies.
You can have sexual orientation without ever having sex. For example you can be heterosexual and never find a sexual partner - that doesn’t make you asexual, you’re just a heterosexual virgin.
Yeah, I can see that. The weird thing is, why the fuck are others giving a shit about what the fuck I do? It turns the conversation on its head when you ask what they are into.
I’m a fur for the happy cuddly sfw stuff, but I also want to bury my knot in an adorable subby boy too. I went all-in on both halves of the fandom basically as soon as I found out about it, and I’ve never been apologetic or put up with any shaming. And there’s nobody who would pass up the opportunity to double their penis length and girth, grow a thick knot, have badass razor-sharp teeth, jaw muscles to go with it, can hunt and defend themselves without any outside object assisting them, and also have the aura that comes with it, just walk in the room and the mood immediately shifts. At least, no top/dom. I’m sure bottoms/subs are out there that want to feel helpless and vulnerable. But subs aren’t the people that are being little bitches about what I do in my bedroom.
furries get a lot of psychological safety out of embracing animalistic traits in all contexts. Speech is extremely difficult for me and being able to “awooo arf x3 wuf bark!” my way through normal day to day conversations with partners is such an inexplicable relief that I hope people with a passing understanding of neurodivergence can empathize.
For as beneficial as these things are in normal day to day life, it would in fact be far weirder if it didn’t extend to the bedroom too. Like play-gnawing a partner to say “I love you” and then getting to the bed with them and just saying “ok for this one thing in particular I am a normal human who doesn’t howl!!!”
That would be fucking weird right?
Idk it makes me kinda uncomfortable tbh, so maybe my insight is useful here? Not that I’d stop them from doing their thing in private or at a con I won’t be attending, but I would like to stay as far away from that shit as possible personally. Here’s my reasons, some of which of course won’t apply to every furry, like all groups they’re not really a hivemind, but…
-The anonymity is cool, but to a degree anyone in a mask or full suit (be it a shiesty, clown costume, etc) outside of common events like Halloween immediately makes me a bit wary, sure probably nothing will happen but also if they do commit some crime they’ll be harder to identify out of that costume. The only benefit furries have over others here is the cost of those suits, that’d be an expensive costume to have to ditch, but at a con they can blend in in the suit (“Idk the guy who stabbed me was like…some blue dog or wolf thing, goddammit.” Lol)
The fact that they insist it isn’t sexual, when it clearly is at least for many. It gives me the same “don’t involve me in your kinks” feeling like if I saw a dominatrix and her sub licking her heels in a McDonalds, and the fact that for many it is sexual means that the ones that are “just for fun” get caught in that crossfire and make me feel that same gross feeling. Again not kink shaming, just non consensually involving the public in your kinks shaming, as consent is important.
The fact that everyone wants to be an animal and for many that is sexual is uhh…not not creepy. It’s sorta pseudobeastiality even if those people say “well I don’t really want to fuck a real dog” ok sure, I actually do believe that, but it’s still uncomfortably close and I wouldn’t be surprised of some of them do.
It seems to have some overlap with the contingent of online people that like to call themselves wolfkin and stuff, like vulpine.club or whatever that masto instance was. I’m not sure how much overlap, but I have seen some creepy shit posted from the individuals there, and the complete lack of reality those people live in is maybe not bad but it is startling and makes me uncomfortable. Again, I agree with their right to do it, but I blocked the instance, ykwim.
That’s basically it. Again I’m not saying let’s hunt them down lol, I’m just saying I don’t want to be involved at all whether it is or isn’t sexual, and sharing my personal feelings on why it makes me uncomfortable especially when out of place.
Edit: OH I can’t believe I forgot to list the biggest reason!
I’ve seen these sentiments a lot, usually not spelled out like this though. I think the unease often comes from associating anthropomorphic animals with children’s media exclusively. That way it seems scandalous that there is an adult component to the subculture. Pretty much every subculture/fandom has that, of course, but people don’t seem to mind as much when it’s anime, goths and so on.
In my experience people push back against that characterization because the existence of an adult component seems to make everything else disappear or read as dishonest for some people. There is plenty of perfectly innocent, family-friendly content and we genuinely like it for that, not as a sex thing. Those things can coexist just fine with neither diminishing the other.
If you remove the sex/fetish stuff from the BDSM community you’d really have nothing left, if you remove it from furries you’d still have a group of people who really love anthropomorphic animal characters, just not also in that way.
