Why is there some hate for furries?

[Boozy]

Yeah, I think so.

[Amanita]

Some furries do, but not all. A friend of mine wants a wolf costume, but he just wants it to look cool, not sex in.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Yeah, I think so.

Oh most definitely, some do... I've seen it(and learned a valuable lesson about link-clicking randomly...)

There's a whole heap of similarly bizarre goings-on within the fandom, all of which tend to keep me face-palming regularly.

Anyway, the reasons for the hate have already been explained. Though there's something to be said for the fact that it always gets worse once someone starts crying fursecution!!!!one!!11

Seriously, Don't feed the trolls!

[Cats]

I consider myself a closet furry to some extent. I would seriously wear my cat ears all the time if there wasn't such a bad stigma about it (while I'm not that obsessed with what people think of me, it's just easier to not have people ask questions every 5 seconds). I don't wear them just to be cute or stand out, I associate better with felines than I do fellow humans. You're looking at a future cat lady here.

What annoys me is the ignorance when it comes to furries. Many people think furry ALWAYS equates to furry sex, and that's where the taboo and hate of the furries comes in. When it comes to real furries getting it on (and not anthropromorphic fictional characters), while I can see how people may be eqating it with beastiality on some level, I don't see it any much different than any other kind of bedroom role-play. You can screw 1,000 different ways in 1,000 different outfits, but you're still human beings screwing when it comes down to it. While I don't really support it since it's giving the ignorant people negative views about the other types of furries, in the end, as long as it's consensual, who am I to argue about what people do in their bedrooms? I don't have an obligation to LIKE it, but I have a "live and let live" mentality about things like that.


And if that post didn't make much sense, well, it's 4 am and a sleeping cat in my lap snoring away.

[Skunkle]

I'm in the fandom myself. Beware: this is gonna be long, but it's not a rant.

Furry is an interest in animal-like cartoon characters. It's a social circle. It's a love for anthropomorphic animal-related art and writing. It's a fandom. It's a way to be different in a world where "unique" only means "just like fifty milluion others who're 'unique' in exactly the same way you are". It's a sexual kink. It's all of these, in varying amounts, to various people. The fetish side contains just about every real and fantasy fetish that exists, but being a smaller group, the hazy outlying fetishy zones seem to "pop out" - they're more concentrated and thus easier to really see nin detail, hence the notion that furries are ALL very kinky. Best way to put it: If you put 300 red and 150 blue balls in a bowl and mix them up, for all you know they're in somewhat even amounts. If there's only 10 red and 5 blue in the bowl, there's a majority of red balls and it's quite clear.

Some furries are here to consume or to create art or stories. Some are here to roleplay. Some have a "fursona", which can range from an idealized version of the person to a belief that this is their true inner self. Some wear fursuits, some don't. Most of the fandom are NOT into bestiality - they prefer the notion of the fictional anthropomorphic creatures generically called "furries", which are bipedal and sentient. The biggest splinter group of sorts are the Therianthropes, who follow an interest in lycanthropy or therianthropy, and hold beliefs ranging from interests in the native ideas of guide spirit animals or totems, to being an animal soul in a human body, to belief in actually being able to change into an animal. Therianthropes or Therians are often very opposed to being connected with the furry fandom, some citing the fetish bent, others claiming furries are not as serious as they are about this connection to animals. And they're generally not into bestilality or zoophilia either, though they may be a fraction more likely than most furries.

The fandom has gotten what press so far? Loaded did an article on furries - at least, the sexual fetish side. Vanity Fair did an article - on the sexual fetish side. CSI and ER have had episodes set partly at furry cons, and played up the fetish side. Why? Probably because it's juicy, same reason tabloids exist. It pulls in readers/viewers. An artist who used to have a blog noted that he was approached for one of the magazine articles, with the writer asking permission to use some of his hardcore fetish art. He declined and offered some tamer art, and was told bluntly that the writer wasn't interested - he wanted to portray the fetishy side, and wasn't interested in a more general idea of what the fandom might really be like. There's not much press out there on the good side, and I'd love to see something that tries to cover as much of the various good and bad sides as possible and paint an objective picture. But really, that's a pipe dream; the juicy sleazy side is what people seem to want to read.

Do people really have sex in costumes? Do they EVER? Yes, probably. Is it common? Not in the slightest. "Fursuits" are usually used as a way to BE your fictional self or fursona, and are worn at conventions - which, just like sci-fi, Star Trek, anime or gaming Cons, are just places for like-minded people to get together. If any fursuit sex occurs, it's behind closed doors in private gatherings, and neither I nor anyone else I know has ever seen one of the long-rumored crotchless fursuits, or any fursuit sex, even in many private parties. Sex yes, oh yes in a few private gatherings, but not in-suit. If they exist, no one walks around the con floor in 'em. What do you find at furry cons? Art gallery. Dealers' area. Talent show. Fursuit parade. Sometimes a fursuit Olympics, usually very silly. Discussion panels: writing good fan fiction, art tutorials, discussions of all sorts. After-hours parties, usually involving alcohol and dancing and loud music. Most of it, excluding fursuit-related things, is the same stuff you find at any other Con, though anime and sci-fi cons are often equally interested in elaborate costumes. Furries do like personal contact, so there's a lot of (G-rated) contact in the halls: scratching fur, hugs, etc. Most furs won't scratch or hug random people, but if you're approached and don't want to be hugged or touched, calmly say so and people will get the point.

