Why are furries, y'know, furries?

Yea, don't ask me why, but I remember stumbling on someone's wall where you wrote a pretty detailed synopsis of your book. Kinda stalker-ish like that.

One thing that's very important to understand is the difference between tolerance, and just plain immersing yourself. I mean, you don't have to go jumping into fursuits and drawing scantily clad animals or anything like that, similar to the way a straight man doesn't have to jump on another man's 'D' lol So long as you aren't out trying to tear down their self esteem, and accept them for who they are, there should be no real issue, even if you don't understand it yourself, because you'll never understand everything.

 

There's a scale to furryism that ranges from a person with cat-ears, to full on cat fetish, the latter of which is very small I'd imagine. So I'd assume that you'd have a considerable amount of people liking your designs. I mean, unless you've drawn what looks like a photoshopped salamander head on top of a human o-o That'd creep me out a bit.

 

Yeah that should be perfectly fine to be honest.

I mean you don't need to give an anthro rainbow fur or anything. I usually work with my characters/sona's in reletively realistic colors and nothing too excessive. ( Though I tend to use pink when I do X3 )

 

@Broken Record: Just kidding there!

I do like to joke around and tease...that's one thing about being a furry I like: I can escape being that gloomy person who reads Kafka and Nietzsche and Thomas Hardy and all these other ponderous works. As one who is always thinking and contemplating, it lets me be more spontaneous and goofy. I was very serious as a kid, so it's as if I missed out on that part of me for many years, and this is a way to find it again.

And I'm sure furries would be open to your story...there's an amazingly loose set of rules, which is nice; you have a lot of latitude and freedom, in terms of what you can write, and still have furries enjoy it.

 

I know how this goes. I used to be a pretty big idiot back in the day, I said some really homophobic things because I was brought up super religious, yet people still forgive me because of the way I act now. Sure, the way I used to be still bothers me but it's nice to be able to "turn a new leaf" as you say, and get a fresh start.

I've seen a few women online here in the community, but they don't often go out and state "hey, I'm a woman" because of reasons states above. One might correct a person who incorrectly assumes everyone is male my default, and as such others will know. If one is a man, they don't often have to correct others because male is seen as the default gender.

Because of this situation, if one does not obviously state their gender they are seen as male, and added to the "male population". It's quite annoying, especially in multiplayer games.

In fact, the majority of my favorite furry artists are girls. They draw a lot of the "cute" and "beautiful" themes the majority of men seem to be afraid to draw because of society's silly "gender roles", and we just seem to have more in common.

 

For me it just happened. I've always been animalistic xD I've always been an animal lover as well. When I came across the term 'furry' it explained what I was and what I liked (and disliked, like any fandom). Being a furry isn't a bad thing. A lot of people think it's bad though, but they just associate us with the negative stuff. They're very uneducated and ignorant.
But yea for me it just happened, and I love it

 

I'd draw cute stuff, but I can only barely draw X3

 

I'm not that great.

 

I can't speak on behalf of others. But I can confirm that the furry stuff I find attractive appeals to me because it highlights the "animalistic" element of sex, the lack of inhibition and primitive instinct. Outside of a sexual context, I can appreciate interesting character design that make characters more fun and colorful and memorable as well. There was a good video on youtube that explained this excellently, highlighting why you're more likely to remember Sly Cooper than Nathan Drake.

 

I think that video might be linked in this thread. Just don't remember if that's the same one or not.

 

Yea, it was, I remember that part it was like "Hey, who was that one guy with the short brown hair, built body, with the gun.. and the hero thing.." lol

 

Furries are just like every other kind of fans. We happen to like anthropomorphic animals. Its really not that complicated.

There are certainly those within the fandom who enjoy the art in a fetishistic and erotic way, but they are by no means an accurate representation of the community. I say I'm a furry because I like anthro and furry artwork, and am working on drawing myself. It is no different than asking a sports fan why they like sports, or why an anime fan likes anime. We happen to like anthro artwork, thats all.

 

Sounds like me, I'm working on like a bunch of different things.

 

I think that's kinda like asking why LGBTQ+ people are LGBTQ+. There's no specific definition for it, I don't see them as mentally ill or confused, I just think that they are what they are and that's it.

 

Those are highlights for me, too. I also find that in longer furry comics, there's a lot of tenderness and development in terms of the relationships in many stories, and not just sex. They make you feel all warm and tingly inside.

But you did hit on something major, with the primitive drives; there's a refreshing lack of guilt, and a way to feel more in touch with the animal, primal parts of ourselves; after all; humans are really the only animal that feels so guilty about sex.

Myself, I know I'm a kindhearted, caring person; pretty much a pacifist, a vegetarian, and one who doesn't like to even see violence. For me, all the graphic depictions of violence in the media, in video games, and entertainment are much more disturbing then consensual sex, which I find to be a healing energy, and one which furries do at times make quite creative. True, there are violent aspects among them that disturb me, but I just look past them to what I find affirming.

In the end, I think that if my quirks give furries a 'bad name', I know I'm a decent person, who separates fantasy from reality, and just likes to have fun. If people think I'm weird, well, they will. I don't have the power to change how so many others think; one could spend a lifetime doing so, with few results, and use up so much precious time and energy this way. On a personal level, I find it odd that so many gays fall into wanting to be buff, beautiful, and wear fancy clothes and fashions like Abercrombie and Fitch; but that's their choice, and who am I to judge? To me, they create a stereotype I may not like, but I try to understand how they might want this, and look past myself. If I like to dress up like a puppy with my mate, well, it's what I find fun, and no harm to anyone.

In a somewhat Buddhist way, I try to find that small space inside me that the world can not touch, where I am sure of myself, and my connection to others, to animals, to earth and the life force.

 

I wish I could feel as casual about my sexual interests as you do.

 

You can. It takes time, and a certain energy and drive, but you will, I'm sure!