Also, ew, who goes to McDonald’s?
If we just roll with that, what do you think about all the people who fetishize vampires, for example? That’s pretty much mainstream now (not just because of Twilight) and it’s literally undead, blood drinking, mind controlling monsters.
You’ll be relieved to know that most people in costume can’t see or hear very well, so you’ll have the advantage in a knife fight.
Yeah, in open groups with tens of thousands of members you’ll have some bad people, not really surprising is it? Look at anime, comics, warhammer, … anything nerdy and not-so-nerdy, they are there too.
That might be part of it, I have to admit people who want to fuck rainbow sprinkles or whatever that MLP horse’s name is are also similarly creepy to me. I almost can understand if the cartoon is more humanoid but, like people who were going crazy over rule 34 of that cop rabbit? Dude…little weird, and not in a good way.
I agree those things can coexist, but when for a significant portion of the people it is sexual it is going to taint the meaning naturally. Especially if there’s not really a clear delineation, like for example: diapers. There’s many people (guaranteed most diaper wearers and I’m only talking adults), for whom it isn’t sexual. If you see an old guy with a puff in his pants, you can assume pretty well he just medically needs them. But it’s pretty easy to spot someone who, instead of needing them, is one of those ADBL guys if you see them on the subway. For furries, they all look the same, there is no “tell” like a bib and pacifier. If there was, I’d only be creeped out by the sexual ones, but I just can’t tell, and the pageantry of it all just makes it all feel more like the ADBL crew.
Oh no I’m not saying “no kink allowed ever,” that’d be crazy! I’m just saying “keep kink behind closed doors (at least reasonably, like, a sex club is technically ‘public’ but it’s obviously OK, I mean like not at the park lol.)” Fair about McDonalds haha I haven’t been myself in years, just an example of a public place where it’s reasonable not to be subjected to others’ kinks.
Yeah I do also think the vampire fetishists are pretty creepy, or can be especially depending how into it they are. Bloodplay is actually one of my few hard No’s (along with scat because ew, and gun/knifeplay because not “safe”). But if they just want me to wear a cloak and bite their neck a little, and maybe say “I vant to fuck your butt” in a fake Romanian accent, I can work with that (well, can I without laughing remains to be seen lol).
Lol, the stabbing part was more of a joke, and as I said that isn’t exclusive to furries but anyone with a full mask/full costume, but since furries fall into that category they’re included, the anonymity does make it hard to report things, (which IRL would probably be like they grabbed someone’s butt or something but sexual assault isn’t as funny as stabbings as far as jokes go).
Very true, but it seems like it’s a larger proportion than normal, though I must admit that could simply be because there are more say comic fans than furries, so the nazis are better drowned out, maybe. Still though I’ve seen enough that on the rare chance I do see another furry in the wild (well, I’ll probably just stay away, but barring that) I’d have to figure out if they’re one of the horny or racist ones before I feel comfortable with “ah no they seem like a…well not normal person but at least they won’t hump my leg or bust out a ‘roman salute.’”
How does that even work, btw? The nazi ones are all blonde dogs? Do they hate people who dress as rats/mice? Do they say “the scalies will not replace us?” Lmao sorry I can’t resist making fun of nazis here and there haha.
What do you think about other groups then? There’s plenty of people cosplaying characters from media, sometimes in a very tame way, sometimes very much not. Those can be the same people, in the same outfits, minutes apart. You have people cosplaying Princess Leia in basically lingerie, is that alright?
[Insert words of judgement here]
Nah, they are just your average white supremacists except they also have a fursona. It doesn’t have to be intermeshed like that.
Surely you can see that dressing up as a character like that is different from furries. First of all, there’s a lot more people that do that specifically for “halloween” or “for this photoshoot” or “for a con” than “let’s go to Target on March 07th dressed as Slave Leia and do creepy stuff” which, yeah, I’d have similar questions about wtf was going on if that was a thing that ever happened. Like yeah if I go to comic con or whatever and people are dressed like comic characters? Ok. If I go to furcon or whatever and see furries, cool. If I go to the coffee shop and see either a furry or someone being creepily sexual as some comic person, you betcha I’m equally creeped out either way. Idk why it seems to be hard for people to parse.
“Ah, you vill not judge me for my kinks, bleh bleh bleh, vatch me suck ze blood from my victims in public, I don’t care if you think ve should take it somewhere appropriate! Watch us do ze Mash, ve do ze Monster Mash right here in front ov everyone.”