Fursuiters, on the whole, love to get hugged or get photos taken with them - they're being showy and they know it - and fursuiting often involves lots of pantomime and clowning around. Fursuiters usually don't talk in-suit, as most suits don't have a moving jaw. Mine does and I do speak, and have a very different persona in-suit from my own. There's also an unwritten courtesy that, to preserve the fantasy element, the persioon and the suited character are often thought of as separate entities, and many Cons offer name badges that show your suit character's name but not the name (real or character) on your regular badge, aiding in keeping the mystery as to who's in the suit. We all know they're just people in suits, but pretending and going along with the fantasy is fun, as can be asking the suiter where Joe went, and when Joe is back out-of-suit commenting that he just misased seeing Joe Fox. It's all about having a good time.

Yes, there's a fursuit sex web site. No, the owners are not in the fandom, really. The suits are poorly-modified mascot suits. Furry suits are usually built to be as comfortable as possible, and often contain small fans inside the head. My suit, a jaguar, is not full-body; it consists of a head, paws/arm sleeves, and a tail. The rest is street clothes. I have one of the lightest, most breathable heads out there, with a fan, and I can't possibly imagine having sex wearing that. I'd overheat in two minutes, and the visibility is limited. And I wouldn't really find it fun in general. In a full-body suit, then? No effing way. There ARE special cold packs used with sports mascot suits, but people have (rarely) died from hypothermia while mascotting with cold packs at long sports events. CUDDLING in suits happens.

Now, the bad side of the fandom: Yes, there ARE bad sides. Plural.
1 - I'd say a good 50-60% of the fandom do fit the stereotype of mom's-basement shut-ins with zero social skills and even less hygeine. When you go to a Con, you'll see, and smell, a few bad eggs.
2 - The people who ARE into fetishes can be a bit vocal about it. Sort of a "You wanna piece of me, make fun of me? C'mere, son of a--" (Note, in regards to this, notes below about anti-furry sentiment)
3 - Many members either LIKE being freaky and don't care what kind of face it puts on the fandom, or are openly fetishy but totally oblivious to the face it puts on the fandom. I'd say at least 30-40% of the fandom fits this, and many of the latter type are also mom's-basement types who simply have zero clue of how much their freaky side is showing.
4 - Many furries are notoriously thin-skinned and quick to retort to perceived slights. "If you're not with us, you're against us" is often the mentality of these types. Again, see below.

Anti-furry sentiment: Remember the rules of the internet.
Rule 3: We are Anonymous.
Rule 4: Anonymous is legion.
Rule 5: Anonymous does not forgive, Anonymous does not forget.
What this all means: The 'net gives the possibility of complete and total anonymity, and this turns loads of otherwise normal people into raging bullies when it hits them that they can say anything and never be truly punished. "Anonymous" refers to the Roman Army-sized mass of seething, intent bullies that all converge under that title. Rule 5 means, in essence, "We will never, ever stop beating a dead horse. If you slip up once today, we'll still be telling everyone we can a year from now, because it's still funny to us."
That considered, we have lovely places like Something Awful, the purpose of which is to mercilessly mock any and everyone. And making a complete laughingstock out of any one person or group is considered a badge of great honor. It's a power trip. Applied to furries, they love to jab 'em with a sharp stick, over and over and over, and watch them freak. It's like poking an anthill - it's seen as mindless, endlessly entertaining fun. And furries, on the whole, DO tend to get angry very easily. But remember that guy who started calling you "Bob the Blob" or "Porta-John" in 3rd grade, and still called you that (and laughed at it) in high school? ...yeah. That's what you're dealing with: Hundreds of those guys.

The common method of cyberbullying any one group as a whole involves finding something about which they're touchy, and trying to get as many people as possible to believe that said something engulfs and consumes that entire group. Furries are touchy about being seen as sexual deviants, thus the legion of Anonymous has made a goal of convincing the net-at-large that furries are all sexual deviants. It's both sad that they are so easily amused, and disturbing that their attempts work so very well. So, "Why is there some hate for furries?" Because a bunch of bored, immature people decided it would be funny to try to make a specific group the appointed ass-end of the internet. And it worked, partly due to a (slight) majority of the fandom being the types, whether intentionally or not, to encourage the stereotypes. Furries are, en masse, thin-skinned. Cyberbullies poke them into anger. They rail back. What has ensued is a neverending pissing match, throwing volleys back and forth.

