A question for furrys.

[Eric the Orange]

So as I understand it the basic definition of a furry is someone who likes pictures of anthropomorphic human animal hybrids. I like those pictures, but not any more than than pictures of just humans or animals. For example I don't really prefer an anthropomorphic wolf-human hybrid over a picture of a person or a picture of a wolf. So would I still be considered a furry, or do you have to prefer a anthropomorphic over a regular one?

EDIT: Here let me clear up two things up front that I see everyone saying.

1.) This is not about labeling my self or other people. Just merely confusion about the definition.

2.) Furrys are not necessarily people who are sexually attracted to anthropomorphic human animal hybrids. Some are, some aren't, but it's not a requirement.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I'm don't want to be offensive but no matter the circumstances: If you have to ask if you should call yourselve a furry: don't. The definition of what's a furry is very much open for interpretation. You should only call yourself a furry if you identify with the fandom itself. And... believe me, you don't want to identify with the fandom. It's kind of a shame what has become of it. Don't get me wrong, i know some Furries who are really decent people but the majority (or at least the vocal minority) are kind of terrible. I myself enjoy some of the art but i really don't want to be associated with the furfandom as it is perceived right now.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

You don't want to be a furry!
Furries are... interpreted in the way that alot of people assume you want to bonk animals. Myself included - furries are probably a lovely bunch but if you call yourself a furry I will back away.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

Don't label yourself if you don't want to.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

What actually qualifies as a furry is very much open to interpretation.
There's no set definition for anyone to go off of.

Some people identify strongly with an certain animal, (this may or may not include dressing up as one).
Some people like to draw anthros.
then there are the "darker" aspects that I won't go into detail on.


I enjoy drawing anthros because they're much more interesting than plain ol humans,
but I don't call myself a furry. Although other people have labeled me as one sometimes,
even though I don't participate in anything else associated with the culture.

Do you think your a furry?
I personally wouldn't call you one just for liking anthro artwork.
Good art is good art.

 

[Eric the Orange]

You don't want to be a furry!
Furries are... interpreted in the way that alot of people assume you want to bonk animals. Myself included - furries are probably a lovely bunch but if you call yourself a furry I will back away.

Oh I know, they are looked down upon by regular people who are ignorant of what a furry really is.

That being said even if you do like to fuck in fur suits, that's your business and I don't care.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Don't label yourself if you don't want to.

It wasn't meant to be so much labeling myself as confusion with the definition.

 

[Overusedname]

I'll put it this way: Politically, I have some beliefs that line up with democracy, socialism, and a bunch of different things. But I don't label myself as any one affiliation or political party. I stay independent to avoid being generalized. I don't like people assuming they know my world view on every topic when I say the word 'liberal' or 'democrat'.

I enjoy soccer and basketball, but I don't call myself a hardcore sports fan or jock.

I like a lot of movies, but I'm not a film buff.

I often feel odd calling myself a gamer, even though games and game design are literally my career choice.

It's like that, and the Pony fans who don't call themselves 'bronies'. It's easier to just consider eachother to be individuals, rather than group us all up and stereotype us.

I'm also a shameless hipster. Labels suck man.

 

[Vampire cat]

I don't label myself as anything really, I don't call myself a gamer for example. All of these terms are so poorly defined in general opinion that it becomes nearly impossible to use them anyway. I think a LOT of people confuse furry with beastality though, which it is not! From a lot of what I've seen in the media about it, I can kind of understand why some people see people with intersts such as my own as sex freaks or whatever, cause it DOES get demonized, strangely... I don't get why anyone cares what I do in the privacy of my home, it's not like we're hurting anyone!

I DO like what wikipedia defines as furry fandom though, but of course I have a personal preference. For me the human element in a furry character is absolutely critical. Walking on two legs, having a clearly human body, hair in the human way and a not too animalized face. I also enjoy pony play, but that's another discussion =p.

Media tends to flail it arms a lot at this though, but then again what DON'T they flail their collective limbs at... My only real annoyance with what other people thing is that they often assume I want to have sex with animals... Thats beastality, something COMPLETELY unrelated... No, I do NOT get sexually excited from looking at an animal X3. I do love animals though!

Don't get me wrong, i know some Furries who are really decent people but the majority (or at least the vocal minority) are kind of terrible. I myself enjoy some of the art but i really don't want to be associated with the furfandom as it is perceived right now.

How is it terrible? Oo I've not yet met an annoying furry nor seen any awful behaviour. What kind of experiences has caused you to hold this view? =/

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Don't get me wrong, i know some Furries who are really decent people but the majority (or at least the vocal minority) are kind of terrible. I myself enjoy some of the art but i really don't want to be associated with the furfandom as it is perceived right now.

How is it terrible? Oo I've not yet met an annoying furry nor seen any awful behaviour. What kind of experiences has caused you to hold this view? =/

The fandom... well, it used to be pretty decent. But at some point the perverts, fursuiters and the really obnoxious people have become too many and the and the normal people started to distance themselves from it. Which led to Furries having a certain reputation. I'm not happy about that but it's not entirely unjustified. The whole thing stopped being good as soon as too many people tried to sexualize it.

You know, the sad thing is, the same seems to happen to the Bronies... a fandom i'm actually kinda invested in. But that's a topic for another thread.

 

[Kragg]

So as I understand it the basic definition of a furry is someone who likes pictures of anthropomorphic human animal hybrids. I like those pictures, but not any more than than pictures of just humans or animals. For example I don't really prefer an anthropomorphic wolf-human hybrid over a picture of a person or a picture of a wolf. So would I still be considered a furry, or do you have to prefer a anthropomorphic over a regular one?

just to be clear, you are sexually aroused by humans, animals and hynbrids?