And yeah probably but that’s less funny.
Okay, but when do you see people in fursuits just walking around in public? I can’t think of a time. I don’t think they are involving people in their kinks. Not most of the time anyway.
I mean it only happened once so far, but it was still weird, and it seems to have happened to others as well since I’ve heard others talk about running into furries in public. Just because it hasn’t happened to you doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened to anyone y’know?
But how does this compare to “I don’t care what they do in their own bedroom, but I don’t want to see two men holding hands or kissing in public?” Because it really doesn’t feel much different to me. Was the person you saw simulating sex at the time or just wearing a fursuit?
They were doing that “cute anime girl” type thing, idk, so maybe? Frankly, to refer back to my dominatrix example, I don’t care if say this guy that comes up when you search “guy licks boot on subway” insists it’s not sexual it’s just because he has an oral fixation and I’m just sexualizing it, the people who do it sexual reasons have ruined it for him and it now carries connotations of a sexual nature. So a furry doing odd egirl type shit in public, whether they think it’s sexual or not, comes off as such and gives me the creeps. It is what it is.
Gay people can also go way too far with sexual shit in public, there’s actually a huge debate within the community about whether or not kink should be at pride events for example, and I’d say wearing a whole furry suit is more akin to wearing leather or latex BDSM gear than “holding hands or kissing,” and your example is frankly disingenuous.
Sorry… you’re comparing someone doing a “cute anime girl” thing in a fursuit with licking boots on a subway?
That’s ludicrous.
You have an unnecessary word at the beginning of that sentence which shows your biases.
Also, if someone wants to walk around in dominatrix gear- as long as they aren’t violating any local nudity laws, why do you give a shit?
This. People should be allowed to wear what they want. Even revealing things. It’s not a crime to have a sexy/ugly/fat/average body. People should learn to ignore what people look like and focus more on their behaviour and values. Focusing on the attire makes people freak out because DIFFRENT!
It’s not unnecessary, you brought it up! Why do you specify gay people kissing or holding hands then in your previous comment? Unnecessary to you right back then. So much “no u.” You can’t direct a conversation towards gay people just to claim that the guy replying is unnecessarily talking about gay people, that one is on you.
But yes, straight people, like MY ORIGINAL DOMINATRIX/SUB EXAMPLE, and the video I sent of the man licking a woman’s boot, can also do creepy stuff. Try and keep up. Jfc, you have your sights set on trying to pin me as a homophobe so bad you can’t see that I’ve been the one talking about straight people doing the creepy shit all along while you brought up the gay angle.
And because involving people in your kinks against their will is creepy whether your bits are showing or not, exhibit A: man licks boot on subway. Just do that shit in private (or private enough public locations, like a bar, con, club, etc). There’s places for that, the subway, park, store, whatever, ain’t it.
So did they have sex? Or were they just wearinga costume? The behaviour is what counts.
i think this whole dialogue is just, fucking stupid to be honest. If we want to complain about porn, and NSFW material, we should be banishing the entire fucking human race to death instantly because the porn industry is a massive mover of money.
The fandom with the biggest sex positive scene is literally humanity. Who gives a shit what furries do. They just happen to very sex positive and open about things, as some people do. It’s both hyper sexualized and extremely wholesome. It’s just the duality between those things that confuses people.
Funny example of this, on the image board e621, you aren’t allowed to leave weird sexualized comments. You get banned for that. But you can also post the most heinous NSFW material ever there as well assuming it abides by the rules (which is basically just “drawn furry art”)
this one is interesting, but from my experience and understanding, otherkins are completely different and irrelevant to furries, i would probably argue that there is an expected negative overlap. TBF there is probably some overlap, but it’s probably similar to overlap between for example, car guys and minecraft players. Rather than like, car guys and professional racers.
No see again, where porn is acceptable is at someone’s house, not in public. The people on the train do not need to see you watching porn whether you’re cranking it or not, and whether it’s furry porn or not. Again if I go to a furry porn website (or even if I scroll by a thumbnail on a regular porn site) I’m not gonna be saying “oh shit what are furries doing here,” I’m saying if I see furries at like, the park, or the train, or Best Buy or some shit, then it’s a problem. I can just not go to furry cons or sites and block the masto instances and stuff, that’s not a big deal. And maybe I should note I’m talking about them being like suited up in public, not just out in regular clothes. I think that should be obvious based on what I’ve said (and because how would I know without the suit) but it may be worth noting.