I don't usually tell random people that I'm in the fandom. My user name or sig on boards may have furry-related things, but I'm careful about which boards get things like that. If I think there might be an issue, I don't put any hint out there in the first place. My boyfriend and I are both into the fandom, but we take a lot of it with a grain of salt. I enjoy the artwork and stories (and yes, there IS a lot of furry porn, but if anyone here cares to see a ton of G- to PG-rated furry art with no porn , I can tell you where to look). I do go to Cons and I do occasionally fursuit. And I'm really not very freaky at all. But I fully acknowledge the bad sides to the fandom.

The furry fandom means different things to different people. If you're curious, ask someone. But if they respond immediately by going on a diatribe about furries, it's a good bet that either they've heard the horror stories and/or read the articles, or they met a really freaky furry. Most of the cyberbullies NEVER discuss this stuff in person. And if you walk into a Con and stand in the lobby for two hours, I can guarantee you won't see anything sexual or fetishy, unless people wearing humanoid animal suits is your definition of freaky. But the bad rep is both deserved and undeserved, and in my opinion anyone who tries to convince you that it's 100% good or 100% bad needs to be taken with a grain, nay a bucket of salt.

Incidentally, "Skunkle" refers to Zephyr, a striped skunk character. The fursuit is Scott Sierra, a jaguar. I don't have a "fursona" per se. I'm assuredly 100% human, inside and out - my characters are only characters.

[Boozy]

Skunkle, has any of that been posted on another site? I'm asking because of the use of the term "here", ie "Some furries are here to consume or to create art or stories". "Here" meaning "Fratching" doesn't make sense.

If you or someone else has posted that on another site, could you please provide the link instead of the text? Copyright could be a concern.

If I'm wrong, apologies.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

I'm fairly certain skunkle meant 'here' as in 'here, in the fandom'...

Still though, never hurts to be sure.

[Cat]

I consider myself a closet furry to some extent. I would seriously wear my cat ears all the time if there wasn't such a bad stigma about it (while I'm not that obsessed with what people think of me, it's just easier to not have people ask questions every 5 seconds). I don't wear them just to be cute or stand out, I associate better with felines than I do fellow humans. You're looking at a future cat lady here.

We have more in common than our name I would love to wear my ears all the time, but I think the office would frown upon it. I have a good collection, and every Halloween I search for new ones. Cat ears are just really comfortable!

And yes, I associate much better with cats than humans.

[jackfaire]

We have more in common than our name I would love to wear my ears all the time, but I think the office would frown upon it. I have a good collection, and every Halloween I search for new ones. Cat ears are just really comfortable!

And yes, I associate much better with cats than humans.

I wonder if someone could get away with it in my office after all some guy had hobo beard (didn't shave or groom his beard beyond keeping it clean for a year it stuck up all over the place.)

[Boozy]

I'm fairly certain skunkle meant 'here' as in 'here, in the fandom'...

Ah, okay. That would make sense then.

Thanks.

[blas87]

I really hate to sound rude, but no one should be surprised if people stare or think of you as odd if you go out in public with a tail, whiskers and cat ears, or if you lead another person around with a leash and collar, or if you were to go around public meowing or barking at others.....

I really don't mean to poke fun at different people, but there is a difference between having pink hair or a mohawk or wearing all black and dressing or acting like an animal. It's just not normal, I'm sorry.

[jackfaire]

I really don't mean to poke fun at different people, but there is a difference between having pink hair or a mohawk or wearing all black and dressing or acting like an animal. It's just not normal, I'm sorry.

*roflmao* OH MY FREAKING GOD! That is hilarious when I was a kid your description would have sounded like,

"But there is a difference between wearing a fedora or a ball cap all the time and having pink hair or a mohawk or wearing all black,"

[Fryk]

Great start to a doctoral thesis there, Skunkle :: ). I can't think of a single salient point you missed out on there. And I would be interested in the PG stories you were talking about, if you please.

[AdminAssistant]

I really don't mean to poke fun at different people, but there is a difference between having pink hair or a mohawk or wearing all black and dressing or acting like an animal. It's just not normal, I'm sorry.

No, I don't think there is, at least not to me. Actually, if I see someone with cat ears/tail (outside of Halloween), I will think to myself, "Hm, might be a furry. Very comfortable with themselves to be so open, go you!" If I see someone with a pink mohawk, I'm more likely to think, "Wow, somebody's desperate for attention!!"

But that's just me. As I've said before, let your freak flag fly. As long as all your bits and pieces are covered, I don't really care what you wear.

[Greenday]

Admin, I think I see what blas is getting at. It's normal for humans to be human. But for humans to try to be animals? That's not normal.