The fandom... well, it used to be pretty decent. But at some point the perverts, fursuiters and the really obnoxious people have become too many and the and the normal people started to distance themselves from it. Which led to Furries having a certain reputation. I'm not happy about that but it's not entirely unjustified. The whole thing stopped being good as soon as too many people tried to sexualize it.

im confused, i thought the whole basic idea was sexualisation

 

[xPixelatedx]

Now that Dust is out I think we will be seeing a lot more threads like this lol

From what I understand it's not preferring one over the other, it's just the ability to enjoy things like TMNT and Slycooper a lot.

 

[BlindWorg]

If you dont like anthro art: Dont call yourself a furry

If you do like anthro art: Still dont call yourself a furry.

Even if you in your head associate yourself as a furry: Do not for the love of cthulhu still call yourself a furry.

There is way too much stigma piled upon that five lettered word that it simply is not worth calling it out to anyone or defending that you are one. Its just a name, even if you dont use it it wont change what art you fancy.

 

[Eric the Orange]

im confused, i thought the whole basic idea was sexualisation

That is where you are mistaken. A common misconception but not true. Some are but it's not necessary.

 

[Chromatic Aberration]

I've likened the Furry Fandom to Goths and Punks before and I'll do it again.

Take Goths. Not all Goths are depressed, listen to metal or are necrophiliacs; a few might just like the community or the color black. Similarly, not all Furries are into furry-porn, stories including anthropormorphic characters or fursuits. Furrydom is as such just another subculture and the definition of what an actual Furry is far from clear cut - the only people you can be sure about are the ones who identify as such.

As to what the appeal of furrydom is, again the comparison with Goths helps: it's essentially a sort of escapism - community, a shared interest, an unusual rebellious stance and some almost ritualistic aspects. It's something people can use to define themselves and use as an outlet to escape external social pressures. This is probably one important factor. The other one is possibly the kinky part which I'd argue also plays a major role in the appeal of furrydom at large. Still, when talking about the Furry fandom it's important to keep the diversity of the group in mind - it's like every other social group a large gelatinous blob without clear cut borders.

As for the question why such stuff receives so much hate: well, first of all, the sex-aspect is icky as hell and people don't like icky stuff. Moreover people don't like stuff they are not used to - Furrydom being exactly that. Even worse, the whole idea behind Furrydom is something completely absurd to me and I'd bet also for most other people: why should there exist a fandom centered around a certain type of (and I'm trying to use this term carefully) "race"? It's like a fandom centered around elves, trolls or what-have-you. While I can see it as an interesting deviancy to the usual human-centered fiction work I don't think it really defines something as stringent as, say, movie genre's or video gaming as a hobby - to me, it seems so .... redundant as a defining quality to built a fandom around. But, that's just my take on the issue - I'm cool with whatever someone does and likes as long it's not harmful to anyone.

 

[AntiBrony]

ALL bronies are furries but not all furries are bronies.
Essentially, bronies are a rehash of the 2007-era furry community. This is true not only in the sense that their fandom revolves around anthromorphic cartoons, they have conventions for "mascoting", and are notorious for exchanging sexually themed images of children's shows, but also have the same persecution complex that furries are so well known for. Thus, bronies quickly rose to prominence as some of the favorite victims of the trolling community, right up next to Freenode opers and anime bloggers.

 

[Vampire cat]

The fandom... well, it used to be pretty decent. But at some point the perverts, fursuiters and the really obnoxious people have become too many and the and the normal people started to distance themselves from it. Which led to Furries having a certain reputation. I'm not happy about that but it's not entirely unjustified. The whole thing stopped being good as soon as too many people tried to sexualize it.

You know, the sad thing is, the same seems to happen to the Bronies... a fandom i'm actually kinda invested in. But that's a topic for another thread.

My only problem with what you say there is that the MLP stuff comes up all over the place if I do any kind of furry search =3. I can't honestly say I'm sorry if my sexual kinks has ruined something you used to like though, but I will say it's a shame you don't feel you can enjoy it anymore Oo.

It's not like it's all sexual for me anyway though, just as women are not all sexual for men, and so forth... It's part of who I am and what I enjoy, and what I identify as. I imagine a lot of people want to punch me for wearing dog/cat ears/tail on a daily basis, but I don't honestly care. I want to punch people wearing those stupid flat caps with the DAMN sticker on that they for some reason beyond me never remove, but I don't because it's their choise and right to wear it X3.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

So as I understand it the basic definition of a furry is someone who likes pictures of anthropomorphic human animal hybrids. I like those pictures, but not any more than than pictures of just humans or animals. For example I don't really prefer an anthropomorphic wolf-human hybrid over a picture of a person or a picture of a wolf. So would I still be considered a furry, or do you have to prefer a anthropomorphic over a regular one?

The real question here is, does it matter? It's a sub-group that, frankly, carries more negative connotations then it acts as a descriptor for your interest. I know plenty of people who draw anthropomorphic characters, even anthropomorphic caricatures of peers, as a preference and hate the term furry because it actually degrades the value of their work...

Does a label matter that much to you? If you feel it does, I suggest you reassess priorities. By giving labels that amount of power over you can only damage your ability to perceive things. There is no benefit to imposing a label like this on yourself.

Anyway, to answer your question... no I don't think it does. Appreciating a picture shouldn't force a label on you. If you had a particular fixation then maybe it would, but it seems like you have a normal interest. Non-furries aren't put off by anthropomorphic characters... otherwise the likes of Disney would have died years ago.

For me, I like the idea of an alternative intellectual species like humans, but different (though not xenological). Anthropomorphic characters fill that interest and I have designed my own variation for a story I've been working on.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Everyone's a little furry. Yes, even you. Unless you have some sort of disease that renders you hairless.