It really feels like some people replying stopped reading before “in a McDonalds.” At least that’s better than the people trying to justify doing their kinks in public, the fact that a bunch of people in full costume can’t respect consent as much as the BDSM community can isn’t really comforting.
Interesting to note about the possible overlap or lack thereof, and possible correlation but not causation, thanks for your insight on that!
nobody is arguing for this? Public obscenity laws exist for a reason.
are you comparing fur suits to literal porn? If so, then i may argue we ban all public display of sports attire because i find it distinctly related to sex.
If you see a furry in a mcdonalds, they’re probably buying food because their hungry lmao. It’s not like it’s some weird BDSM psyop.
that’s what im here for, np
I am relating fursuits to BDSM leather, gimp suits, pup play gear, latex, etc, yes. Sports attire clearly doesn’t fit this category, save maybe the cheerleaders of course I suppose. I was talking about fursuits in public from the get go, in the quote you quoted me in fact. You brought up porn, that’s why I responded about porn in public. Seems maybe you’re one of those people who don’t bother reading what they’re responding to?
How eat with suit on? Why not just not wear the suit in public? At least the gimp while being similarly inappropriate in public despite your protests can unzip the mouth, that just seems like added difficulty to me.
that’s like relating halloween costumes to BDSM gear. Or like i said, sports jerseys.
That was literally the point lmao.
yes. for an irrelevant reason
fursuits are not porn, public indecency is not porn, and fursuits are not public indecency.
take off the head.
they don’t? Like most of the time? Whenever you see a furry in public chances are, there’s a fur con, if not, they’re probably not causing problems.
you have to be trolling
Fursuits are not revealing or sexy and the people in them are not putting them on only in cases they want to have sex. It’s not connected like that.
I’ve never seen a furry having sex in public or acting in any obscene way.
To be honest I dont see anything productive to this insight, you are just talking through your own silly meaningless prejudices where you can’t resist sexualizing the totality of an identity in order to rationalize your disgust for it, nor can you resist casually associating said identity with the potential for violence.
It is a bit like picking your nose in public, no one is really interested in seeing it.
See you’re doing the thing where you insist it isn’t sexual, despite it clearly being sexual for many, maybe not for you, but in essence you’re attempting to gaslight me by pretending it’s on me for “sexualizing” people doing shit like this which is clearly meant to be sexual. Like, just look up “furries” and scroll around images, a decent amount are going to be vaguely creepily sexual like that, or whatever the fuck this is. But yeah, that’s all my imagination, right lmao.
By the way I forgot to mention that an insignificant portion of them are like, actual literal nazis, but add that to the list. Knew I was forgetting something.
The hilarious thing about your argument is that it applies to cisgender heterosexual white men better than it does to furries.
Not that it was a good argument in the first place, it seems like you are unable to confront how narrow your view of the world is.
I’ve said multiple times that this applies to all people, I even included an example of a straight couple exhibiting similarly creepy behaviors in my very first comment.
Frankly it only applies “more” in that there are more “straight people” than furries (which, by the way, is not a sexual orientation. First of all if YOU are to be believed “it isn’t sexual” so how the fuck can it be a sexual orientation? Hmm? And second of all there are gay furries and straight furries etc, the sexual orientation is separate from the type of BDSM, latex, fursuit, or leather dog mask and chain an you’re wearing.)
Narrow nothing, kink is fine, but it isn’t appropriate in public. You just want to subject people to your kink against your will (which btw flies in the face of safe, sane, consensual.)
“Narrow nothing, kink is fine, but it isn’t appropriate in public. You just want to subject people to your kink against your will (which btw flies in the face of safe, sane, consensual.)”
I agree heterosexual cis gender white men have a huge issue with not getting consent! They should really keep their creepy kinks (like for example domestic abuse or racism or making creepy unsolicited comments to women… and girls) out of public spaces.
Wait, so you’re fine with domestic abuse, racism, and making creepy unsolicited comments to women and girls, as long as it isn’t in public where you’re subjected to it but kept behind closed doors? Huh, well this took an unexpected turn. So, you’re one of the nazi furries I see.
Most of society is saying that men doing those things is bad and they should stop, not using them to justify their own immoral behavior subjecting others to their kinks without consent. “Criminals rape people so I should be able to ignore consent too” really isn’t a great position to hold.
Btw, sexual assault, racism, domestic violence, and catcalling are not “kinks,” something is seriously wrong with you. CNC is, but the first C stands for consensual. Raceplay is, but that also is only between two consenting adults, the rest of the train doesn’t need to hear you call your SO the N-word. BDSM sometimes can involve slapping or paddles and the like, but again that is between consenting adults, the train does not need to watch you smack your girlfriend around even if she says “thank you sir may I have another.” Catcalling, idk, humiliation or praise kink I guess? Still only ok between consenting adults. Seeing a pattern here? CONSENTING ADULTS. Your absolute disregard for consent is frankly concerning.
It might be different for others but I’ve been around furries, have had furry friends, and it still on some deep level that I can’t control makes me a bit uncomfortable. Like I do not judge, and I fully support consenting adults doing whatever they want, but if someone in a fur suit sat next to me on a train, I would be a tad bit uneasy. For me, I think it’s the sexualizing animals that gets me. I’m not saying furries do anything bad to real animals, just that the way I view animals is something incompatible with any form of sexualization.
That being said, I fully support furries doing whatever they want as long as it isn’t forced on me. All the furry friends I’ve had over the years have been wonderful and creative people, and have never made me feel uncomfortable.
if it makes you feel any better, it’s not animals directly, it’s animal attributes. There is a very very specific dividing line between “furry” and “animal”
Also, being a “furry” is remarkably easy. Are you a fan of anthropomorphic animals? Congrats, you’re a furry. It doesn’t require you to wear a fursuit or anything else. That means that if you’re in the fandom of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc. You. Are. A. Furry.
technically, this isn’t exclusively true since most of the time the specific fandom actually supersedes the anthro aspect of it. For example if ur a sonic fandom nerd, you’re a sonic fandom nerd, but you may not have a general interest in anthropomorphic characters more broadly, in which case you wouldn’t be a furry. These things are not directly related.
The more correct definition here would be “a fan of anthropomorphic characters more broadly, specifically those within the furry community, and the furry community itself more broadly” It’s also worth noting that most of the time it’s actually done via self admittance. There are fursuit makers who do not consider themselves to be furries. It’s odd, but it’s how works.
Otherwise we start to define people who drive cars as “car people” and that’s just, wrong.
For example a lot of people have pets, dog/cat whatever, they talk to their pets, that’s literally anthropomorphizing an animal. Or personification, it’s the same shit at the end of the day though. Does that make those people furries? Because they speak to their dog in a language it doesn’t understand? Or apply human concepts to their pets that don’t really exist?
For me at least, I’m uncomfy with like, how close furry’s rejected Disney mascot kink is to a beastiality kink. Not to say they’re even that close! I’m surely oversensitive here! But I think that’s where my overall lack of pure acceptance comes from.
It’s goofy to me that the people out here like “fuck yeah, that fox with anime eyes is sexy.”
I try not to be a hater, but I have trouble with this scene so I let it be. “Consenting adults; none of my business.”
I think the kink and fursuit parts are what most people understand about furries because that’s the most signal boosted and bizarre parts about it. However, furries often have other things that really attach them to it, and the kink is a further expression of that.
For a lot of people, neurodivergence is a core feature. I struggle with speech a lot. I’m learning ASL but few people speak it. The flexibility to communicate in howls, barks and yips on occasion is extremely helpful. The furry community is full of people who just get this and will treat me very normally when I’m nonverbal. The scared kid in me still expects to be hit for disobedience, so it’s incredibly healing.
Some folks who like fursuits like them because they present a barrier and literal mask that helps them feel safe in public. Some attach themselves into a fursona character and find a way to express parts of themselves they couldn’t elsewhere. My sister describes her fursona as a manifestation of her inner child unburdened by abuse, and made the character female years before she worked out she was trans.
When you consider how much kink and trauma go hand in hand, how much furries lean on their identity as a way to feel safe engaging with others, and how much genuine joy people find in their fursona, the kink makes a whole lot more sense. It’s less about being attracted to “rejected Disney mascots” specifically as it is about the comfort and safety a rejected Disney mascot persona can bring to people who need it.
A very thoughtful write up! Thanks for taking the time.
<3
It’s okay to not understand something someone else is super into. The issue comes when you judge them to be lesser than you for it. And when you use them as an object of derision.
There are plenty of people out there who will never understand homosexuality. Even find it disgusting. And if they just kept their mouths shut about it and treated gay people the same as they did anyone else, the world would be a better place.
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